Design Engineer category
Architectural and structural metalwork
Architectural and structural metalwork covers fabricated metalwork made to dimension: balustrades, handrails, gates, railings, staircase metalwork and secondary steelwork.
Every job in this trade is dimensioned to site, so every job is quoted, and a quote usually means a site visit, a manual take-off and a price next week. Contractors, architects and serious self-builders increasingly will not wait that long: the fabricator who returns a credible price today wins the work.
Balustrades and handrails are the repeatable, dimensioned products inside this otherwise bespoke trade, which is why they are the launch configurator. A buyer sets the run, the stair if there is one, the height, the use class, the system, the infill and the finish; dimensional rules check the configuration live; and a cutting list, a glass panel schedule and a real price appear today, not after a site visit. Structural sign-off remains with the seller's engineer. The configurator says so.
How it divides
The buyer configures. You stay in control.
A configurator moves the typing to the buyer and keeps every rule, rate and limit in the seller's hands.
What the buyer sets
- Run shape and lengths
- Height and use class
- Infill: bars, glass, tension wire, mesh or none
- Material, finish and fixing
What stays in your hands
- The height and spacing rule values
- Sections, finishes and stock
- Rates and fabrication allowances
- Structural sign-off, always
What it covers
Example configurable products
- Straight, corner, raked and stepped balustrade runs, Juliets and wall handrails
- Bar, glass in clamps, frameless glass, tension wire and mesh infill
- Wall-mounted and post-mounted handrails
- Gates, railings and staircase steelwork to dimension (bespoke-led)
Inside a configurator
From parameters to a dispatched order
One runtime carries every category: typed inputs, a cited AI, live 3D, a priced breakdown, manufacturing files and dispatch into your systems.
Parameters
Typed inputs with live rule checks
AI
Cites its source or abstains
3D model
Rebuilds as values change
Price
Line-by-line breakdown
Export
Manufacturing files and PDF
Dispatch
Into your ERP or CRM
Live today
What a architectural and structural metalwork order looks like
Real widgets from the live configurator, running on clearly labelled example data until a seller loads their own.
Sets the use class and minimum height from the configured rule table and selects compatible glass components from stock, stating that structural sign-off remains with the seller's engineer.
Source: Height rule table row and stock fields (example data)
The seller's tables do not cover fixings into unknown substrates, so I cannot specify them. That needs the seller's engineer.
Every answer cites a loaded source or abstains. Enforced in code, not in a prompt.
- Steel, sections and plate
- £169.15
- Fixings and hardware
- £46.40
- Workshop fabrication
- £143.64
- Galvanising
- £34.55
- Delivery
- £85.80
- Drawings and setting out
- £40.00
The preset's default balustrade run. Sellers load their own rates and formulas.
Questions
About this category
- Does the configurator check building regulations?
- It checks dimensional rules the seller configures, shipped with example values referenced to the seller's confirmed reading of Approved Document K and BS 6180: minimum guarding heights by use class and the 100mm sphere rule for infill gaps. Structural sign-off remains with the seller's engineer.
- What does a configured balustrade produce?
- A priced breakdown, a PDF quote with a dimensioned elevation, a DXF elevation drawing and 3D files. Example pricing is always labelled until the seller loads their own rates.
- We fabricate gates and staircases too. Can those be configured?
- Stair runs are configured today, raked or stepped, with a landing at each end if the flight has one. Gates and staircase steelwork go through the bespoke build service: they are dimensioned products that fit the same runtime, so tell us what you make through the contact form.
Configure a architectural and structural metalwork product now
The configurator prices it, checks the rules and exports the files. Start free with example data.