The steel estimating checklist: items most often missed

How to use this checklist

Most money lost on a steel bid is not lost on the big members. It is lost on the items nobody counted: a row of loose lintels on an architectural elevation, a galvanizing note in the specification, a crane that has to reach farther than anyone expected. Each item below is either in your estimate, explicitly excluded in your proposal, or confirmed as not on this job.

Go through it after the takeoff and before pricing is final. Adapt it to your shop: add the items that have caught you before, and remove what you never do.

Items get missed for predictable reasons. They are drawn on a sheet the steel estimator didn't open, described only in the specification, covered by a "typical" note that applies in more places than it looks, or assumed to belong to another trade. A checklist works because it forces you to look in each of those places on purpose, instead of relying on memory at the end of a long bid day.

Documents and scope

• All addenda received and applied, with superseded sheets removed from the takeoff.
• Specifications read, not just the drawings: Division 05 sections plus Division 01 (general requirements), which covers schedule, submittals, temporary facilities, cleanup and closeout.
• Architectural, mechanical and civil sheets swept for steel, not just the S sheets.
• Scope split confirmed: who furnishes and who installs joists, deck, embeds, anchor rods and misc metals.
• Bid form requirements: alternates, unit prices, allowances and required forms.
• Delegated design called out anywhere (connections, stairs, railings, canopies), which means engineering cost.

Structural framing and connections

• Connections at every beam end, including moment and braced connections and their gusset plates.
• Column stiffeners and doubler plates at moment connections.
• Base plates, cap plates and splice plates.
• Anchor rods, with nuts, washers and plate washers; and whether you set them or only furnish them.
• Shear studs: count from the plan callouts, and whether they are shop or field installed.
• Camber on beams where noted.
• Bracing, including small members such as kickers and bottom flange braces.
• Opening frames in deck for roof hatches, ducts and penetrations.
• Edge angles, pour stops and bent plate at slab edges and openings.
• Moment frame and braced frame elevations checked against the plans.
• Transfer beams, hangers and posts that appear only in sections.

Miscellaneous metals

• Loose lintels at masonry openings, often in a lintel schedule on the architectural or structural sheets.
• Ledger angles and shelf angles along walls and at slab edges.
• Embed plates with headed studs or anchors, cast into concrete by others.
• Rooftop unit frames and mechanical dunnage, usually only on the mechanical sheets.
• Stairs (stringers, treads, landings, pan fill) and ladders, including roof access ladders and ship's ladders.
• Railings and handrails at stairs, ramps, mezzanines, roofs and loading docks.
• Grating, trench drain frames and checker plate.
• Bollards, corner guards and pipe guards.
• Hoist and monorail beams.
• Post-installed anchors such as epoxy anchors, with hole drilling labor.
• Canopy and sunshade framing and support steel for other trades' items.

Misc metals are where shop hours per ton climb fastest. A ton of railing or stair has far more pieces, cuts and welds than a ton of beams, so price each assembly's labor on its own rather than at a blended rate per ton.

Steel for other trades that lands in your scope

Some of the most expensive misses are pieces of steel that support someone else's work. They are often drawn by the other trade's designer, referenced with a vague note, or left to be coordinated later.

• Elevator steel: hoist beams, divider beams between hoistways, sill angles and pit ladders. Check the elevator drawings and specification, not just the structural set.
• Curtain wall and façade support: embed plates, continuous angles and kickers at slab edges for glazing and panels.
• Parapet and roof screen framing, with bracing back to the roof structure.
• Overhead door and coiling door support: jamb and header framing at large openings.
• Equipment supports: frames for tanks, generators, exhaust fans and hanging equipment.
• Masonry support: relieving angles, bond beam ties and bracing for tall walls.

When you find one of these and the drawings don't size it, don't guess silently. Price a reasonable assumption and state it as a clarification, or send an RFI before the bid.

Finishes and coatings

• Shop primer type and the surfaces to be left unprimed (faying surfaces of slip-critical joints, steel to be fireproofed, steel embedded in concrete).
• Galvanizing, including the weight basis your galvanizer prices on, freight to and from the galvanizer and the turnaround time.
• High-performance coatings or a multi-coat system called for in the specification.
• Surface preparation level required by the coating system.
• Field touch-up of primer or galvanizing after erection.
• AESS requirements: grinding, weld finish and handling.
• Fireproofing compatibility of the primer, if the steel is to be sprayed.

Shop, detailing and engineering

• Shop drawings and detailing, including revisions and RFIs during detailing.
• Connection engineering and its stamped calculations, if delegated.
• Shop fabrication labor for every assembly, not just main members: stairs and railings take far more hours per ton than beams.
• Consumables: weld wire, gas and grinding discs.
• Material escalation between bid and purchase, and mill lead times for less common shapes.
• Stock length drops and waste on material you cannot reuse.
• Quality requirements: certified welders, weld testing and certification paperwork.

Freight, erection and the field

• Freight to the site, including oversize or permitted loads for long or heavy pieces.
• Erection equipment: crane size and reach for the heaviest pick at the farthest radius, plus telehandlers, scissor lifts, boom lifts or scaffolding for work at height.
• Mobilizations: how many times you go to the site if the job is phased.
• Site access and laydown area: a tight urban site may force shakeout elsewhere and just-in-time deliveries.
• Field bolting and welding, field labor at the right rates, including overtime if the schedule requires it.
• Safety requirements: perimeter cable, fall protection, site-specific training.
• Surveying and layout of anchor rods, and correcting misplaced rods.
• Cleanup, dumpsters and temporary power.

Commercial terms

• Bonds: payment and performance bonds, if required, and their cost.
• Insurance requirements above your standard coverage.
• Permits and inspections: who obtains and pays for special inspections and testing.
• Sales tax treatment for the project.
• Escalation: how long your price holds and how material price changes are handled.
• Schedule: duration, phasing and liquidated damages.
• Payment terms and retainage, and their effect on your cash flow.
• Proposal validity period stated clearly.

Anything on this list you are not carrying belongs in your exclusions or clarifications. The proposal inclusions and exclusions guide has example wording.

The last pass before you submit

1. Every takeoff item has a price. Nothing is left at zero.
2. Vendor quotes are current and not past their expiry date.
3. No inclusion in the proposal contradicts an exclusion.
4. Alternates are priced separately and labeled clearly.
5. The total weight and price per ton make sense against similar jobs you have built.
6. Someone other than the estimator who did the takeoff has reviewed the bid.

Kredna runs several of these checks for you before a bid goes out: unpriced takeoff, expired quotes, takeoff on superseded or unscaled drawings, and conflicts between inclusions and exclusions. The optional AI estimate review looks for access equipment, hoisting, field labor and scope gaps, and adds each suggestion as an unpriced line only when you accept it.