How much does metal fabrication cost?

There is no meaningful per-kilo or per-hour figure, because material is often the smaller part of the invoice and everything else is time driven by geometry. Price is set by material and grade, thickness, cutting method, tolerances, welding extent and standard, finish, quantity and delivery. Send drawings, a quantity and a finish, and get two or three quotes.

Why is my one-off part so expensive?

Because the first part carries all the programming, setup and jigging. That cost is the same whether you order one or fifty, so it lands entirely on a one-off. If a second batch is realistic, say so at quotation stage: knowing the setup can be amortised changes the unit price.

What is the cheapest metal to fabricate?

Mild steel, in standard stock sizes and thicknesses, with a general tolerance and a simple finish. Stainless and aluminium cost more per kilo and more to process, and specific grades within each vary. If the environment allows mild steel with a protective finish, that is usually the lower-cost route.

Guide

Metal fabrication cost: the eight variables that set your price

Updated 2026-08-14

Fabrication is priced from geometry, not from a description. Here is what a fabricator is actually adding up when they look at your drawing.

Why there is no price per kilo

Two parts of identical weight can differ in price by a factor of five. One is a flat plate with four holes; the other has tight tolerances, full penetration welds, a galvanised finish and a delivery to a site with no forklift. Material is often the smaller half of a fabrication invoice, and everything else is time. So the useful question is not what steel costs, it is how much time your drawing creates.

Where the money actually goes

Material: Priced by weight and grade, and it moves with the commodity market. Standard stock sizes are cheaper than anything that has to be ordered in, and offcuts you cannot use are still material you paid for.
Processing: Cutting, drilling, folding and rolling. Mostly machine time plus setup, which is why the first part is expensive and the tenth is not.
Welding and fitting: Usually the largest labour element. Weld length, access, position and whether the joint must be qualified and inspected all multiply it.
Finishing: Galvanising by weight, powder coating by area, painting by area and specification. Nearly always subcontracted, so it brings transport and a lead time with it.
Delivery and installation: Vehicle size, access, lifting equipment and how many people are needed on site.

The three cheapest savings a buyer can make

Loosen the tolerances that do not matter. Put a real tolerance on the dimensions that are functional and a general tolerance on everything else. This is usually the single biggest saving available and it costs nothing.
Design to stock sizes. Standard plate thicknesses, standard sections and standard tube sizes are cheaper and quicker than anything that has to be specially ordered.
Order a batch, or tell the fabricator a batch is coming. Setup and programming are amortised over quantity, so honest volume information changes the unit price more than haggling does.

What makes a quote come back slowly

No drawings, or drawings without material and thickness on them.
No finish specified, so the fabricator has to guess or ask.
No quantity, so setup cannot be amortised sensibly.
No delivery address or access information.
"As cheap as possible" instead of a functional requirement. See what to send for a fabrication quote.

Structural steelwork is a different conversation

If the steel carries load in a building, you are into the world of execution classes, welding procedure qualification and factory production control, and the fabricator needs to be certified for it. Construction products covered by a designated standard must carry the CE or UK (UKCA) marking to be placed on the Great Britain market, with UKCA testing and certification through a UK approved body (gov.uk). The relevant standard for fabricated structural steel components is BS EN 1090: BS EN 1090-1 covers conformity assessment of structural components, and BS EN 1090-2 covers execution of steel structures against an execution class, EXC1 to EXC4, which the designer specifies. We name the standard rather than link it because it is published by BSI and is not a free web page. Ask any fabricator quoting structural work which execution class they are certified to, and check that it matches what your designer specified.

Do not take a structural specification from a website, including this one. The execution class, the welding requirements and the inspection level come from the design, and your engineer sets them.