How structural subcontractors price formwork, steel, concrete and scaffold in Sydney
A plain guide to the bases behind the rates: what is measured, what moves the number, and what an itemised quotation should show you. No prices, because the drawings set those.
Formwork: per square metre, by element
Formwork is measured on the contact area of the form, element by element: suspended slab soffit, beam sides, wall faces, column faces, stair soffits. Each element carries its own rate because each one takes a different amount of labour and material to form, prop and strip. Storey height, the finish class on the drawings and how much a layout repeats floor to floor move the rate more than anything else. Lump sums are used when the builder wants one number for the whole formwork scope; the measure still sits behind it.
Steel fixing: per tonne, per sheet, or per day
Reinforcement for slabs, walls and cores is priced per tonne of bar placed and tied, with post-tensioned slabs carrying a separate tonnage rate because the support steel and anti-burst detail around tendons takes longer. Mesh is priced per sheet. Footings and small pours are usually better for the builder as day labour, priced per man per day, because the tonnage is low and the time is in the set-out. A good quotation shows both bases where it helps.
Concrete placement: per square metre or per pour
Placing, compacting, screeding, finishing and curing are priced per square metre for slabs, where the area drives the crew size, and per cubic metre or per pour for footings and vertical elements, where the volume does. The rate covers the crew, not the concrete: supply and pump are normally ordered on the builder's account and listed as exclusions.
Scaffolding: lump sum plus hire
Scaffold is quoted as a lump sum for erection and dismantle with an included hire period, then a weekly rate per square metre of scaffold if the hire runs longer. Alterations, hop-up movements and tie-ins during the job are either allowed in the lump sum or priced as day works per man per hour, stated on the quote. Council charges and permits for footpath scaffold sit with the builder.
What moves the number
Access and crane time, the number of pours the program allows, the finish class, the repetition of the layout, and whether the set is for-construction or still moving. A firm price needs the structural set and the propping design. From an architectural set alone you get an indicative rate, not a quotation.
What a good quotation shows
Measured quantities per element, the rate and its basis against each line, the inclusions and the exclusions written down, a validity period, and how variations will be priced. If a line looks wrong, you should be able to see which one and ring about it.
Questions about pricing
Do you publish your rates?
No. Rates depend on the drawings, the program and the site, so a published number would be wrong for most jobs. The basis on this page is fixed; send the set and the quotation shows the rate against each element.
How fast is a quotation?
Within five working days of receiving the for-construction set, and the rates are held for thirty days.
Can you price from a tender schedule?
Yes. If the builder issues a schedule of rates we price against its items and note any measurement basis that differs from ours.
Price a package
Send the drawings.
Issue the for-construction set for the packages you want priced and the quotation comes back itemised, with the basis shown against every line.