Make certain that the company’s specific status with regard to AISC membership or union involvement is clear to your customer—for their own safety as well as yours.
7.Delivery of steel is based on the shop schedule, with the first delivery in the time frame of 2-to-4 weeks after approved shop drawings.
Any changes in delivery for any reason are not viewed well by the customer—unless they are improvements! The steel package is the “skeleton” of the building; as such, scheduling delays will have a domino effect on all the other trades down the line.
Steel delivery to the job site is set prior to your even quoting the job. Your shop fabrication schedule isn’t determined until you have approved shop drawings returned from the general contractor. Project scheduling information is usually available in the general conditions portion of the specifications. This delivery statement is intended to help protect you from delays caused by circumstances beyond your control, with approval of shop detail drawings being one of them and a potential major cause for holding up the project.
8.Changes to submitted design by the contractor/owner or engineer on items designed by the fabricator will be incorporated as an added cost.
Changes happen all the time during shop drawing approvals and even after approvals. This statement is a continuation of that which is already in the AISC code of standard practice. If the architect or engineer makes a change that will cost your company extra money to create, then you have the option to put a cost to those changes and submit them to your customer.
Require written approval on the funding from your customer for the extra work before you start that work. If work proceeds without agreements in place, the steel fabricator runs the risk of being liable for all costs incurred.
9.This proposal is based on Prevailing Wage rates (if applicable) that are current as of the date of this bid document.
Watch the wage rates because they do change periodically. Prevailing wage or Davis Bacon requirements may put your shop fabricators at a higher rate than they normally earn and create additional paperwork for your accounting department. The Davis Bacon Act was created to force trade pay scales to be equal to union scale requirements.
This section lists the inclusion items in the bid letter, with an explanation of each numbered item.
Inclusion #1
In this section, list the main framing members. Include the material grades as well as information regarding the connections and the finings of the steel. This sample letter style has the entire structural package all included in one bid item. A more specific breakdown is preferred, with a line item for each component of the building. The breakdown would also list the plan drawings with the applicable details, and drawing references with quantities as required. Indicate the type of finish to be applied to the material.
Inclusion #2
This bid item talks only about the steel stairs together with the catwalk and railing as a complete system. Note that the total linear feet of railing is indicated with the finish as being galvanized.
Inclusion #3
In this listing, estimators are specific about the fasteners being provided. This information is important because steel fabricators should not be responsible for supplying fasteners to be used for connection to other trade materials.
Inclusion #4
Estimators indicate that their quote includes the design engineering for the fabrication per some requirement in the documents. This information is important to note specifically because design engineering is an expensive item. For the most part, steel fabricators tend to omit this listing because the pricing can vary so much from engineer to engineer.
Inclusion #5
In this inclusion, estimators affirm that shop detail drawings will be provided inclusive of erection drawings. Some projects have the steel detail drawings already provided to them.
Inclusion #6
Advising potential customers of the total weight of the project allows them a frame of reference to better compare your quote with the other prices they get from the competition. Customers need to know about the shipping and offload point; it allows customers to better evaluate your quote with what your competition may or may not have.
Note: Additional inclusion items may need to be listed according to the items requiring fabrication, as shown at the contract drawings.
1.It is important to show clearly the exclusion of any additional costs associated with doing business. Taxes, sales taxes, bonding, and liquidated damages are all costs that are referenced in the general conditions. This exclusion eliminates any assumptions that might be made about their provision
2.This exclusion prevents any assumption that the steel fabricator will provide holes in the steel for other trades to use. Such work by the fabricator is not shown in the contract drawings and cannot be assumed as part of the labor for your portion of the work. Excluding holes for other trades is a standard exclusion for every job.
3.All light gauge materials less than 1/8” are a standard exclusion; the light weight materials are in a different section than the Division 5 (see explanation of Division 5 requirements in Chapter 4, The Bid Documents) that we are working with. Light gauge materials are often used for flashing, roofing, and cold formed metal framing.
4.Framing for openings are usually shown as a typical detail. If the contract drawings specifically show locations and details for floor and roof openings, then it is clear the steel fabricator would include them. Typical roof opening details are a gray area because there usually are no references to them in the floor and roof plans. For this reason, they are excluded. Unit prices on fabricated items may be offered as an alternate.
5.Field erection and all field welding are standard exclusions if the steel fabricator is not installing this finished product.
6.Verification of missing dimensions is a standard exclusion designed to protect the steel fabricator from exposure to field work.
7.This exclusion lets the contractor know that the steel fabricator is not including any costs for engineering.
8.Costs for special inspection are picked up by the owner as a rule. However, because the specifications put the inspection requirement in the Division 5 section (see Chapter 4), it could be mistaken that the steel fabricator is responsible for paying for them.
9.The section for metal floor deck and roof deck is in Division 5. Therefore, it is to be excluded if the steel fabricator is not providing this material.
10.The nosings for stairs are a buyout item installed in the field at the time the concrete is poured. Customers do not need to have the steel fabricator supply something they can buy themselves, saving themselves the additional profit markup.
11.Steel joists are also in the Division 5 section. Be clear whether or not they are included in your pricing.
12.Both the grout for leveling the columns and the concrete fill for stair pans and landings are handled by others. They are standard exclusions.
13.Steel shim material and backing plates are usually light gauge steel. The referenced sleeves are not sized at