Design your shearing shed with shed designer.
Design a custom shearing shed online. Built to AWI guidelines, BlueScope steel, ShedSafe accredited dealers. Free comparable quotes in your region.
Why choose Shearing Sheds?
Australian BlueScope Steel
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What is a shearing shed?
A shearing shed is a purpose-built farm shed laid out around the work of shearing sheep. The board, the catching pens, the wool room, the grating storage underneath, all sit in a fixed relationship that any wool grower already knows by feel. Get the relationships right and a 4-stand shed runs 2,000 head of merinos in 8 to 10 days without anybody losing a tendon. Get them wrong and the shed costs you money every season.
ShedDesigner's shearing shed templates run from 2-stand entry sheds to 6-stand commercial sheds, in 12 to 18 metre widths, built from 100% Australian-made BlueScope steel and clad in Colorbond®. Pick the closest template, set your stand count and storage capacity, and submit your design once for free comparable quotes from ShedSafe accredited dealers in your region.
Built to AWI shed design principles
Australian Wool Innovation publishes the *Shearing Shed Design Considerations Guide*, which is the closest thing the industry has to a national standard. ShedDesigner shearing shed templates default to those principles.
Stand spacing. AWI recommends roughly 3.3 metres of total width per stand, measured between the catching-door edge and the let-go chute (Australian Wool Innovation, Shearing Shed Design). Tighter than 3.3m and the shearer loses workspace. Wider and the run lengthens unnecessarily.
Catching pens. AWI sizes catching pens at 12 to 20 ewes per stand, with catching-pen door heights of 700 to 750mm so the rouseabout can drag without bending below the knee. One catching pen per stand is the standard, with forcing pens behind sized for one refill cycle.
Grating storage. AWI recommends grating-floor storage equivalent to 1 to 1.5 days of shearing capacity, extended to 2 days in high-rainfall regions like the Western District and Tasmania, where wet sheep cannot be shorn.
Wool room. Industry rule of thumb is 25 to 30 square metres per stand of working space (skirting, classing, bins, pressing), plus dedicated bale storage. A 4-stand shed lands at a 100 to 120 square metre wool room minimum.
The shearer welfare angle
Shearer injury rates run at roughly six times the all-industry Australian average, with back injuries driving around half of all shearing injury costs (Australian Wool Innovation, Preventing shearing injuries). The single biggest design lever is the raised board. Lifting the board to waist height removes the constant bending that drives back injury, and any commercial run over 500 head should treat a raised board as the default.
Other welfare-positive specs ShedDesigner templates carry: Dutch-door breezeway airflow for the board, ridge ventilation for the under-grating area, and lighting positioned to keep the shearer's body shadow off the sheep.
Before you get quotes
A shearing shed is a 30-year asset. The dealer who builds it needs to understand both the engineering and the workflow.
100% Australian-made BlueScope steel. Across structural framing and Colorbond® cladding. BlueScope's COLORBOND® steel cladding for sheds and garages carries a warranty of up to 15 years against corrosion to perforation, with the exact period set by location and application (BlueScope, Garages & Sheds Warranty). Check your build on BlueScope's online warranty estimator.
ShedSafe accredited dealers, no exceptions. Every dealer on ShedDesigner is ShedSafe accredited under the Australian Steel Institute programme, which independently verifies dealer design and engineering against the National Construction Code, AS/NZS 1170.2 wind loading, AS/NZS 4600 cold-formed steel, and AS 4100 steel structures.
One design, multiple quotes. Your design goes out to dealers covering your region. Every dealer prices the same shed, in the same steel, to the same engineering, on the same AWI-aligned layout, so the quotes you get back are directly comparable.
The 200 square metre threshold and beyond. In NSW rural zones (RU1 to RU6), farm buildings up to 200 square metres can qualify as exempt development under the State Environmental Planning Policy (NSW Department of Planning, Outbuildings in Rural Areas). Most commercial shearing sheds are larger and need a CDC or full DA. Your dealer's quote includes the engineering documentation that supports the council application.
For other farm shed types, see the farms category and the machinery sheds sibling product.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How big does a shearing shed need to be for 2,000 head?
At AWI's recommended 3.3 metres per stand and 12 to 20 sheep per catching pen, a 4-stand shed with grating storage for 1.5 days of shearing comfortably runs 2,000 head over an 8 to 10 day shearing run. Plan for a board of at least 12 metres and a total shed width of 14 to 16 metres to fit board, wool room and under-grating storage.
What stand spacing does AWI recommend?
Australian Wool Innovation recommends roughly 3.3 metres of total width per stand, measured between the catching-door edge and the let-go chute. This gives the shearer full access to the catching pen, the downtube and the chute without lost movement (Australian Wool Innovation, *Shearing Shed Design*).
Raised board or flat floor, which should I build?
Raised boards lift the rouseabout to waist height, removing the constant bending that drives back injury. Back injuries account for roughly half of all shearing injury costs in Australia. For any commercial run over about 500 head, a raised board is the AWI-aligned default. Flat floors are cheaper to engineer but transfer the ergonomic load straight to the shed-hand and the shearer.
How big should the wool room be per stand?
Industry rule of thumb is 25 to 30 square metres per stand for working space (skirting, classing, bins, pressing), plus dedicated bale storage. A 4-stand shed needs a wool room of at least 100 to 120 square metres before the bale stack. Cramming the wool room is the single most common shed mistake we see.
How many catching pens per stand?
The AWI standard is one catching pen per stand, sized for 12 to 20 ewes. Pen door height should be 700 to 750mm to let the rouseabout drag without injury. Forcing pens sit behind the catching pens, sized for one refill cycle.
Do I need council approval for a shearing shed in NSW?
In NSW rural zones (RU1 to RU6), farm buildings up to 200 square metres can qualify as exempt development under the State Environmental Planning Policy. Most commercial shearing sheds exceed 200 square metres once the wool room and grating storage are added, so they typically need a CDC or full DA. Always confirm bushfire and heritage overlays, which can override the exemption.
Can I claim a shearing shed under the instant asset write-off?
A shearing shed itself is a capital works building. It depreciates at 2.5 per cent per year over 40 years rather than being written off in one year. Fixtures and equipment installed inside (modular stand units, presses, grinders, mobile catching pens) may qualify for the instant asset write-off if the small-business turnover test is met. The $20,000 per-asset threshold applied through to 30 June 2026, and the Federal Government has announced the threshold will become permanent from 1 July 2026, though this was not yet law at the time of writing (Australian Taxation Office, *$20,000 instant asset write-off for 2025-26*). Check ato.gov.au for the current status. Talk to your accountant before you sign.
What wind rating do I need in the Riverina or WA wheatbelt?
Inland Riverina and the WA wheatbelt sit in AS/NZS 1170.2 Region A (non-cyclonic), typically requiring an N3 design (around 50 metres per second). Coastal SA and Tasmania can step up to N4. Your ShedSafe accredited dealer engineers to the actual region for your block, certified to the current edition of AS/NZS 1170.2.
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