Comparable quote fields for alternative steel buildings

FrameSource Sourcing quotation comparison

FrameSource Sourcing prepares a comparable request for alternative buildings. The desk has no dealer appointment and no affiliation with betco. It does not offer the original brand as a product it can ship.

Every supplier who answers should see the same use, the same dimensions, the same design basis and the same destination. A lower unit rate that drops freight, anchors or erection is not a lower project. The work on this page is to force those differences into separate lines before anyone ranks a total.

Clipboard listing wind, snow and seismic blanks

Lock the design basis

Ask for the code edition the quoter used, the wind speed, the wind exposure category, the ground snow load and the seismic design category. A comparable pair of quotes might both be asked to use 130 mph, exposure D, 40 psf snow, category D, design live load 20 psf and design dead load 3 psf, or to mark each of those as an assumption. If the buyer does not know a value, the cell stays blank and the supplier must label the assumption. FrameSource Sourcing does not fill a county load from memory.

Design live load and design dead load sit next to collateral items such as sprinklers, ceilings or solar. A rigid frame sized without those items is a different frame. Say so in the request.

Primary frame sketch with purlin and girt callouts

Name the members in scope

Primary frame, secondary framing, purlin spacing and girt spacing should be identifiable on the quote. Hot-rolled steel and cold-formed steel are not interchangeable labels. The supplier should state the section family it priced.

Roof and wall scope includes whether an insulated metal panel is included, which coating is proposed, and which openings are framed. Thermal transmittance, when the climate requires it, is a performance target the buyer sets and the supplier confirms, not a slogan.

Truck approaching a tight site gate with a module width note

Split freight from the building

Quantity, destination ZIP or port, crane responsibility and partial shipments change the commercial total without changing the frame weight in a simple way. Ask for freight, duty, tax and installation as their own lines. A shell price that is silent on the foundation interface cannot be added to a local pier quote until both parties use the same anchor plan.

Fields each quotation should answer

Design basis
Authority and code edition	Name the jurisdiction. Do not treat IBC and HUD Code as the same path.
Wind, snow, seismic	Record wind speed, exposure, ground snow load and seismic design category, or mark unknown.
Loads on the frame	Design live load, design dead load and any collateral the process adds.
Supply boundary
Frame and secondary	Primary frame, purlins, girts, bracing and the steel family proposed.
Enclosure	Roof, wall, openings, insulation target and any fire-resistance rating requested.
What is outside	Foundation, utilities, permits, erection and site work, each marked in or out.
Commercial lines
Quantity and destination	Count of buildings or modules, plus the place freight is priced to.
Timing	Requested window. A quoted lead time is the supplier statement, not a date this desk sets.
Budget note	Optional amount, currency, and per-unit or whole-order basis. No market discount is calculated.

Design basis

Authority and code edition

Name the jurisdiction. Do not treat IBC and HUD Code as the same path.

Wind, snow, seismic

Record wind speed, exposure, ground snow load and seismic design category, or mark unknown.

Loads on the frame

Design live load, design dead load and any collateral the process adds.

Supply boundary

Frame and secondary

Primary frame, purlins, girts, bracing and the steel family proposed.

Enclosure

Roof, wall, openings, insulation target and any fire-resistance rating requested.

What is outside

Foundation, utilities, permits, erection and site work, each marked in or out.

Commercial lines

Quantity and destination

Count of buildings or modules, plus the place freight is priced to.

Timing

Requested window. A quoted lead time is the supplier statement, not a date this desk sets.

Budget note

Optional amount, currency, and per-unit or whole-order basis. No market discount is calculated.

Scope questions

Which costs have to stay on their own lines?

Freight, taxes, duties, anchors, erection, interiors and permits. A single lump sum can still be used later, but the opening comparison needs the exclusions visible. Otherwise a shell and a turnkey package look like the same purchase.

What should a supplier attach?

The proposed system name, a member or module schedule, the load criteria used, and the warranty text that applies to that system. A general mention of AISC 360 or AWS D1.1 is a request for the applicable document, not proof that the weld or the design is already accepted for this site.

Document questions

Who accepts an alternative material?

The buyer, with the structural engineer and the code reviewer the project uses. FrameSource Sourcing can line up the differences. It does not stamp drawings or approve a substitution.

Where do standard layouts fail?

A repeatable module helps when the floor, the eave height and the transport envelope already fit. Unusual clear span, a crane, a high snow load or a tight gate usually needs a project-specific frame. Say which case you are in before factories spend design time.