7 WAYS TO ECONOMIZE ON STEEL BUILDINGS
1. Use standard steel lengths.
Specifying standard steel lengths rather than specialty sizes seems like a no-brainer, but it's too often ignored, says AISC's Stine. For instance, ordering 20 20-foot sections is significantly less expensive than ordering 10 20 1/2-foot sections because it eliminates having to cut to size, scrapping extra steel, and paying for unusable remnants.
Stine says she often hears the argument that specifying 20 standard sections rather than 10 specialty sections will add costs by increasing an order's weight. However, less weight doesn't always mean less cost. Stine says ordering standard sizes, repeating sizes (which allows the fabricator to order larger quantities), and bundling orders usually leads to cost savings.
To save more, Stine suggests talking to your fabricator about:
- Current market conditions, and whether it's cheaper to order one size over another.
- Remnant material from another job that the fabricator may be happy to unload at a good price.
- What sizes the mills have been rolling recently: higher stock quantities generally mean lower prices.Ruby recalled a conversation he had with the fabricator working with him on St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. The owner came in with last-minute design modifications that would have required changes to the structural steel package.Ruby and the fabricator put together an order of standard sizes based on material availability that enabled the design to be reconfigured without adding to the cost of the steel.
2. Don't pay for primed or painted steel.
Steel doesn't need to be primed or painted unless it's going be used as an exposed architectural element (in, say, an atrium), exposed to the elements (as in a parking garage), or set in a corrosive environment (e.g., a chemical manufacturing plant). Not only does priming and painting add unnecessary costs, it can hinder fire protection by making it difficult for fireproofing materials to adhere to the steel.
Recommendation: Make sure your bids explicitly state no primer or paint; otherwise, they may be added to the package, says Stine. That's because steel naturally develops slight amounts of rust on a job site; even though the rust will not affect the structural integrity of the steel, it is viewed as unaesthetic, so the steel gets painted. Remember, the rust can be brush cleaned-in fact, connections must always be cleaned, notes Stine. Priming and painting can increase steel costs enough to flip the project to another material that appears to be cheaper. "It isn't simply painting costs," says Ruby. "It's also resource costs, inconvenience costs, and environmental costs. It's a much larger picture."
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