Cannabis facilities. Steel structure that meets Health Canada compliance.

Where it fits

Regulated environment, structural-steel basics.

Cultivation rooms are typically open clear-span buildings without much overhead steel; the cannabis-facility steel scopes that come up are in processing rooms, packaging zones, vault and secure-storage areas, and curing rooms. The structural design is conventional; what differs is finish (smooth, cleanable, no horizontal pockets), weld continuity (continuous, not stitch), and material zoning between Good Production Practices (GPP) clean zones and ancillary spaces.

Common scopes

• Processing-room work platforms — for trim, sortation, packaging operations.
• Storage / vault mezzanines — for licensed product storage; secure-zone access integration.
• Equipment-support platforms — for HVAC, dehumidification, CO2 supply equipment.
• Catwalks — for grow-room HVAC service access where cultivation room mezzanines aren't appropriate.

Compliance considerations

• Health Canada Cannabis Regulations — facility-design submissions include material specifications, finish callouts, and access-control geometry. Drawings can be prepared with the material and finish data points that typically appear in HC submissions; the licence holder remains the submission author.
• Good Production Practices (GPP) — sets the sanitation and contamination-control framework. The structural-steel interpretation borrows from food-grade and pharma practice: smooth cleanable surfaces, continuous welds in clean zones, no closed pockets that trap residue.
• Zone separation — clean / non-clean zone interfaces require considered material transitions. We coordinate with the architectural designer on penetrations through air-locked walls.
• Vault and secure-storage — physical security requirements affect the structural design where mezzanines border vault zones; access stairs typically integrate with the security envelope rather than penetrate it.
• HVAC dehumidification — cultivation buildings run high humidity. Equipment platforms supporting dehum equipment are higher-load and often vibration-isolated.

Material & finish

• Finish: two-coat industrial epoxy in processing zones; powder-coat acceptable in dry zones; stainless typically not required for steel structure (only for direct product contact).
• Welds: continuous fillet at clean-zone joints; ground smooth at visible product-zone surfaces.
• Pockets and ledges: avoided at design; gusset plates reworked into closed boxes where structural function permits.
• Tube handrails: sealed (not perforated, no weep holes inside clean zones).

Typical project parameters

• Live load125 – 200 psf typical
• Coatingtwo-coat epoxy / industrial paint per zone
• Weldscontinuous in GPP clean zones
• Materialcarbon steel + epoxy (most zones); stainless on request
• HC submission supportdrawings + material specs available to the licence holder
• Lead time7 – 10 weeks from sign-off