Structural Steel Estimating and Takeoff Services

We quantify CSI Division 05 from your structural drawings — tonnage by member and shape, connection counts, metal deck by square foot and gauge, bolts, welds, base plates and embeds — and deliver an itemized Excel workbook with a marked-up plan set. Flat-quoted from your plan set before we start.

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What We Take Off

Steel is sold by the ton and installed by the piece, and those two facts pull an estimate in different directions. A frame of few heavy members and a frame of many light ones can weigh the same and cost very differently, because the cost follows piece count, connection count and crane picks at least as much as it follows tonnage.

Beams and girderstonnage and piece count by shape and size, with length, camber and any specified mill tolerance carried per member

Columnstonnage and count by shape and size, with splice locations, lengths by tier and base plate assignment noted

Open-web joists and joist girderscount and weight by designation, separating standard, KCS and special-profile joists, with bridging quantified separately

Metal deckSF by profile, gauge and finish, separating composite floor deck, form deck and roof deck, with side-lap and support-attachment method noted

Deck accessoriesedge forms, pour stops, closures, sump pans, reinforcing at openings and shear stud counts where the deck is composite

Connectionscounted by type and location, separating shear tabs, clip angles, moment connections, splices and seated connections, because connection labor is the trade's real variable

Boltscounted by diameter, length and grade, separating snug-tight, pretensioned and slip-critical assemblies, with washers, nuts and the inspection requirement carried

Weldsinch-equivalent or count by size and type, separating shop from field welds, with the specified inspection level and NDE percentage noted

Base plates, anchor rods and embedscounted individually with plate sizes and rod diameters, cross-referenced against the concrete drawings where the anchors are actually cast

Bracingcross, chevron and knee bracing by member and connection, with gusset plates counted separately

Miscellaneous and light-gauge metalslintels, loose angles, bent plate, edge angle, kickers, dunnage, embed plates and support steel for other trades

Stairs and railingssteel stairs by flight and riser count, landings, pan versus grating treads, handrails and guards by linear foot, quantified as assemblies

Metal fabricationsladders, roof hatch curbs, catwalks, platforms, grating SF, checker plate, bollards and equipment supports

Shop primer and coatingsSF of surface area by coating system, separating shop primer, intumescent and galvanizing, with the surface preparation level specified

Fireproofing interfacesurface area to be sprayed with SFRM or coated with intumescent, quantified for coordination even where fireproofing is a separate subcontract

Shop drawings and detailingthe detailing scope itself, since on most projects it is a real cost and schedule item preceding fabrication

Erection scopecrane picks by member weight and reach, erection sequence constraints, bolt-up crews, and temporary bracing required until the frame is complete

Delivery and handlingtruckloads by weight and length, laydown area, and any oversize permit or site-access limitation

How Structural Steel Quantities Are Measured

Every quantity below is reported in the unit the scope is actually bought and bid in — not converted into a single convenient unit that hides where the cost sits.

Beams, girders, columnsTON and EABoth, always. Tonnage buys the steel; piece count drives detailing, handling, crane picks and erection labor. Reporting only tonnage hides the labor entirely.

Open-web joistsEA and TONBy designation, since joist weight is a function of the designation rather than something scaled from a drawing.

Metal deckSF by profile and gaugeProfile and gauge together — composite floor deck, form deck and roof deck are separate items even at identical area.

Shear studsEACounted individually where deck is composite, because stud installation is its own labor operation on the deck surface.

ConnectionsEA by typeThe trade's primary labor quantity. A moment connection and a simple shear tab carry entirely different shop and field hours.

BoltsEA by size and gradeWith the installation class — snug-tight, pretensioned or slip-critical — since each carries a different installation and inspection requirement.

WeldsInch-equivalentBy size and type, split shop versus field, because field welding costs a multiple of shop welding and carries its own inspection.

Base plates and anchor rodsEACounted individually and reconciled against the concrete drawings, where the anchors are actually cast into the foundation.

Shop coatingsSF of surfaceSurface area by coating system, not member weight — a light member can have more surface area per pound than a heavy one.

Stairs and railingsFlights EA, LFStairs by flight with riser counts; rails by linear foot. Steel stairs are assemblies and pricing them by weight misses the fabrication.

Grating and plateSFBy type, thickness and bearing-bar depth, with banding and cut-outs counted separately.

ErectionPicks EACrane picks by member weight and reach, since a frame's erection cost tracks picks and sequence rather than total tonnage.

Who This Is For

General contractors carrying this trade directly, or checking a subcontractor's number before it goes into the bid.

Subcontractors pricing their own scope in this division.

Developers and owners validating a number they've already been given.

Material suppliers and distributors verifying a customer's order.

What You Receive

An itemized Excel takeoff, organized by division
A marked-up plan set — every quantity traces back to a location on the drawings
Labor, material and equipment split out separately
Waste and overage factors shown as visible line items
An assumptions and exclusions schedule

Marked-up structural steel plan crop

What Moves the Number on Structural Steel

Piece count against tonnage. Two frames of equal weight can differ substantially in cost if one is built from a few heavy members and the other from many light ones. Detailing, fabrication setups, handling, crane picks and bolt-up all scale with piece count. A takeoff that reports only tons has left out the quantity that drives the labor.

Connection type and complexity. Moment connections, slip-critical bolted joints and field-welded splices are far more expensive per connection than simple shear tabs. Connection design is often delegated to the fabricator, which means the estimate has to make an assumption — and that assumption should be visible, because it can move the number materially.

Shop versus field work. AISC 303 sets out the standard division of responsibility, and the shop/field split is the trade's biggest cost lever. Shop welding is cheaper, more controllable and easier to inspect than field welding; bolted field connections are usually faster than welded ones. What is drawn as a connection detail decides which you get.

Erection sequence, crane and site access. Crane size follows the heaviest pick at the longest reach, not the average member. Restricted sites, tight laydown areas, phased erection and steel that must be flown over an existing structure all add cost that no drawing shows and that tonnage cannot express.

Coatings and fireproofing. Shop primer, galvanizing and intumescent coating are priced by surface area and surface preparation level, not by weight. Where sprayed fire-resistive material is required, the coordination and the surface area matter even when the fireproofing itself is another subcontract.

Material availability and mill versus stock. Whether a shape comes from a mill order or from a service center's stock affects both price and lead time, and unusual shapes or grades can drive the schedule rather than follow it. Where a member's availability is a genuine risk, it belongs in the assumptions rather than in a unit rate.

What We Need From You

A complete set is ideal, but rarely what exists. Send what you have — we will tell you at quote stage what can be quantified firm and what has to be an allowance.

Structural drawings — framing plans, elevations, sections and typical details
Column and beam schedules with sizes, grades and lengths
Connection details, or a statement that connection design is delegated to the fabricator
Deck plans with profile, gauge and attachment requirements
Specification sections for Division 05, including welding, bolting, inspection and coatings
Foundation and concrete drawings, for anchor rods, base plates and embeds
Architectural drawings, for miscellaneous metals, stairs, railings and support steel for other trades
Site plan and access constraints, where erection sequence or crane placement is limited

How It Works

1 Send your plans — PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file.
2 Get your quote — a flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing.
3 Approve — nothing starts until you confirm.
4 We take it off — quantities from the drawings and schedules.
5 Delivery — workbook, marked-up set, assumptions schedule.

How Pricing and Turnaround Work

Every project is priced individually from your drawings. Send the plan set and you get a flat quote for the scope before any work starts — no hourly billing, no open-ended engagement.

Turnaround depends on the size of the package and how many trades are in scope — which is why you get a firm delivery date with your quote rather than a generic promise.

Tools and Standards

Takeoffs are produced in Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Trimble, STACK, organized against CSI MasterFormat divisions — this scope is specified under Division 05 — Metals.

Quantities and assemblies are read against the published standards that govern this trade, because the standard is what decides whether two apparently identical items are actually the same line item:

AISC 303 — Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges
AISC 360 — Specification for Structural Steel Buildings
AWS D1.1 — Structural Welding Code, Steel
RCSC Specification for Structural Joints Using High-Strength Bolts
ASTM A992, A572, A36, A500 — structural shape and tube material specifications
ASTM F3125 — high-strength structural bolt assemblies
SJI Standard Specifications for open-web steel joists and joist girders
SDI Standard for metal deck design and construction
SSPC surface preparation standards for shop coatings

Pricing is built on RSMeans cost data localized to your project's market, then reconciled against current supplier quotes and our own completed project costs. Every estimate states its pricing basis and the date it was priced.

Why Structural Steel Is Estimated Wrong

Tonnage reported without piece count. Tonnage prices the material and says nothing about the labor. Detailing, fabrication, handling, picks and bolt-up all follow piece count, so two frames of identical weight can carry very different labor hours. This is the defining structural error in steel estimating.

Connections assumed simple. Where connection design is delegated, an estimate has to assume a connection type. Assuming simple shear connections on a frame that turns out to be moment-resisting understates shop labor, plate material, bolting and inspection simultaneously — and it is not recoverable after award.

Miscellaneous metals left to a lump allowance. Lintels, loose angles, bent plate, embeds, kickers and support steel for mechanical equipment accumulate into real tonnage and a great many separate pieces. They are scattered across architectural and mechanical drawings, which is precisely why they end up as an allowance instead of a count.

Anchor rods and embeds never reconciled with the concrete set. Base plates and anchor rods are shown on structural steel drawings but cast by the concrete contractor. If neither takeoff reconciles the two, the anchors are either double-counted or missing — and a missing anchor pattern is discovered at erection, which is the most expensive moment to discover it.

Erection priced per ton. Erection cost follows crane picks, reach, sequence and site access. A per-ton erection rate borrowed from an open greenfield site applied to a constrained urban infill job will be short, and the shortfall is labor and equipment, which is the part that cannot be value-engineered later.

Related Estimating Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you report tonnage or piece count?

Both, always. Tonnage is what the steel is bought on and piece count is what the detailing, fabrication and erection labor is driven by. An estimate with only one of the two cannot be checked.

How do you handle delegated connection design?

We state the connection type assumed for each condition and count connections by type. Where the drawings delegate design to the fabricator, that assumption is the single biggest variable in the estimate, so it is listed explicitly rather than buried in a per-ton rate.

Is metal deck included?

Yes — by square foot, profile, gauge and finish, with composite floor deck, form deck and roof deck separated, plus pour stops, closures, edge forms and shear stud counts where the deck is composite.

Do you quantify miscellaneous metals?

Yes, as counted items rather than an allowance — lintels, loose angles, bent plate, embeds, kickers, dunnage and support steel for other trades, gathered from the architectural and mechanical drawings as well as the structural set.

Are stairs and railings part of the takeoff?

They are, quantified as assemblies — stairs by flight with riser counts, landings, tread type, and handrails and guards by linear foot. Pricing steel stairs by weight misses most of the fabrication, so we do not.

Do you separate shop welds from field welds?

Yes. Field welding costs a multiple of shop welding and carries its own inspection requirements under AWS D1.1, so the two are never combined into a single weld quantity.

Do you include erection, or only fabrication quantities?

We quantify both, and we identify erection by crane picks and sequence rather than by tonnage, with site access constraints stated. If your erection is subcontracted separately, the split is already clean in the workbook.

Can you cross-check anchor rods against the concrete drawings?

Yes, and it is part of the deliverable — every base plate and anchor pattern reconciled between the steel and concrete sets, with mismatches reported. This is one of the most common coordination gaps between the two packages.

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