# What is a 3D metal building configurator, and what does this one actually generate? **Short answer.** A 3D metal building configurator turns a description of a steel building into a model the buyer can look at and turn around, instead of a quote form they have to guess their way through. Machinae Build generates the model from plain English — no dropdown tree — renders it with Three.js in the browser, and attaches a deterministic IBC/AISI/IECC check to it. It outputs a validated JSON building specification, a shareable 3D view, and a neutral quantity schedule. It does not output stamped drawings or prices. ## What comes out of it - **A validated building specification** in JSON, checked against a published schema — dimensions, structural system, roof, openings, colours, site. - **An interactive 3D model** in the browser: WebGL, self-hosted, nothing loaded from a third-party CDN. Shareable by link. - **A code report**: the requirements that apply to that specific building, each naming the standard behind it, stated as "cannot build", "required" or "recommended". - **A quantity schedule** (areas, lengths, counts) once a revision is frozen. - **GLB, PDF and CSV artifacts**, queued from a frozen revision and produced where artifact export is switched on for the deployment. ## What it handles Shops, warehouses, hangars, barns, riding arenas, storage, carports and RV covers, across the United States. Dimensions are in feet. | Structural system | Typical clear span | Practical max | Typical eave | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Tube steel (square tube) | 40 ft | 60 ft | 12–16 ft | | Cold-formed steel | 50 ft | 70 ft | 12–20 ft | | Red-iron PEMB (rigid frame) | 150 ft | 300 ft | 10–40 ft | The system is **routed from the building**, not chosen by the buyer. Any one of these moves a job onto red-iron PEMB: clear span over 70 ft, eave over 20 ft, ground snow over 40 psf, design wind over 140 mph, a mezzanine, or a crane bay. ## What it does not generate - **No permit drawings and no engineer's stamp.** It is a design and a code check. The county's adopted code and load values govern, always. - **No bill of materials.** The quantity schedule stops one step short of a fabrication BOM on purpose: purlin counts and gauges are a function of the supplier's system, their span tables and an engineer's signature. - **No prices, ever**, in the measurement path. - **No waste, laps or trim allowances.** Items that need them are marked for the supplier to apply and left net, because somebody else's waste factor baked in invisibly is worse than a number that says it has none. - **No metric storage.** Feet throughout; metric is a display conversion only. ## Example Input: *60x100 shop with two 14 ft roll-up doors, 16 ft eave, in Austin TX* Output: a 60 x 100 ft building at a 16 ft eave, routed to a cold-formed system at that span, with the two openings framed, plus the code items that follow — among them that a cold-formed truss clear span of 60 ft or more triggers special inspection and mandatory engineered bracing under IBC 2206 / 1705.2.5. ## Related - Try it: [machinaebuild.com/app](https://machinaebuild.com/app) - Embed it in your own site: [machinaebuild.com/for-builders](https://machinaebuild.com/for-builders) - How to use it: [machinaebuild.com/help](https://machinaebuild.com/help) Last reviewed 2026-08-23 against the code. Structural figures come from `config/system-limits.json`.