Farm buildings and farm sheds in West Cork

Not always. A farm shed for housing animals can be exempt from planning permission under Class 6 of the Planning and Development Regulations, as amended in December 2025, if it meets every condition, and the council must now confirm the exemption by declaration before building starts. Euro Concrete builds to either route.

The shed must be used only for agriculture, stand at least 10 metres from a public road, be no higher than 8 metres within 100 metres of one, and be at least 100 metres from any house other than your own, or from a school, hospital or church, unless the owner consents in writing. It must also be outside flood zones, at least 60 metres from any water source, and set back from watercourses. No unpainted metal sheeting is allowed on the roof or walls. The declaration, under section 5 of the Planning and Development Act, comes from Cork County Council. A shed that misses any condition needs full planning permission.^*

* Correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing (27 September 2026), based on S.I. No. 649 of 2025, Irish Statute Book. These rules and guidance are updated regularly, so always check the current version at the source before you rely on this answer.

Under the rules in force since December 2025, the maximum is 300 square metres of floor space for an animal house, with 450 square metres in total across the farmyard, and 300 square metres for a store, barn or shed, with 900 in total. Euro Concrete builds within those limits or with full planning permission.

The animal housing limit under Class 6 rose from 200 to 300 square metres in December 2025, and the farmyard total from 300 to 450, counting every such building in the yard or within 100 metres of it. Stores, barns and machinery sheds that do not house animals or hold effluent fall under Class 9, which was not changed. A standalone slurry or effluent store now has its own Class 6A, capped at 1,000 cubic metres of storage and 1,500 in total in the farmyard, built to the Department of Agriculture specification. For animal housing and slurry stores, the council must confirm the exemption before work starts.^*

* Correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing (27 September 2026), based on S.I. No. 649 of 2025, Irish Statute Book and S.I. No. 600 of 2001, Schedule 2, Part 3, Irish Statute Book. These rules and guidance are updated regularly, so always check the current version at the source before you rely on this answer.

Euro Concrete prices each slatted shed on its size and layout, the depth of the tank below the slats, the ground it sits on, the steel frame and cladding, and the access for concrete lorries. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the drawings, or the number and type of stock, and we will price the build.

The tank carries a large share of the concrete work, since its floor and walls are cast in place and have to hold slurry, so its depth and length drive much of the price. Rock or soft ground changes the excavation before any concrete is poured. The frame, roof and cladding follow the span, the height and the number of bays. Slats, gates, feed barriers and the feeding passage are part of the specification as well. An engineer's design for the tank, and drawings for the frame, let us price it accurately.

Yes. Euro Concrete pours the foundations, the floor slab and the cast walls or tanks on every farm building it puts up, formed with its own shuttering, so one crew answers for everything the steel frame stands on. The same base can also be poured on its own for a shed someone else erects.

Doing the concrete and the build together keeps the column bases lined up with the steel, the holding-down bolts where the frame needs them, and the floor laid to falls for drainage and cleaning. If you are buying a steel frame kit, or a supplier is erecting the shed, we can pour the base and column foundations to their drawings and have them ready for the frame. For a garden shed or a small store, the base is its own job, covered on the concrete shed bases page. Send the drawings or the size of the building, and we will price the concrete work.

Yes. Slurry storage is grant-aided under TAMS 3, the Department of Agriculture's farm investment scheme, and nutrient storage applied for since 23 January 2025 is paid at 60%, with a separate investment ceiling of its own. Euro Concrete builds the tank or store; the farmer applies for the grant.

Approval comes first. Under the scheme's terms, construction cannot start until the Department has issued written approval, and work begun before it is ineligible for grant. The building has to be completed to the Department's specification for that type of structure, and for buildings and tanks the scheme asks for planning permission or a declaration of exemption, with stamped drawings from the council. Once approved, the works must be finished and the payment claimed within 12 months, unless an extension is granted. Other investments in the Animal Welfare and Nutrient Storage Scheme, such as animal housing, are paid at 40%. Bring us the approved drawings and specification, and we will price the build to them.^*

* Correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing (27 September 2026), based on TAMS 3 Animal Welfare and Nutrient Storage Scheme terms and conditions, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and TAMS 3 frequently asked questions, gov.ie. These rules and guidance are updated regularly, so always check the current version at the source before you rely on this answer.

Euro Concrete Services builds farm sheds in West Cork from its base in Skibbereen, for farms from Bantry and Drimoleague across to Drinagh, and down to Leap and Glandore. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the farm's location, the building you have in mind and any planning or drawings.

Staying close to Skibbereen keeps the crew, the machines and the shuttering within reach of the yard for the length of a build, which matters on a job that runs for weeks and waits on the weather for its pours. For a farm elsewhere in Cork, the concrete work on its own, such as a tank or a slab formed with our shuttering, can still be priced. Send the drawings, or a sketch of the shed with the yard around it and a few photos, and we will reply with a price and a start date.