Why costing matters
A metalwork firm rarely sells off-the-shelf products. Railings, stairs, facade elements, gates or steel structures are almost always quoted project by project. Every quote is therefore a bet: if material, working hours and overheads are right, a margin remains. If the costing is off, the firm either loses the job because it is too expensive, or wins it and works without profit.
An estimating handbook is meant to reduce this uncertainty. It provides a consistent structure, reference values and examples that apprentices and experienced estimators alike can rely on in daily work.
A good estimate is not the cheapest one, but the one you can justify afterwards.
The building blocks of a quote
Most firms use mark-up costing. Direct costs are recorded per item, indirect costs are allocated through surcharges. What matters is that each block is clearly separated so that nothing is charged twice or not at all.
| Cost block | Typical basis | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Weights, lengths, standard parts, fittings | Forgetting offcuts and small parts |
| Surface finish | Galvanising, powder coating, wet paint | Subcontracted work costed without transport and lead times |
| Workshop labour | Hours per operation times hourly rate | Underestimating set-up and ancillary time |
| Installation | Hours on site, lifting gear, travel | Ignoring access and waiting times |
| Overheads | Surcharge from cost accounting | Using outdated surcharge rates |
| Risk and profit | Deliberately chosen percentage | Misused as a negotiating reserve |
Derive your own hourly rates
Do not copy hourly rates from a book or from competitors. They must be derived from your own wage costs, productive hours and overheads. A book shows the method, not your rate.
What an estimating handbook should contain
Not every reference work is suited to daily use. Before buying, check whether it covers the following points:
- A clear method from pre-costing through the quote to post-costing
- Reference times for typical operations such as cutting, drilling, welding, grinding and installing, with notes on their limits
- Worked examples from metalwork, such as railings, stairs or gates
- Guidance on deriving hourly rates and overhead surcharges
- A link to the Swiss context: CHF, VAT, standard contract bases in construction
- Exercises with solutions if the book is used in training and continuing education
For apprentices and people in further training, traceable derivations matter most. Experienced estimators, by contrast, value tables and reference values they can look up quickly, plus examples for special cases.
From pre-costing to post-costing
The biggest learning effect comes after the job. Comparing actual hours and material costs with the quote reveals systematic deviations. A firm might find, for example, that installing stairs regularly takes longer than estimated because sites are hard to access. That extra effort then belongs in its own reference values.
- Record hours per job and operation accurately.
- Assign material withdrawals to the job, including small parts.
- After completion, compare planned and actual figures and explain deviations.
- Adjust reference values if deviations repeat.
- Actually use the adjusted values in the next quote.
A handbook provides the starting point. The firm's own experience turns it into a tool that fits its own workshop.
Common mistakes in practice
- Gut-feeling lump sums instead of items with quantities and times
- Design and planning effort not shown separately
- Steel price changes ignored although months pass between quote and order
- Time-and-material work and extra effort not documented and therefore not billed
- Risk and profit sacrificed first in negotiations
Many of these mistakes share a cause: the quote is prepared under time pressure and nobody checks it a second time. A simple four-eyes principle for larger quotes, a short checklist of the usual omissions and a fixed date for post-costing often achieve more than any new software. Keeping a template estimate for each type of job also speeds up the work and reduces outliers.
Settle price escalation in the contract
For long projects it pays to limit the validity of the quote or agree on a rule for material price changes. If in doubt, clarify the legally sound wording with the trade association or a specialist.