The Cost of Labor in the Field vs the Cost of additional deliveries to Job Site?

 

 

More Mechanicals and Sheet Metal Contractors are moving in the direction of not only Fabricating Duct Sections in the Shop but also connecting and Sealing the Joints. This is a result of the continuing challenge of quality Field Labor on the Job Site especially on larger Commercial Jobs. Sending out duct “Pre-fabricated” has the main advantage of doing as much of the job in a controlled environment as possible—the result being a better quality Duct Job with less variables in cost overruns. The downside being that it requires more deliveries to take the same amount of material because of the volume constriction. Freight cost vs Field Labor cost: which is the most significant for Sheet Metal Contractors? Sending Pittsburgh Duct out Full Wrap and seamed vs Knocked Down/ L Sections was the initial step in that direction and that’s commonplace for most commercial jobs in our footprint of coverage. Connecting and Sealing the Transverse Joints is a step further but one that seems logical considering the challenges of job site workers and supervision over them.

 

If these Duct Sections were connected end to end in the shop and then sent out to shop, it’s easy to see how much space they would consume in a truck.