Is a shed kit cheaper than having it built?

The kit price is lower because it excludes erection and site work, but you pay for those separately or supply the labour yourself. Asking for both prices on the same design shows the real difference for your project.

Do you build sheds outside Queensland?

No. Our building work is licensed in Queensland. Outside Queensland we supply and deliver kits.

Does a kit come with engineering for approval?

Yes. Our kits are designed for the site and come with the drawings and engineering the certifier needs, plus assembly drawings.

Buying a shed

Shed kit or supplied and built: which suits your project?

Q: Do I need a licence to put up a shed kit myself?

On your own land, the QBCC requires an owner-builder permit for building work valued at more than $11,000. Owner-builders can build a garage, carport or residential shed, but not commercial or industrial buildings or farm buildings.

By Lockyer Sheds, Crowley Vale QLD ·Comparing options · 7 min read · Published 26 September 2026

Short answer

A shed kit gives you the engineered steel, cladding, fasteners and drawings, and you arrange the slab, erection and trades. Supplied and built means one company handles the building work under its licence. The kit usually suits owners and builders with a capable crew and time; supplied and built suits people who want one contract, one timeline and a licensed builder answerable for the result.

Galvanised steel portal frames and girts being erected on a new shed, partly clad, with tall trees behind

Two ways to buy the same shed

The steel is often the same either way. A shed designed for your site has the same frames, purlins, girts, cladding and engineering whether it arrives on a truck as a kit or goes up with our crew. What changes is who does the building work, who organises the other trades and who is responsible when something on site needs sorting out.

Lockyer Sheds does both. We deliver kits, and in Queensland we supply and build under Builtwise Group Pty Ltd's QBCC licence 15445275 (Builder – Open), trading as Lockyer Sheds. So this page is not trying to talk you into one of them.

What each option includes

Typical split of work between a shed kit and a supplied-and-built shed (your quote states the exact scope)
Item	Kit	Supplied and built
Design and engineering for your site	Included	Included
Steel frame, cladding, flashings, fasteners	Included	Included
Doors and windows ordered with the shed	Included	Included
Drawings for approval and assembly	Included	Included
Council approval paperwork	Optional service	Optional service
Slab or footings	You arrange	Can be included (quoted separately)
Erection of frame and cladding	You or your builder	Our crew
Electrical, plumbing, stormwater	Separate trades	Separate trades unless listed

Licences and permits: who is allowed to build it

In Queensland, erecting a shed is building work, and the value used for licensing includes the materials as if a licensed contractor supplied them. Under the QBCC Regulation 2018, a sheds, carports and garages licence covers Class 10a sheds, carports and garages with a floor area of no more than 100 m², including fabricating and erecting the metal components and preparing and laying the slab. Larger sheds need a broader licence class.

If you are building the kit yourself on your own land, the QBCC says you need an owner-builder permit for a project valued at more than $11,000. Owner-builders can build a garage, carport or residential shed, but not commercial or industrial buildings, and the QBCC lists industrial sheds and farm buildings among the work an owner-builder permit cannot cover. Farm buildings have their own value threshold. Our owner-builder guide explains the details.

When a kit makes sense

You or your builder have erected steel sheds before and have the equipment to lift frames safely.
The site is remote from our crews, or you want to schedule the work around harvest or other commitments.
You already have a concreter, electrician and plumber you trust.
You are a builder adding a shed to a job you are already running.

The work at height needs planning. WorkSafe Queensland's rules require fall protection where the fall risk is over 3 m in housing construction or over 2 m in other construction, and a safe work method statement applies to construction work with a fall risk over 2 m. Allow for scaffold, an elevated work platform or other controls in your budget.

When supplied and built makes sense

You want one contract and one point of contact from approval to handover.
The shed is large, tall or on a tricky site where lifting and bracing need an experienced crew.
It is a commercial, industrial or farm building that an owner-builder permit cannot cover.
You would rather not coordinate the concreter, the delivery and the erection dates yourself.

Things to check whichever way you go

The engineering is for your site's wind classification, not a generic rating.
The drawings show the footing or slab design your concreter or engineer needs.
The quote lists exactly what is supplied, what is built and what is excluded.
The approval path is clear before anything is ordered.
Delivery access: the truck needs to reach the unloading point, and someone needs to receive the load.

Getting a price for both

If you are undecided, ask us to price the shed both ways. The design is the same, so the difference in the quote is the erection, the slab and any other site work, which makes the comparison honest. Send the site address, the size you have in mind, door positions and what the shed is for.