How to compare sandwich panel installation quotes

Provide a drawing with lengths, heights and service penetrations. Mark which areas are wall cladding and which are roofing. Describe any replacement work on an existing building separately. Removing a damaged panel from between service runs is a different job from installing a whole new run of panels.

Before installation, check the alignment, position and bearing width of the supports. Establish whether the contractor has priced only the inspection or also specific repairs. Remedial work on an old frame once it is exposed can add to the cost. Describe that work separately in the quote.

A fixing screw cannot be relied on to pull every uneven support into line. The panel and its fixings must work together as designed. Resolve any need for extra rails or trimming members around openings before the crew arrives. A complete frame avoids delays and disputes over who should supply a missing member.

Take a hypothetical 180 m² job. Quote A charges about €9.26/m² for installation (€1,666.44), plus €393.46 for equipment and €370.32 for flashings, giving €2,430.22. Quote B comes to €2,333.02 at about €12.96/m², provided it includes the same work and equipment. All figures exclude VAT. The illustrative totals were converted before the unit rates were rounded.

Check the allowances for seals, cutting, fixings, lifting panels into position and clearing up. Flashing materials may be priced separately from fitting them. Record who receives the delivery and inspects the panels before installation. A full-service quote is only as useful as its description of what the crew can deliver on this site.

Working height, panel length and space for lifting equipment determine how the crew can work. The equipment must reach the most difficult position. Access from only one side of a hall may mean more repositioning than access all around it. Show the contractor these constraints before pricing, ideally during a site visit.

On a working site, allow for cordoning off areas and scheduling work around traffic. Agree when a door can be taken out of use, machinery protected or a wall opened up. Allow for weather delays in line with the installation method and safe working conditions. If a large panel cannot be controlled during a lift, the schedule must allow the lift to wait.

Inspect seals and fixings before the flashings conceal them, while corrections are still straightforward. Set aside time for these checks in the programme. Later, services and equipment may block access. Photographs should show both the detail being checked and where it is in the building.

Agree how surface damage, repairs and departures from the design will be recorded. Tie stage payments to work actually completed. Even when the last panel is fixed, open edges or an unsealed penetration still need attention. Clear acceptance criteria give both parties a common measure of progress.

After installation, remove metal swarf, inspect the surfaces and hand over the details of the products used. Agree who disposes of offcuts and packaging. Check when the protective film must come off, especially if the building will stand empty before use. These small items can add work at handover.

Ask the installer to identify details that need periodic inspection and later alterations that require prior agreement. A good specification addresses how individual details can be repaired after completion. Compare the price, scope, site arrangements and acceptance procedure together to establish what the finished envelope will cost.