As I have posted many times, I am a Florida native finally returning home after a 30 year career elsewhere in the World.

As much as I love Florida, I have become accustomed to having a basement for my reloading, tinkering and to store my treasures (i.e.: junk).

I am looking to build a workshop detached from the main house. It needs to be climate controlled and I would also like to have and outdoor area for welding, grinding, sanding and spray painting. From my reading of the building code, I need to be careful about adding plumbing hook-up to keep it out of the “living area” category.

We have 5 acres of land and no HOA so no concerns there.

Does the FL-HTF recommend anything in particular?

My Builder is recommending an insulated, steel building on a slab with a 200amp electric panel installed and two tons of AC. I could build a wall to create a “garage” area with an OH door. My two concerns would be how well will a steel building hold up to hurricane forces and how much my electric bill will be.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

My cousin just north in south ga has a steel building like you are describing and it has done well.
It has a side area with a long stainless work are with a double sink to one side for processing game or fish and a regular door entry and a roll up.
One the front there I another roll up door so he can pull in a rv or the likes to a wide open shop area.
Between the front roll up and the side roll up he boxed in the area to the front and put in tv small fridge and a bathroom.
The living area has ac the other section I think he has heat but I dont remember ac just large fans to move air.
Depending on what you are wanting to do look at some warehouse racking its adjustable for height and will hold alot at times you can find it on craigslist when places close pretty cheap
Insulation he has fiberglass with like a plastic barrier on one side, the plastic seems like it could tear. I helped me friend insulate his small shed and we used the silver back fiberglass panels that were stiff was not bad to work with and helped alot.

Here are some links about the wind depending on area  link1 link2 Door types in case you want wide but not roll up Doors

Thanks for the response Dr. Zero. Good ideas and good info!

I bought a Cardinal and had it installed on a slab as an open carport, framed it and enclosed it as I had time and money.

Doing it all at once would have been better.

They are really solid, well anchored and engineered to withstand hurricanes.

I’ve had no issues.

For the electric issue could you go solar to some degree?  My mom put solar on her house, pretty much covers the electric bill on 2800sf....

My detached garage is "attached" to my house with a 2 car covered parking. The garage matches my house. If I did it over again, I would have insulated and added a/c. Even if you kept it at 85* it would at least make it easier to stay comfortable with fans, etc. It would also help with the Fl heat destroying everything. It is amazing how things will deteriorate in the extreme weather.
I would still talk to a lot of folks before making a decision.