STEEL contruction COSTING OF STEELWORK FROM FEASIBILITY THROUGH TO COMPLETION

The editor also invites readers to submit letters, comments and discussions on papers appearing in “Steel The paper contained in this issue of Steel Construction entitled “Costing of Ste

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48 Kishorn Road, Applecross 6153 (09) 364 8288

Steelplan Drafting Services

15/885 Albany Highway,

East Victoria Park 6101 (09) 362 2599

For detailing of steelwork

For fabricated steelwork

See page 48

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CONTRIBUTIONSContributions of original papers on steel design, research

and allied technical matters are invited from readers of

“Steel Construction’’, for publication in the journal The

editor also invites readers to submit letters, comments

and discussions on papers appearing in “Steel

The paper contained in this issue of Steel Construction

entitled “Costing of Steelwork from Feasibility through toCompletion” considers a new method of costing steelwork.The method examines costs associated with each processand breaks it up into costs related to steel supply, fabrication,surface treatment and erection The paper also illustrates themethodology by several case studies

As the new costing method is published in the journal forfurther industry comment, the authors would welcome anyfeedback on its details and application Additionally, readers

should note that the regular Steel Construction “Current Cost

Indicators” – which was generally based on a $/tonne method– has been withdrawn This has been due to various reasons– the primary one being its inconsistency with the preferrednew costing method

AISC MEMBERS…

THE BEST IN STEEL FABRICATION

AISC disseminates information on up-to-date steel design and fabrication technology, and thisinformation flows to its detailer and fabricator members

When considering fabricated steelwork it makes sense to deal with those detailers andfabricators who share the institute’s resources Their names, addresses and telephone numbers arelisted below

© AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

NEW SOUTH WALES

T & S Bates Pty Ltd

PO Box 308, Engadine NSW 2233 (02) 520 6096

QUEENSLAND

BDS Technical Services

80 Tribune Street, South Brisbane 4101 (07) 3844 8093

G & D Drafting Pty Ltd

PO Box 928, Cleveland 4163 (07) 3252 5124

QEI Pty Ltd

361-363 Montague Road,

West End 4101 (07) 3844 2772

Steelcad Drafting Pty Ltd

4/27 Birubi Street, Coorparoo 4151 (07) 3847 3799

Steeltech Steel Detailers Pty Ltd

24 Curzon Street, Tennyson 4105 (07) 3848 6464

VICTORIABayside B W E Pty Ltd

7 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne 3004 (03) 9867 6066

Bayside Drafting (Aust) Pty Ltd

Cnr Skye Road & Farrell Street,

48 Kishorn Road, Applecross 6153 (09) 364 8288

Steelplan Drafting Services

15/885 Albany Highway,

East Victoria Park 6101 (09) 362 2599

For detailing of steelwork

For fabricated steelwork

See page 48

1 INTRODUCTION

A considerable amount of effort is devoted during the

design process to optimizing the design to achieve a

min-imum cost solution The measure traditionally used to

judge the economy of the design is the quantity of steel in

the structure expressed as a weight per square metre of

floor area or per cubic metre of cubic content (Hart Henn

& Sontag (1)) Therefore, the optimization of a design has

meant the minimization of the quantity of material in a

pro-ject This has permeated all facets of design, construction

and research For steel structures, the current method of

costing steelwork on the basis of a rate per tonne has lead

to this concentration on minimum mass solutions Yet

Girardier (2) indicates that the material cost represents

only 40% of the total cost of the steel frame The

remain-ing 60% of the cost represents the value added in

fabrica-tion and erecfabrica-tion which has been very difficult to

accurately quantify This latter component has often been

neglected in design For example, the cost of stiffening a

penetration can add considerably to the cost a beam, yet

it is often not considered worthwhile to carry out a design

to determine the level of stiffening required By

compari-son, a considerable time is typically spent minimizing the

size of the member

Various proposals (Australian Institute of Steel

Construction (3), Hogan and Firkins (4)) have been made

to remedy this situation and some worthwhile general

principles have been developed These have included

advice such as: weld in the fabrication shop, bolt on site;

adopt simply supported connections not continuous

Whilst these qualitative principles will generally apply,

they do not allow the particular situation to be

adequate-ly investigated There has also been some industry

skep-ticism on whether the benefits of adopting good design

principles were being passed on to the client in the form

of lower prices In fact, it was frequently perceived that

good design was costing more, as the design was often

heavier and hence on a rate per tonne basis it would cost

more Firkins and Hemphill (5) advised on work hours per

tonne for various types of work and whilst this was a

refinement, it translated into a rate per tonne It was an

average rate and did not allow details to be costed with

steelwork, Watson and Buchhorn (6) developed conceptsfor costing steelwork in which components of the cost weretaken into account The concepts proposed were similar tothose practices adopted by the professional fabricators.The method was further developed (Watson, Dallas & Main(7); Main, Watson & Dallas (8) and Watson & Dallas (9))into a practical and rational method of costing steelwork.During this period extensive consultations were undertak-

en with all sections of the Australian construction industrywhich lead to the method being refined and extended tocover most types of steel construction The steel construc-tion industry has been very supportive of these develop-ments as the system reduces the contractual risks to thefabricator and also reduces the cost of tendering by pro-viding a format consistent with the fabricator’s method ofestimating

Tizani, Davies, Nethercot and Smith (10) have been oping knowledge based engineering systems to carry outcomparative costing on different space frame systems.Their approach is similar to that discussed in this paper.This paper explains the method and uses case studies toillustrate the insight that can be achieved into factors influ-encing costs Extensive tables of indicative unit rates aregiven so that most structures can be costed The applica-tion of the method at various stages of the design and con-struction process is demonstrated with particular attentionbeing given to extending the method to cover early stages

devel-of design Indicative sizes and costing are given for portalframe industrial buildings, carpark, office and retail floors

to assist with costing at the early stages of design The posed method presented has not yet been fully extended

pro-to cover all plate structures such as bins and silos.However the principles can readily be applied to suchstructures

2 THE CURRENT METHOD

When pricing a job, fabricators determine the cost of thesupply of materials, the number of hours involved in fabri-cating steelwork, and the costs for surface treatment anderection These costs are then summed and divided by thetotal number of tonnes to determine a rate per tonne to be

COSTING OF STEELWORK FROM

FEASIBILITY THROUGH TO COMPLETION

K.B Watson, S Dallas and N van der Kreek

BHP Structural Steel Development Group

T Main

Trevor Main & Associates

ing projects and the Institute of Quantity Surveyors and

Master Builders’ – Construction and Housing

Association’s (12) Standard Method of Measurement

(SMM5) for building projects

Table 1 shows that there is a great variation in cost of

steelwork on a dollars per tonne basis The variation

reflects the complexity of the work to fabricate and erect To

overcome this wide spread, rates have been developed

and published (Cordell (13), Rawlinsons (14)) for various

types of work

Poulos (15) investigated the costs of three different portal

frame designs for a 2,000 square metre building with a

span of 30 metres The results are summarised in Table 2

and show a 36% variation in tonnage rates over the three

designs This illustrates that even for standard structures

the current method cannot give accurate and reliable

cost-ing of projects Whilst the ‘conservative’ design increased

the tonnage by 12% over that required for the ‘good’

design, the total cost of the frames increased by only 6%

This was because only the steel supply component of the

cost increased as there was no difference in the cost of

the shop drawings, fabrication, transport and erection

However, for the skinny design a corresponding decrease

in the mass of steel from the ‘good’ design increased the

cost of the frame by 15% This increase was caused by

more complicated knee connections, additional fly bracing

and additional costs in erecting flimsy members

Therefore the current method, which leads to minimising

weight can result in more costly designs

3 PROPOSED NEW METHOD OF

COSTING

As accurate costing is one of the essential features

neces-sary to design and construct economical structures, it was

decided to develop a rational costing method which will

overcome these deficiencies The goals of the new method

are to:

• give a more reliable and accurate method

• provide a continuity of approach from initial projectcosting through to fabricator’s detailed costing

• provide a clearer focus on the elements that will have

a significant effect on the final cost

• allow reliable determination of cost of contract tions

varia-• provide a methodology which is simple to understand

In order to achieve these goals, the costs are divided intofour components: steel supply, fabrication, surface treat-ment and erection Costs represent rates received fromfabricators and as such, they do not include the builder’smargin The indicative costs given in Appendix A areapplicable for projects where the steelwork cost (supply,fabrication and erection) is greater than $150,000 The cur-rent hourly labour rate adopted for the tables is $40.00

3.1 Steel Supply

Steel supply covers the supply of all materials including hotrolled, welded, cold formed and tubular sections, plate, aswell as items such as bolts and shear studs (ReferAppendix A1 for tables.)

Sections are costed on a rate per metre basis This bringsthe costing of hot rolled sections into line with cold formedsections, such as purlins and tubular sections, which havebeen traditionally been sold on a per metre basis Anotheradvantage of this method is that it allows a very quick com-parison to be undertaken on different sections capable ofcarrying the same load

Plate is costed on a rate per square metre basis This gives

a more realistic measure than dollars per tonne and allowsfor any changes in the cost of steel with thickness to behighlighted as shown in Figure 1

Wastage has not been allowed for in the rates given as itcan be minimised in the design process For instance,

Item Cost ($) / tonne Variation

(times lowest cost)

there is often the opportunity to eliminate wastage, or at

least minimise it, by designing with standard lengths in

mind (Refer Appendix B and BHP Steel (16) for details of

standard lengths), or by providing sufficient time in the

pro-ject programme for the steel to be supplied cut to the

spec-ified length by the manufacturer Wastage is typically 2-5%

for a project By combining the requirements for a number

of smaller projects the wastage level can be minimised to

similar levels to that of larger projects

3.2 Fabrication

3.2.1 Introduction

Fabrication covers each activity after the delivery of steel

to the fabricator to the delivery of steel to site It includes:

shop detailing; fabrication of end connections, items along

a member, compound members; and transport Surface

treatment is covered as a separate item in Section 3.3

It is proposed that all costing be activity based The time

required to undertake each activity is therefore used This

has the advantage that it is relatively constant across

Australia and is not subject to significant fluctuations with

the changing economic times With relatively expensive

machines, like beam lines, the cost has been converted

into equivalent work hours to include capitalised costs and

hence simplify the method Consumables, minor

equip-ment, overheads and profits are included in the hourly rate

The hourly rate is readily obtainable and allows costs to be

updated to reflect the local economic situation It was found

that a high level of accuracy can generally be achieved by

3.2.2 End Connections

It is proposed that all the hours associated with a connectionare allocated to the supported member Appendix A2.1gives tables of rates for commonly used standard connec-tions

3.2.3 Work Along a Member

This covers work along a member which is not associatedwith connection to another member Examples includepurlin and other cleats, penetrations, architectural connec-tions Refer to Appendix A2.2 for rates

3.2.4 Compound Members

Compound members are members built up from individualcomponents and include three plate members, trough andbox girders, box columns, trusses, vierendeel trusses andbattened columns These members form two different cat-egories:

• Members whose costs of fabrication are related to theirlength Examples of these include three plate membersand box columns The cost of fabricating these mem-bers is given as a rate per metre Table A2.2.4 gives therates for fabricating a three plate girder

• The costs of fabricating trusses, vierendeel trussesand battened columns are dependent largely on thecosts associated with each joint Examples of fabrica-tion costs for different types of trusses are given inTable A2.2.5

Fig 1 Steel Supply Plate Pricing

supplemented with advice from fabricators The costs

given in Appendix A2.1 and A2.2 are complete costs for the

fabrication of the item and hence already include the costs

given in Appendix A2.3

3.2.6 Shop Detailing

Watson et al (7) referenced the cost of shop drawings

back to the number of hours of fabrication The ratio varied

from 1 hour of shop detailing for every 4 hours of

fabrica-tion for portal frame work, to parity for complex work

involv-ing significant variations

Main et al (8) gave guidance on the number of hours

required to draw marking plans, individual members,

com-ponents and carry out checking The estimator is then

required to determine the number of drawings

The time to prepare shop drawings is dependent on the

quality of the contract drawings, the complexity of the

pro-ject and the amount of repetition There has been a decline

in the quality of contract drawings as fee pressure has

intensified This is usually a false economy, as the shop

detailer must fill in the gaps in information, and this results

in significantly increasing the costs of shop detailing

Where members are identical, the costs of detailing are

significantly reduced as the member is only drawn once

Minor differences in details add to the cost, as they must be

noted on drawings or the members redrawn When

sever-al people are working on a project, there should be

com-mon detailing across the whole project, otherwise

members will be required to be redrawn needlessly

Due to difficulties in determining the number of identical

and similar members early in the design process, it is

rec-ommended that a method of relating the cost of detailing to

the cost of fabrication be used at this stage (refer Table

A2.4.1) As the design is finalised, the estimate can be

refined if it is based on the number of shop drawings (refer

Table A2.4.2)

3.2.7 Transport

The cost of transport is directly related to the number of

truck loads of steel, the size of the loads and time taken to

load, transport and unload the steel Hence the cost is

related to both the weight and volume of steel and to a

lesser extent the distance from the site Table A2.5.1 gives

the rate per member to transport beam and stick type

steelwork

The total typical travel time for a city delivery is 9 hours per

load which is composed of the following components: time

from depot to fabrication shop (1.0 hour); time to load

steel-work on truck ( 2.5 hours); fabrication shop to site (1.5

hours); waiting time at site and the time to unload steelwork

3.3 Surface Treatment

Surface treatment covers all forms of treatment to the steeland includes painting, galvanising, fire spray, intumescentpaint and fire rated board systems A rate per square metre

of applied treatment has been adopted as the appropriatemeasurement Differences in handling, thickness of zinc ingalvanising and thickness of fire spray due to changingsurface to mass ratio have been allowed for by giving ratesfor three different mass per metre categories as shown inAppendix A3 For the fire rated board systems, the project-

ed area will generally be applicable Appendix C gives thesurface areas for standard sections which makes the pro-posed method very simple to apply

3.4 Erection

The key determinant in the cost of erecting steelwork is thenumber of lifts that are required Once the crane size isdetermined based on the dual requirements of lifting radiusand mass of component, it costs virtually the same to lift avery light member as a heavy member The cost of erect-ing bigger sections has been increased to allow for theextra time for the end connections and to plumb the steel-work Appendix A4 gives typical costs per member for por-tal frames and multi-storey buildings

For other types of projects it is recommended that thecosts be derived using the same methodology This is illus-trated by the bridge example in section 3.5.2

4 CASE STUDIES 4.1 Case Study No 1 – Portal Frame

The costing of an internal bay of a 2000 square metrewarehouse with portal frames at 9 metre centres and 6metre eaves is given in Appendix D1 This shows thatapproximately 60% of the cost of the building is in thepurlins and sheeting However, the time spent in optimisingdesigns of portal frames has generally been on minimisingthe tonnage in the frame which represents only 20% of thecost of the building As was shown in section 3, this effortcan be counter productive and lead to more expensivedesigns

An alkyd primer (red oxide zinc phosphate) paint systemwas chosen as providing adequate corrosion protection.This paint system is usually applied in the fabrication shop.However, if an inorganic zinc silicate system was adopted,the steel would normally have to be transported to a spe-cialist contractor to be grit blasted and painted The totalcost of painting would have increased four fold with the use

A ten level office building with a floor plate of 1000 square

metres net per floor was chosen to investigate the costing

method (refer Figure 2) A conventional layout with beams

spanning from the perimeter to the core was prepared

(refer Figure D2.1) A 120mm deep slab on 1.0mm Bondek

II spanned 2.8 metres between the steel beams The floor

structure was required to accommodate a major air

condi-tioning (A/C) duct around the reinforced concrete core A

steel depth limit of 300mm was adopted in this area to

maintain a reasonable plenum height (the height from

underside of ceiling to the top of slab above) Also, the A/C

duct layout and flexibility requirements indicated web

pen-etrations at third points in the typical secondary beams B1

and B7 Other internal beams were specified to have small

circular penetrations at third points for services The floor

beams were designed in accordance with the soon to be

released composite beam standard AS2327.1-1996 (17)

Beams were cambered for their self weight and the

con-crete slab weight

The initial design, referred to as Design A, had an overall

steel beam intensity of 31kg/sq.m This scheme involved

stiffened web penetrations in B1 and B7 which were

460UB67.1 beams Alternatively, adopting 530UB82.0

beams in these locations eliminated the need for stiffening

at the web penetrations This scheme had a beam steel

intensity of 35kg/sq.m and is referred to as Design B

Appendix D2 gives a full costing of beams for Design A and

the varied beams in Design B, using the proposed method

of costing The results are summarised in Table 3

When costing according to the proposed method, the steelframe cost of Design B is slightly lower even though it isheavier than Design A However traditional methods ofcosting based on a constant dollars per tonne rate wouldhave quickly ruled out Design B, as it was heavier.For Design A, the stiffener supply and fabrication costs atthe penetrations totalled $190 per penetration compared

to $32 for Design B with its unstiffened penetrations Whenthe extra beam supply and firespray costs associated with

a 530UB82.0 were also included, a similar overall costresulted Steel cost includes supply, shop detailing, fabri-cation, fire-spray, transport and erection of structuralsteelwork

The fire spray cost for both schemes represented about20% of the total steel-frame cost Bennetts and Thomas(18) showed that on the 40 storey, 140 William Street,office building in Melbourne that if a reliable fire sprinklersystem was installed and the passive fire protectionremoved, the building would be safer than a building meet-ing the building regulations The fire spray on this buildingwas subsequently not reapplied during the refurbishment.The shop detailing was costed by estimating the number ofdrawings It was decided that each beam type would bekept identical throughout the 10 floors Consequently, theshop detailing cost represented less than 1% of the totalsteelwork cost However if changes were made such ashaving different end connection on some members, chang-ing penetration sizes throughout the floor and betweenfloors, the cost of shop details could increase to about 5%

of the total steel cost

The plenum height is influenced by a variety of factors such

as the depth and layout of the mechanical services, thedepth of the beam/slab at beam notches and the depth ofthe lights Even though some beams were increased indepth in Design B, it would not generally require a greaterplenum height than Design A Therefore facade costs werenot included in the cost comparison Also, crane costs havenot been included since for this type of project the crane isnormally provided by the builder

4.3 Case Study No 3 – 34.5 m span Bridge

The structures used in the previous examples havesignificant repetition and similarity between projects andhence industry rates could be developed This commentparticularly applies to site activities Accordingly for morecomplex projects, or for projects with less repetition, thepublished rates may need to be supplemented with ratesdeveloped from first principles A simply supportedskewed bridge spanning 34.5 metres is used to demon-strate the application of the method

Table 3 Cost Comparison of Designs.

Fig 2 Floor Layout

The bridge is shown in Appendix D3 and is skewed at 15°

to the road alignment The bridge spans 34.5 metres with

a width of 12.6 metres and consists of four composite plate

I-beams, each weighing approximately 25 tonnes, at a

spacing of 3.5 metres Grade 350 steel has been adopted

for the top flange and as the bridge is designed in

accor-dance with Victorian conditions, Grade 350L15 has been

used for the bottom flange The web is Grade 250 The

plate lengths were chosen to minimise the number of

splices within the length of the beam The concrete deck is

composed of precast formwork acting compositely with the

insitu concrete

The surface treatment specified for the project was Class

2.5 blast together with 75µm of inorganic zinc silicate This

has been found to provide a very good life as well as being

an economical solution

4.3.2 Costing Of The Bridge

Appendix D3 shows the estimated costs of the supply,

fab-rication, surface treatment and erection of the beams,

intermediate and abutment cross frames

(a) Steel Supply

The areas of plate and the lengths of sections were

calcu-lated and the appropriate rates applied During this process

the various length, width and thickness combinations of

plates were investigated to minimise the number of welded

splices and ensure the required combination was available

(Refer Appendix B) For bridges, it is usually necessary to

order the required combination rather than rely on standard

plates which have a maximum length of 12 metres and are

mainly available in Grade 250 A smaller range of Grade

350 standard plate is also stocked by distributors

A 5% wastage factor was allowed for trimming the plates

and for the waste involved in profiling the web to provide the

specified camber This could have been refined by

investi-gating in more detail the exact size of plates required

(b) Fabrication

The fabrication costs of the beams and cross frames were

quickly and simply obtained from the relevant tables The

mass per metre of the beam was greater than given in the

table for the fabrication of gussets (or stiffeners) After

con-sultation with some fabricators, it was agreed that the

high-est rate in the table would be appropriate

Bridge design drawings generally contain sufficient

infor-mation so that shop drawings are not required

The transport of the 35 metre long beams required special

consideration as they were significantly over length and

would therefore require pilot vehicles and semi trailers with

A layout of the site was prepared and it was determinedthat it was necessary to lift 25 tonnes at a radius of 20metres A number of crane hire companies were then con-tacted to determine suitable mobile cranes A 150 tonnecrawler crane was required to enable a single crane lift Forsuch large cranes the mobilisation and demobilisationcosts form a large component of the total cost of the erec-tion where there is a small number of members to be liftedinto place It was determined that the crane would berequired to be on site for a total of a week A rigging crew

of 3 was allowed

(e) Accuracy of estimate

To confirm the accuracy of the method and rates, a ber of fabricators were asked to price the bridge Detailedpricing by the fabricators was found to be in close agree-ment with those given in Appendix D3

num-4.3.3 Comparison With Traditional Design

This method allows the designer to assess the impact ofdifferent structural arrangements to be determined withaccuracy For example the beam spacing of 3.5 metres iscompared with the traditional spacing of steel beams of 1.8

to 2.5 metres (Rapattoni (19)) The reduced spacingincreased the number of beams from 4 to 6

Haywood (20) indicates the steel quantity would be

slight-ly increased with the traditional beam spacing AppendixD3 illustrates that the fabrication, surface treatment andtime related erection cost are proportional to the number ofbeams Therefore the cost of these items would increase

by approximately 50% This would increase overall cost ofthe steelwork for the bridge by about 20%

5 APPLICATION OF METHOD AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF PROJECT 5.1 Stage 1 – Pre-design Costing

At this stage of a project the information is often verysketchy and the aim of the study is to determine whetherthe project is worth proceeding with Therefore the inputsare the variables affecting the cost and revenue from theproject For example on an office development the keyvariable is the amount of floor space Hence it is impor-tant to have reliable costs per square metre of officespace

These costs can be derived from previous projects usingthe methodology presented in Section 3 A database fromprevious similar projects would allow this information to bebuilt up Perara and Bennett (21) reviewed methods of

5.2 Stage 2 – Indicative Costing

Once a layout is prepared, no matter how preliminary, the

method of costing proposed in Section 3 can be applied

Initial sizing can be based on experience, previous similar

designs, or design aids such as those given in Appendix E

The types of connections will be generally known at this

stage This can be as general as whether the connection is

rigid or pinned

The accuracy of the estimate can be improved when the

preliminary sizing is undertaken by the structural engineer

This step is necessary when the team has limited

experi-ence with a particular form of construction Design aids to

assist in the preparation of preliminary sizing include:

• Design Capacity Tables (22)(23) for steel members

• Steel Construction Journal December 1995 (24) for

composite members

• Portal frame design guidance and charts (25) (26)

• Composite Steel Highway Bridge design guidance and

charts (20)

All non-standard connections should be reviewed to

ensure that practical connections can be developed

The supply of bolts, cleats and wastage at this stage can

be allowed for by applying a percentage increase on the

main steel members It is suggested that 5% be allowed for

simply supported construction and 10% for continuous

construction

The order of accuracy at this stage is ±10%

5.3 Stage 3 – Detailed Costing

At the end of the detailed engineering, all the information is

available to accurately (±5%) determine the cost of the

structure using the method This is illustrated in the case

studies (Section 4 and Appendix D) During all stages of

the design, considerable benefit to the project can be

obtained by having detailed discussions with the fabricator

and other specialists The proposed costing method

assists in this by providing a common language for all

pro-ject participants

5.4 Tender

The new method will greatly assist the fabricator, in

com-parison to the current method, during the tender process

as it is presented in a form that assists preparation of the

tender The time taken for the preparation of the Bill of

Quantities is the same as that for the current method, as

the new method doesn’t significantly change the process

of taking off the quantities, instead it changes the way the

information is presented For the full benefit to be obtained

from the new method, the Bill of Quantities must form part

of the contract This in the longer term will lead to

signifi-cant savings for the client as it will substantially reduce the

cost of tendering

5.5 Cost Control Including Variations

6 STANDARD METHOD OF MEASUREMENTS

The Victorian Fabricators Sub-Committee of the AustralianInstitute of Steel Construction (27) have developed a draftrevision for amending the SMM5 (12) to incorporate thenew method This has been trialed on a project and found

to be very workable As it largely involved changing the sentation of the document rather than fundamentallychanging how quantities are taken off, it took the sametime as preparing a conventional bill This document is cur-rently being circulated for industry comment prior to mak-ing a formal submission on changing the standard.The Australian Standard AS 1181 (11) was issued in 1982and gives only limited guidance for steel construction It istime that consideration be given to updating this standard

pre-7 COMPUTERISATION

During the development of the costing method, sheets have been used extensively to assist in quickly eval-uating different options Spreadsheets have the advantagethat they can be simply modified to suit a particular pro-ject’s requirements

spread-Two different sets of proforma sheets have been used inAppendix D These may be used as a template for spead-sheets or for manual calculations The first set (AppendixD1 and D2) is suitable where there is a large number ofmembers in the structure and relatively little work permember The second set (Appendix D3) is suitable wherethere are relatively few members, but with a significantamount of work on the members The second proformasheets may also be used to develop costs for more com-plicated members and the results then fed into the first set

of sheets

At the more sophisticated level a number of database tems (eg Costcalc, WinEst Pro) are in use in the largercompanies Discussions with the vendors indicate thatthese systems can be relatively easily changed to accom-modate the new method of costing

sys-One interesting development is the linking of design anddrafting systems into costing systems There are a number

of instances where the Computer Aided Drafting Systemhas been linked to the costing system This saves a con-siderable amount of time, but probably more importantlythe number of errors

8 CONCLUSIONS

A rational new approach has been presented which hasbeen shown to give improved reliability and accuracy incosting steelwork It provides a common language that can

be used by all participants at every stage of the design andconstruction of the structure

The new approach is based on dividing the costing cise into four components:

exer-• Steel supply - cost per metre for sections

- cost per square metre for plate

stages of a project from pre-design, design, tendering

through to contract administration It has proven to provide

a valuable tool in the economical design and construction

of steel structures

9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Authors would like to thank those colleagues who

have commented on the previous work which has added

considerably to the development of the new method In

par-ticular, special thanks are given to fabricators who have

cooperated in supplying rates given in the appendices

10 REFERENCES

1 HART, F.,W HENN, H SONTAG, “Multi-Storey

Buildings in Steel” 2nd Edition Ed B Godfrey,

University Press, Cambridge 1985

2 GIRARDIER, E.V “Design for stability…of the

industry” Structural Stability and Design, Kitipornchai,

Hancock & Bradford (eds) 1995 Balkema, Rotterdam

3 Australian Institute of Steel Construction (1992)

“Economical Structural Steelwork” (Third Edition)

4 HOGAN,T.J AND A FIRKINS (1986) “Economical

Design and Construction of Medium Rise Commercial

Buildings using Structural Steel” Proceedings of the

Pacific Structural Steel Conference New Zealand

Heavy Engineering Reasearch Association Vol 1 pp

243-263

5 FIRKINS, A AND R HEMPHILL (1990) “Fabrication

Cost of Structural Steelwork” Steel Construction Vol

24 No 2, Australian Institute of Steel Construction

6 WATSON, K.B AND D.P BUCHHORN (1992) “A new

approach to costing structural steelwork” Proceedings

of the Third Pacific Structural Steel Conference,

Japanese Society of Steel Construction pp 437-444

7 WATSON, K.B., S DALLAS AND T MAIN (1994)

“Costing of Structural Steelwork – The Need for a New

Approach” Preprints Of Papers Australasian

Structural Engineering Conference 1994. The

Institution of Engineers, Australia Vol 2 pp 1039-1046

8 MAIN T., K.B WATSON AND S DALLAS (1995) “A

Rational Approach to Costing Steelwork”

Construction Economics – The Essential

Management Tool The Australian Institute of Building

Surveyors

9 WATSON, K.B AND S DALLAS (1995) “New Method

of Costing Steelwork – The Way to Economical

Structures” Structural Steel: PSSC ’95, 4th Pacific

Structural Steel Conference (N.E Shanmugan & Y.S.

Choo (eds)) Vol 1 pp 651-658.Pergamon

10 TIZANI, W.M.K, G DAVIES, D.A NETHERCOT, AND

D.A SMITH (1994) “Construction-led design of tubular

13 CORDELL BUILDING INFORMATION SERVICES

“Cordell Building Cost Guide, Commercial & Industrial”(1996) Vol 26 No 1

14 RAWLINSONS (1996) “Australian Construction book” (The Rawlinson Group (ed))

Hand-15 POULOS, J.(1993) “Costing of Fabricated StructuralSteelwork De-Mystified” Notes from AISC TechnicalEvening Melbourne

16 BHP STEEL (1994) “Hot Rolled and Structural SteelProducts” BHP Steel

17 STANDARDS AUSTRALIA (1996) “AS2327.1 posite construction in structural steel and concrete –Simply supported beams”

Com-18 BENNETTS, I.D AND I.R THOMAS (1994) ments in the Design of Buildings for Fire Safety

Develop-Preprints Of Papers Australasian Structural Engineering Conference 1994 The Institution of

Engineers, Australia Vol 2 pp 640

19 RAPATTONI, F (1996) “Steel Road Bridges – NewDevelopments and Future Trends” The NationalConference of the Institution of Engineers

20 HAYWOOD, A.C.G “Composite Steel HighwayBridges” British Steel General Steels

21 PERERA, M.K.M and D.W Bennett, “ProbablisticRegression Models for Construction Cost and Time”

Australian Civil Engineering Transactions, The Institution of Engineers, Australia, Vol 35 No 2 June

1993, pp171-177

22 AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF STEELCONSTRUCTION (1994) “Design Capacity Tables forStructural Steel, Vol 1: Open Sections” (SecondEdition)

23 AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF STEELCONSTRUCTION (1992) “Design Capacity Tables forStructural Steel Hollow Sections”

24 PATRICK, M., P.H DAYAWANSA, I EADIE, K.B.WATSON AND N VAN DER KREEK (1993).”AustralianComposite Structures Standard AS2327, Part 1:

Simply – Supported Beams” Steel Construction Vol 29

No 4, Australian Institute of Steel Construction

25 WOOLCOCK, S.T., S KITIPORNCHAI, M.A.BRADFORD (1993) “Limit State Design of PortalFrame Buildings.” 2nd Edition Australian Institute ofSteel Construction

26 KITIPORNCHAI, S., L.W BLINCO, S.E GRUMMIT(1991) “Portal Frame Design Charts.” First Edition.Australian Institute of Steel Construction

27 AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL TION VICTORIAN FABRICATOR SUB COM-MITTEE.(1996) Proposed Revision to SMM5

28 AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL TION (1985) Standardized Structural Connection(Third Edition)

CONSTRUC-APPENDIX A1: STEEL SUPPLY COST

General Notes:

1) The rates given include distributor’s and fabricator’s margins but do not include an allowance for wastage Typically,wastage allowance varies between 2 - 5 %

2) The base grade of hot rolled steel and welded sections is readily available ex-stock from distributors

Higher grade steel must be specifically ordered (typical lead time – 8 weeks)

and is subject to minimum order quantities

For standard lengths and widths refer to Appendix B

Subject to minimum order quantities and lead times, steel may be ordered to a specific length

This can be useful when the wastage would otherwise be high

3) Hollow Sections are readily available ex stock from distributors

Non standard lengths must be specifically ordered (typical lead time – 5 weeks)

For standard lengths and widths refer to Appendix B

4) Purlins & Girts are readily available cut to specified length

Coating Class Z450 is subject to minimum order quantities

SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE

300 350 300 350 300 400 300 400 kg/m $/m $/m kg/m $/m $/m kg/m $/m $/m kg/m $/m $/m

150 UB 14.0 14 15 360 UB 44.7 51 54 700 WB 115 159 168 1000 WB 215 297 314

18.1 18 20 410 UB 53.7 62 65 173 239 253 322 445 47022.2 23 24 59.7 68 72 800 WB 122 168 178 1200 WB 249 344 364

TABLE A1.1 UNIVERSAL BEAMS & WELDED BEAMS

TABLE A1.2 UNIVERSAL COLUMNS AND WELDED COLUMNS

SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE SECTION GRADE

5 EA 1.9 2.0 55x55x5 EA 3.7 3.9 8 EA 11.3 11.9 150x150x10 EA 23.3 24.8

6 EA 2.5 2.6 6 EA 4.7 5.0 10 EA 13.6 14.4 12 EA 29.1 30.940x40x3 EA 1.8 1.9 65x65x5 EA 4.4 4.6 12 EA 17.0 17.9 16 EA 37.7 40.1

5 EA 2.6 2.8 6 EA 5.6 5.9 19 EA 44.8 47.7

6 EA 3.4 3.5 8 EA 7.2 7.6 200x200x13 EA 48.0 50.645x45x3 EA 2.0 2.1 10 EA 8.7 9.1 16 EA 58.4 61.6

5 EA 3.0 3.1 75x75x5 EA 5.1 5.3 18 EA 65.2 68.8

6 EA 3.8 4.0 6 EA 6.5 6.9 20 EA 72.1 76.0

8 EA 8.4 8.8 26 EA 92.1 97.2

10 EA 10.1 10.6

TABLE A1.5 EQUAL ANGLES

TABLE A1.6 UNEQUAL ANGLES

TABLE A1.3 TAPER FLANGE CHANNELS & PARALLEL FLANGE CHANNELS

WIDTH x GRADE WIDTH x GRADE WIDTH x GRADE WIDTH x GRADE

TABLE A1.7 FLATS

Note: Extra for Prime Plate (Abrasive Clean 2 sides and Prime 2 sides) – $3.90/sqm

Note: Extra for Prime Plate (Abrasive Clean 2 sides and Prime 2 sides) – $3.90/sqm

TABLE A1.8 PLATE

TABLE A1.9 GRADE L15 PLATE

APPENDIX A1: STEEL SUPPLY COST (CONT’D)

THICKNESS GRADE THICKNESS GRADE

TABLE A1.10 FLOOR PLATE

13.5x2.3 CHS 3.6 33.7x3.2 CHS 3.1 76.1x3.6 CHS 8.5 139.7x5.0 CHS 22.52.9 CHS 4.9 4.0 CHS 4.3 4.5 CHS 11.5 5.4 CHS 28.317.2x2.3 CHS 4.0 4.5 CHS 8.0 5.9 CHS 17.4 165.1x5.0 CHS 26.52.9 CHS 5.3 42.4x3.2 CHS 3.8 88.9x4.0 CHS 11.0 5.4 CHS 33.221.3x2.6 CHS 2.3 4.0 CHS 5.5 5.0 CHS 14.1 508.0x6.4 CHS 1163.2 CHS 3.2 4.9 CHS 15.0 5.9 CHS 21.4 9.5 CHS 1713.6 CHS 4.7 48.3x3.2 CHS 4.4 101.6x4.0 CHS 15.0 12.7 CHS 22626.9x2.6 CHS 2.3 4.0 CHS 5.7 5.0 CHS 19.7 610.0x6.4 CHS 1423.2 CHS 3.4 5.4 CHS 9.1 114.3x4.5 CHS 16.0 9.5 CHS 2104.0 CHS 6.0 60.3x3.6 CHS 6.4 5.4 CHS 22.8 12.7 CHS 278

4.5 CHS 8.55.4 CHS 10.8

TABLE A1.11 CIRCULAR HOLLOW SECTIONS

21.3x2.0 CHS 2.2 76.1x3.2 CHS 9.1 273.1x4.8 CHS 39.4 406.4x6.4 CHS 66.126.9x2.0 CHS 2.3 88.9x3.2 CHS 11.3 6.4 CHS 48.0 9.5 CHS 1092.3 CHS 2.6 5.5 CHS 12.8 9.3 CHS 68.3 12.7 CHS 14833.7x2.0 CHS 2.6 114.3x4.8 CHS 13.3 323.9x6.4 CHS 58.8 457.0x6.4 CHS 87.52.6 CHS 3.3 6.0 CHS 16.4 9.5 CHS 84.4 9.5 CHS 11742.4x2.0 CHS 3.4 168.3x4.8 CHS 22.9 12.7 CHS 114 12.7 CHS 1252.6 CHS 4.4 6.4 CHS 28.4 355.6x6.4 CHS 64.8

Note: Coating Class Z200 is used for all section sizes

Cost of Bridging $6.05/m

Cost of Fascia Purlin BZ350 $21.80/m

APPENDIX A1: STEEL SUPPLY COST (CONT’D)

TABLE A1.15 PURLINS & GIRTS

20x20x1.6 SHS 1.3 1.3 50x50x1.6 SHS 3.6 3.7 75x75x2.5 SHS 7.4 7.6 89x89x3.5 SHS 13.625x25x1.6 SHS 1.7 1.7 2.0 SHS 4.5 4.6 3.0 SHS 7.6 7.9 5.0 SHS 15.32.0 SHS 2.3 2.3 2.5 SHS 4.5 4.6 3.5 SHS 9.4 9.7 6.0 SHS 19.52.5 SHS 2.7 2.8 3.0 SHS 5.2 5.4 4.0 SHS 9.4 9.7 125x125x4.0 SHS 20.530x30x1.6 SHS 2.2 2.2 4.0 SHS 6.6 6.8 5.0 SHS 11.1 11.5 5.0 SHS 24.22.0 SHS 2.7 2.8 5.0 SHS 9.8 10.1 6.0 SHS 16.2 16.7 6.0 SHS 31.235x35x1.6 SHS 2.9 3.0 65x65x2.0 SHS 6.7 6.9 100x100x3.0 SHS 10.2 10.5 9.0 SHS 57.12.0 SHS 3.3 3.4 2.5 SHS 6.5 6.7 4.0 SHS 12.8 13.2 150x150x5.0 SHS 32.32.5 SHS 3.3 3.4 3.0 SHS 7.2 7.4 5.0 SHS 14.6 15.0 6.0 SHS 40.83.0 SHS 4.2 4.3 4.0 SHS 9.9 10.2 6.0 SHS 18.7 19.3 9.0 SHS 60.940x40x1.6 SHS 3.3 3.4 5.0 SHS 12.6 13.0 9.0 SHS 46.6 — 200x200x5.0 SHS 40.52.0 SHS 3.4 3.5 6.0 SHS 15.8 16.2 6.0 SHS 51.32.5 SHS 3.7 3.8 9.0 SHS 79.03.0 SHS 4.7 4.8 250x250x6.0 SHS 63.04.0 SHS 6.2 6.4 9.0 SHS 97.8

TABLE A1.13 SQUARE HOLLOW SECTIONS

50x20x1.6 RHS 3.2 3.3 75x25x1.6 RHS 4.6 4.7 100x50x3.5 RHS 9.4 9.7 150x100x4.0 RHS 20.52.0 RHS 3.5 3.6 2.0 RHS 5.5 5.7 4.0 RHS 9.7 10.0 5.0 RHS 23.62.5 RHS 4.0 4.1 2.5 RHS 5.5 5.7 5.0 RHS 11.8 12.1 6.0 RHS 30.73.0 RHS 4.7 4.9 75x50x2.0 RHS 6.4 6.5 6.0 RHS 16.6 17.1 200x100x4.0 RHS 24.250x25x1.6 RHS 3.3 3.4 2.5 RHS 6.1 6.3 125x75x3.0 RHS 11.0 11.4 5.0 RHS 32.32.0 RHS 3.7 3.8 3.0 RHS 6.6 6.8 4.0 RHS 13.9 14.3 6.0 RHS 37.72.5 RHS 4.0 4.1 4.0 RHS 9.0 9.2 5.0 RHS 15.4 15.9 9.0 RHS 60.93.0 RHS 4.9 5.0 5.0 RHS 11.8 12.1 6.0 RHS 20.8 21.5 250x150x5.0 RHS 41.665x35x2.0 RHS 5.0 5.1 6.0 RHS 15.0 15.5 150x50x3.0 RHS 10.2 10.5 6.0 RHS 48.62.5 RHS 4.7 4.9 100x50x2.0 RHS 7.1 7.3 4.0 RHS 14.6 15.1 9.0 RHS 79.03.0 RHS 5.8 6.0 2.5 RHS 7.0 7.2 5.0 RHS 15.4 15.9

3.0 RHS 7.4 7.6

TABLE A1.14 RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTIONS

Note: Cost of Edgeform $5/m

TABLE A1.22 HIGH STRENGTH STRUCTURAL BOLT (Grade 8.8), NUT & WASHER ASSEMBLY – GALVANISED

Product Names Custon Orb Trimdek Spandek

Corrugated Monoclad Longspan

TABLE A1.19 ROOFING & WALLING PROFILES

Base Metal Thickness (BMT)

0.60 17.3

0.75 20.0

1.00 25.0

TABLE A1.16 STRUCTURAL STEEL DECKING

Supply includes sealants, etc

Panel Thickness Cost

TABLE A1.17 SHEAR STUDS

*Note: For further details refer AISC (28)

APPENDIX A2.1: FABRICATION CONNECTION COSTS

General Notes:

1) All costs given in Appendix A2.1 are based on an hourly rate of $40 which includes overheads, consumables andfabricator’s margin for medium sized steel projects

(Greater than a $150,000 steel contract for supply, fab & erect)

2) These costs do not include material supply costs Refer to Appendix A1 for details

3) CFW: Continuous Fillet Weld

CPBW: Complete Penetration Butt Weld

Section

<60.5 0.8 32 1.0 40 6.2 248 1.6 64 1.5 6060.6 to 160 1.6 64 1.8 72 9.5 380 2.7 108 2.0 80160.1 to 455 3.0 120 3.3 132 11.4 456 5.4 216 3.0 120Diagram

Comments Cut beam & WSP Cut beam & FEP Doubler plate (200x100x16mm) extra $20ea Cut, beam & plate

drill/punch holes drill/punch holes Cut haunch, beam & end plate, drill/punch drill & weld CFW*CFW to WSP * CFW to FEP * holes & weld CPBW to Flange & CFW to Web*

TABLE A2.1.1 CONNECTIONS COSTS

Connections 50% Moment Capacity Splice 100% Moment Capacity Splice Web Splice Plate

<60.5 2.5 100 3.0 120 3.8 152 4.3 172 1.1 4460.6 to 160 6.3 252 8.3 332 9.0 360 11.0 440 2.4 96160.1 to 455 12.3 492 15.8 632 17.8 712 23.8 952 3.5 140Diagram

Comments Cut plates & beams, drill/punch holes Cut plates & beams, drill/punch holes Cut plate & beam

Web Splice Plate each side Web Splice Plate each side drill/punch holes.CFW weld for welded/bolted Single web Splice Plate

TABLE A2.1.2 SPLICE CONNECTIONS COSTS

Hourly Rate $40/hr

Section Notch End of Beam Cope

<60.5 0.8 32 2.5 100 0.3 12

60.6 to 160 1.4 56 4.1 164 0.4 16

160.1 to 455 2.3 92 7.9 316 0.7 28

Diagram

Comments Cut notch & beam Cut notch & beam, Cut cope only

stiffener slot &

weld CFW

TABLE A2.1.3 NOTCH END OF BEAM AND COPE COSTS

Section Flattened Welded “T” Slotted End Plate Capped as a Wedge Gusset Slotted

< 15 0.7 28 1.1 44 1.3 52 2.0 80 1.3 5215.1 to 30 1.0 40 1.5 60 2.2 88 3.8 152 2.4 9630.1 to 60.5 - - 1.8 72 3.4 136 5.5 220 3.7 14860.6 to 160 - - 2.0 80 4.5 180 7.3 292 5.1 204Diagram

Comments Cut Section & Press Cut Section and Cut Section & Plate, Cut Section & Slot Cut Gusset & Slot

Cut & CFW weld “T” Slot & CFW weld & CFW weld & CFW weld

TABLE A2.1.4 HOLLOW SECTIONS END-CONNECTIONS COSTS

Connections Universal Columns Connections Equal Angles

TABLE 2.1.5 BRACING CONNECTION COSTS

APPENDIX A2.2: FABRICATION WORK ALONG A MEMBER COSTS

General Notes:

1) All costs given in Appendix A2.2 are based on an hourly rate of $40 which includes overheads,

consumables and fabricator’s margin for medium sized steel projects

(Greater than a $150,000 steel contract for supply, fab & erect)

2) These costs do not include material supply costs Refer to Appendix A1 for details

3) CFW: Continuous Fillet Weld

CPBW: Complete Penetration Weld

Note: All rates given above are for non overlap except for “CHS Profiled” joints and may include stiffeners which are added to above costs.Extra for overlap joints 10% Weld CFW except for the flanges of I-Sections are CPBW in the 60.1 - 120kg/m range only

Section Hours per web member per joint for cutting, handling, assembly & welding.

kg/m Hours $ Hours $ Hours $ Hours $ Hours $

Diagram

TABLE A2.2.1 TRUSS WEB MEMBER FABRICATION COSTS

*Note: CPBW costs are based on 10mm thick stiffener For thicker stiffeners refer to Table A2.3.3 for additional welding

costs CFW are based on 6mm CFW

Stiffeners Fitted Stiffener Fitted Stiffener Curtailed Stiffener Curtailed Stiffener

Section - Butt welded ends - Fillet welded - Both ends - Single end

mass (kg/m) Hours $ Hours $ Hours $ Hours $

Diagram

Comments Cut & weld Cut & weld Cut & weld Cut & weld

Flange CPBW* Flange / Web CFW Web CFW Flange / Web CFW

/ Web CFW

TABLE A2.2.2 STIFFENERS FABRICATION COSTS

Hourly Rate $40/hr

Note: CFW all around stiffeners

Note: Stripping, handling, assembly,

CFW to web/flanges

Longitudinal butt welds if required,

refer Table A2.3.2 & A2.3.3

Comments Cut, drill & weld

TABLE A2.2.7 PURLIN CLEAT & FLY

BRACING CLEAT COSTS

TABLE A2.2.8 COVER PLATE

Note: For lengths up to 12mCPBW used on plate preparationFor splice welding of lengths, refer toA2.3.3 for additional costs

Dia x Plate Hours Cost Thickness

750x12 2.8 110900x16 4.5 1801200x20 7.5 3001200x25 9.3 370

TABLE A2.2.5 TUBULAR COLUMN

FABRICATED COSTS

Note: Camber achieved by Heating or

Pressing

For heaviour sections ie >160.1kg/m,

it is generally more economical to

profile cut the web

TABLE A2.2.6 CAMBER COSTS

<60.5 0.4 16 0.7 28 2.0 80 3.4 136 4.2 16860.6 to 160 0.5 20 0.8 32 2.4 96 4.1 164 5.7 228160.1 to 455 0.7 28 1.2 48 3.7 148 6.1 244 8.5 340Diagram

TABLE A2.2.3 PENETRATIONS FABRICATION COSTS

Notes for Tables A2.3.1, A2.3.2 & A2.3.3

Multiplying factors to above costs, depending on access:

Site welding: 1.3

Overhead welding: 1.5

See note below

See note below

See note below

(t) Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm

APPENDIX A2.3: FABRICATION ELEMENT COST

General Notes:

This Appendix has been provided to assist with costing connections or details not otherwise covered in Appendices A2.1and A2.2 (Connection Costs and Work Along a Member) Costs contained in those Appendices already include (whereappropriate) costs provided in this Appendix

Visual inspection of welds is included however ultrasonic weld inspection is extra

tw Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm

TABLE A2.3.1 CONTINUOUS FILLET WELDS

(t) Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm Short Length Weld ≤250mm Long Length Weld >250mm

Sections End Cut

<60.5 0.25 10 0.40 16 0.30 12 0.90 3660.6 to 160 0.65 26 0.95 38 0.75 30 2.20 88160.1 to 455 0.90 36 1.30 52 1.05 42 3.05 122Diagram

TABLE A2.3.6 SECTION END CUTS

Cut & weld 4 to 6 deformed bars

Angle seat (150x19EA) & stiffener (130x16Pl)

Cut & weld $32 extra

TABLE A2.3.4 CAST IN PLATE

Section

< 93 0.15 693.1 to 282 0.10 4Comments Split “T” from sections by

supplier & fabricator

TABLE A2.3.5 SPLIT “T”

PLATE

TABLE A2.3.7 STRIPPING, CROPPING, CUT TO SHAPE & BEVEL CUT

APPENDIX A2.3: FABRICATION ELEMENT COST (CONT’D)

Plate

Thickness Punching Drilling & Oxy Cutting

<16.5 0.02 0.8 0.05 2.0

16.6 to 32 - - 0.30 12.0

32.5 to 50 - - 1.50 60.0

TABLE A2.3.9 DRILLING & PUNCHING SLOTTED HOLES

Weight/unit Cleats, Stiffeners,

Gussets & Base plates

Turnbuckle ( weld rod to plate, cut

& weld gusset plate, & drill 2 holes)

TABLE A2.3.11 BRACING WITH RODS

Shop Drawings

Fabrication Shop Drawing Ratio of Fabrication Hours to

Low Rise or Light Portal Frame 4 1

Portal with mezzanine 2.5 1

Complicated work or with variations 1 3

TABLE A2.4.1 INITIAL STEEL DETAILING COST

Note: Above rates include checking of drawings

* Drawings with minor changes

Marking plans typically required:-Holding Down Bolts, Elevations, Roof & Floor Plans, Intersections & Purlin/Girts

ie Portal Frame = 3 Drawings @ 15 Hours/Drg & Multi Storey Frame = (5 Drg + Floor Plans @ 15 Hours/Drg)

Shop Drawings include connections

Marking Plans: Marking Plans: Marking Plans:

(see note) 20 800 Floor Plan 20 800 (see note)

Repeated Floor Plan* 3 120Shop Drawings: Shop Drawings: Shop Drawings:

Haunch Member 10 400 Beam Member 8 320 Profiled CHS 17 680Column Member 5.0 200 Column Member 5 200 Non-profiled 9 360Repeated Member* 1.5 60 Repeated Member* 1.5 60

Bracing Member

-(Angle) 1.5 60

-(Rod with D-bracket) 0.4 16

Flybracing 0.7 28

Mullion door & door head 2.6 104

TABLE A2.4.2 DETAILED STEEL DETAILING COSTS

Hourly Rate $40/hr

General Note:

1) All costs given in Appendix A2 allow fabricator’s margin for medium sized steel projects

(greater than a $150,000 steel contract for supply, fabrication & erect)

APPENDIX A2.5: TRANSPORT COSTS

General Note:

1) Allow for twice the cost of transportation if surface treatment is

applied at a premises other than the fabrication shop

Costs are based on a truck load of steel