Steel fabrication lead times: what to expect
Programme questions come up on every job. Here is an honest view of what takes how long, and what is usually responsible when a job slips.
Typical durations
Quoting takes about one working day from complete drawings. Simple structural steel, such as extension beams cut, drilled and primed, is usually a few working days in the workshop once ordered. A staircase or a set of gates takes longer, generally a few weeks, because there is a site measurement, more fabrication and usually an external finishing process.
Hot dip galvanising and powder coating are handled by specialist plants and add a predictable but real amount of time. They are the biggest single chunk in most non structural jobs.
What actually causes delays
Incomplete drawings are the commonest. A beam cannot be cut until the length, the connections and the finish are all confirmed, and part of a design waiting on an engineer holds the whole item.
The second is late changes. Moving an opening by 200mm after fabrication has started means the steel is scrap. The third is site readiness, where the steel is finished but the padstones or the crane are not ready.
How to compress the programme
Get drawings finalised and approved early, confirm the finish at order rather than later, and book the site measurement as soon as the relevant levels are fixed. On stairs, confirm the tread finish thickness at the start.
If the date is genuinely critical, tell us at quote stage. Sometimes a primer finish instead of galvanising, or splitting a delivery so the critical items come first, saves a week.
What we commit to
We give a delivery date with the quote and tell you if it is at risk rather than letting the date pass quietly. Where a job cannot be done in the timeframe you need, we say so up front.
Send drawings and your required date and we will tell you honestly whether it works.
Want this priced for your own job? Send us your drawings or a photo and we will come back with a fixed price, usually within one working day.
Common questions
Need this done properly? Talk to the workshop.
Send us drawings, a sketch or a site photo. We come back with a fixed price and a firm lead time, usually within one working day.