Steel framing library
Before You Compare Steel
A checklist for homeowners and builders: align the drawing set, framing scope, engineering, delivery and schedule; keep insurance questions with your broker.
CSLB #951030 · first issued 2010 · verify on cslb.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)
Short answer
Start with the same drawing revision and a written scope. Ask each contractor to identify the walls, floor joists and roof framing included, the work by others, engineering and permit responsibilities, and delivery assumptions. Compare insurance with a broker separately. A lower total is only useful when you understand what that total covers.
A framing price sits inside a much larger project. Before you compare totals, make sure the contractors are pricing the same work. This is APB's practical preparation checklist, not a price estimate or a substitute for your project agreements.
1. Give everyone the same starting point
Send the latest drawing set and identify its revision date. Include the site address, permit status and intended start window. Tell the framing team whether the plans were drawn for wood or steel and whether the project includes both a home and an ADU.
No drawings yet? Start with the site and your intended home. APB can coordinate a new set with a licensed designer and a California-licensed engineer. Keep that design stage visible in the scope and schedule; it is different from pricing an approved framing set.
2. Compare the complete scope, line by line
Ask each bidder to mark these items as included, excluded or not yet determined:
| Item | What to clarify |
|---|---|
| Walls | Exterior and interior framing, openings, and which drawing revision applies. |
| Floor joists | Which floor levels are included; who supplies and installs the floor deck. |
| Roof framing | The engineered truss or roof-framing package; distinguish it from roof sheathing and roofing. |
| Engineering | Who prepares the steel design, who coordinates it, and who responds to revisions. |
| Delivery and installation | Site access, unloading, staging, lifting arrangements and installation responsibilities. |
| Work by others | Foundations, decking, enclosure, trades and finishes. |
APB's framing scope covers walls, floor joists and roof framing. Foundations, floor decking and finishes are by others. The written scope for your project should resolve the boundaries before you compare totals. A California-licensed engineer stamps the structural drawings and calculations. APB coordinates the engineering: we're the framing contractor, not an engineering firm.
For a closer look at the components, see the framing package and the stud decoder. Member sizes and spans come from the engineered project design.
3. Separate the dates that drive the schedule
Ask what starts each quoted duration: receiving usable drawings, completing engineering, obtaining approval, releasing the package or arriving on site. Identify who is responsible for each handoff and what happens when drawings change.
The state's Rebuilding LA dashboard reports total permit time separately from the time a permit spends in agency review. Neither number is your project's framing duration. An area average should not become a promised completion date.
4. Keep insurance assumptions outside the headline price
Builder's risk covers the house while it is being built; the homeowners policy after completion is a separate contract with its own pricing. Ask your broker about the two separately. If an estimate assumes an insurance saving, ask for the policy type, limits, deductible, term and the insurer's construction class in writing: the class a steel frame gets is the insurer's decision, not a rule.
California's Safer from Wildfires program lists the home-hardening measures insurers must recognise, such as the roof, vents, enclosed eaves and the zone around the house. Framing material is not on that list. Do not insert an assumed homeowners-policy saving into a framing comparison.
Our insurance guide walks through one builder's-risk quote comparison and its limits. One quote from one insurer on one date does not establish a saving for another project.
5. Verify who you are hiring
Check the contractor's identity, license classification and current status directly with CSLB. The board's industry bulletin on advertising says the license number belongs in a contractor's advertising, websites included. APB's number is 951030, Class B: open the official license record.
Then request a written scope that identifies unresolved assumptions and how revisions will be handled. Keep those questions alongside the total when you compare proposals.
Bring the project into focus
Have plans? Start with your current set. No plans yet? See how design coordination begins. We can establish the starting point before defining the framing package.
Common questions
What should I send with a steel framing quote request?
Send the site address, the latest drawings you have, the drawing revision, permit status and your target schedule. Identify a home and ADU being built together. If you do not have plans, say so: design coordination comes before a defined framing quote.
Does a framing quote include the complete house?
Not necessarily. APB frames walls, floor joists and roof framing. Foundation work, floor decking and finishes are by others. Confirm inclusions and exclusions in the written project scope.
Sources
- CSLB industry bulletin 20-21: the license number in contractor advertising, websites includedcslb.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)
- California Department of Insurance: Safer from Wildfiresinsurance.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)
- State of California: Rebuilding LA permitting dashboard (total permit time vs. agency review time)ca.gov (opens in a new tab)
Your plans, in steel.
Send the plans you have, or start without them. We'll tell you what a steel frame involves for your home.
Check your address first: fire zone, fire perimeter and who issues your permit