How to choose a structural steel fabricator

Choosing a structural steel fabricator is easier when you know what evidence to ask for. This guide sets out the checks builders and project managers commonly make, and what each one tells you. It is general information: your contract, your specification and your principal contractor's requirements decide what applies to your job.

Start with what your documents require

Before comparing fabricators, read what your own documents already say. The drawings and specification usually set the standards, the weld categories, the coating and the records you need handed over. A fabricator can only confirm it meets requirements that have been written down.

AS/NZS 5131 is the Australian standard for the fabrication and erection of structural steelwork. It groups work into four Construction Categories, CC1 to CC4, where a higher number means more control over fabrication. The engineer or specifier nominates the category, and the standard says CC2 applies where none is nominated. If your documents are silent, ask your engineer to confirm the category.

Welds carry categories too. Under AS/NZS 1554.1, structural purpose (SP) welds carry the design load and have tighter acceptance limits, while general purpose (GP) welds have a low consequence of defect. The category belongs to the weld, not the job, so one item can contain both.

Insurance, licences and tickets

Ask for current documents rather than statements.

• Insurance. Certificates of currency for public liability and workers' compensation (WorkCover) insurance. A certificate of currency shows that a policy is in force and what its limits are. Check the limits against your contract.
• Building licence. If your work is building work, ask which QBCC licence classes the business holds and confirm them with the QBCC.
• Trade qualifications. The trade is metal fabrication, commonly called boilermaking. The national occupation profile lists no separate trade licence for it, so ask for trade certificates for the people who will do the work.
• High risk work licences. Licensed high risk work includes dogging, rigging, certain classes of crane, forklift trucks and boom-type elevating work platforms with a boom length of 11 metres or more. Ask to see the licences for the tasks on your job.
• White Cards. For work on site, ask to see general construction induction training cards.

Safety systems

Ask how the business manages safety on site, and ask to see the documents.

• Management system. A documented work health and safety management system, and the person responsible for it.
• Safe work method statements. A safe work method statement (SWMS) must be prepared before high risk construction work starts, and on a construction project a copy goes to the principal contractor before that work begins. High risk construction work includes work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres, work in or near a confined space and work in an area that may have a flammable atmosphere (Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), ss 291, 299 and 301). Whether your job includes it is a question for your WHS adviser or WorkSafe Queensland.
• Permits and inductions. How hot work and confined space entry permits are handled, and how workers are inducted to your site.
• Prequalification. Some clients check contractors before engaging them. Ask what yours requires, and whether the fabricator has already been through that process.

Welding quality and records

This is where a fabricator's systems show. Ask what standards the work is done to and what records come with it.

• Welding standard. AS/NZS 1554.1 covers how structural steel is welded, who may weld and how welds are accepted.
• Welders. Current qualifications that cover the process, material and joint on your job. Qualifications are time limited, and a certificate for one kind of weld says little about another. Check certificates against the issuer's register.
• Procedures and supervision. The written welding procedures for your joints, and who supervises the welding and what qualification they hold.
• Material and traceability. Steel should arrive with material test (mill) certificates showing the heat number, chemistry and strength, and finished items should be traceable back to them. Some clients make approval of these certificates a hold point, where work stops until the client releases it, before fabrication starts. Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads does this in its structural steelwork specification, MRTS78.
• Inspection and testing. How welds are inspected, and by whom. All welds are inspected visually. Non-destructive testing, such as magnetic particle, dye penetrant or ultrasonic testing, is added where the specification, weld category or loading calls for it.
• Records. What is handed over with the finished job, for example an inspection and test plan, material certificates, welder and procedure records, test reports and a data pack. Agree the list before you order.
• Coatings. Who applies any galvanising or paint, to which specification (AS/NZS 4680 covers hot-dip galvanising), and who inspects it. Galvanising is usually done by a separate galvanising business, so allow for it in the programme.
• Quality system. Whether the business holds a certified quality system, and for what. ISO 9001 covers quality management in general. AS/NZS ISO 3834 sets quality requirements for fusion welding.

Capacity and track record

• Capacity. The largest and heaviest piece the workshop can handle, how it is lifted and moved, and how much steel it can realistically fabricate in a week. Tonnes are the usual measure.
• Plant and people. The equipment for cutting, forming and welding, the vehicles and equipment for any site work, and the number of qualified tradespeople available.
• Similar work. Completed projects of a similar type and size, with referees you can call.
• Programme. Realistic dates, including time for galvanising and testing, and what could change them.
• Capability statement. A short document covering services, plant, people, systems, projects and referees.

Comparing quotes

Quotes can only be compared if they are for the same thing. Check that each one states:

• the drawing revision it is based on
• what is included and what is excluded, such as material supply, delivery, coating, site work and documentation
• the material, grade and finish assumed
• the records and documents that will be supplied
• the programme, including when the steel would be ready
• any assumptions about site access.

Do not compare on the total alone: a lower total can simply mean that some items are excluded. Look also for a fabricator that raises questions in writing before work starts, such as a weld size or category that is not shown on the drawings. To prepare your own request, see what to send for a steel fabrication quote.

About FSB

FSB Welding & Fabrication has a workshop in Ormeau, on-site welding crews with equipped service vehicles and a documented WHS management system. To discuss a project, request a quote and attach your drawings.