Welding Quotes — Strong and Professional

How to price steel and consumables without losing your shirt

Your steel price from six months ago is wrong. Prices for RHS, flat bar, and sheet metal change constantly. Before quoting any job, get current per-metre or per-length pricing from your supplier like Metalcorp or BlueScope Distribution. The same goes for consumables. Don't just guess your costs for MIG wire, TIG rods, shielding gas, and cutting discs. These small items add up across a big job. A good quote lists the exact material specs and quantities so the customer sees what they're paying for. A 15kg spool of 0.9mm mild steel MIG wire from BOC costs around $130 + GST.

Estimating labour beyond just laying a bead

The time spent welding is often the smallest part of the labour bill. A proper fabrication quote includes time for measuring, cutting, drilling, bevelling edges for full penetration welds, jig setup, grinding, and cleanup. On-site installation labour is a separate line item with a higher hourly rate than workshop time. For structural jobs, you also need to factor in time for quality control and inspection checks. All structural steel welding must comply with AS/NZS 1554.1, which dictates weld procedures and quality requirements that add to your labour time.

Quoting for powder coating and hot-dip galvanising

Finishing is an outsourced cost that can destroy your profit if you guess it. Always get a firm quote from your powder coater or galvaniser before you send the quote to your client. Their price will depend on the size, weight, and complexity of the item, plus any required pre-treatment like sandblasting. Remember to add your own labour for transport to and from their facility. Using QuoteMate, you can add these third-party costs as a distinct line item with your margin on top. A standard driveway gate will typically cost $350-$500 for hot-dip galvanising.

Manage Every Welder Job From Inquiry to Paid

Quoting is only half the work. QuoteMate tracks every welding job through a 9-stage pipeline — inquiry, quoted, accepted, scheduled, in progress, completed, paid, closed, or cancelled — with timestamps stamped automatically so you can see where every dollar is sitting and where the bottleneck is. Schedule jobs in two taps with Google Calendar sync, snap and annotate on-site photos against the job (not lost in your camera roll), keep a brain-dump checklist of materials and to-dos for the day, and chase quotes automatically if a customer goes quiet.

See how welders & fabricators run jobs in QuoteMate →