Job costing for steel and welding contractors

Steel jobs spend heavily before anything is erected: material and shop fabrication come first, field labor and the crane come later. JobMargin keeps shop and field costs apart, so front-loaded spending doesn’t look like trouble and real trouble doesn’t hide.

What steel and welding contractors track in JobMargin

• Shop and field separately. Steel, fabrication, and field labor each get a budget, so you can see whether the shop or the field is running long.
• Crane and rigging. Crane days get their own line, the cost that grows fastest when erection slips.
• Scope by item. Line items like “Egress stairs, 2 EA” or “Guardrail, Level 3” become the job’s scope, and progress is logged as each is set.
• Erector hours by job. Field crews clock in on their phones, and night or weekend work goes in by pay type.

Set up for steel from the first day

When you pick Steel & Welding as your trade, JobMargin loads these cost categories for budgets, receipts, and job costs. You can rename or add your own at any time.

• Steel & Metals
• Labor
• Fabrication
• Welding Supplies
• Crane & Rigging
• Equipment Rental
• Freight
• Fuel
• Subcontractor
• Other

Bid line items use the units steel actually bid in: tons (TON), linear feet (LF), each (EA), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a steel job looks like mid-way

Stairs, rails, lintels, and canopy steel for a five-story building. The stairs are fabricated, and two of five floors of rail are installed.

Steel and shop fabrication are front-loaded, so 82–83% spent before most of the install is normal. Field labor is 35% spent with two of five floors of rail in, slightly ahead of plan. Crane and rigging at 53% is worth watching, since the canopy steel, which needs the crane most, is still to go.

Guides and tools for steel and welding contractors