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Costing Steelwork 21 is a September 2022 UK market and cost-model update, not a current quotation. Produced by AECOM, the British Constructional Steelwork Association and Steel for Life, it reports Q2 2022 conditions and updates five building models to Q3 2022. Its most useful lesson is methodological: compare the whole building on a like-for-like basis. A steel frame that costs more in the structural package can still produce a lower building cost when lighter foundations, faster erection and shorter preliminaries are included. Conversely, a frame advantage can disappear when roof geometry, services, fit-out, location or fire protection changes. The figures below preserve the report’s historical scope and assumptions so they can be used as a benchmark, not mistaken for a 2026 tender price.
The original Costing Steelwork 21 report was published in September 2022. It combines a market commentary with indicative frame-and-floor rates and five refreshed cost models covering offices, education, distribution, retail and a hotel tower. The models were originally developed for the 2010 Target Zero work and updated through the Costing Steelwork series.
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The report describes sentiment weakening during the second quarter of 2022 even though workload stayed broadly steady. Contractors and suppliers were dealing with a tight labour and skills market, difficulty recruiting and retaining people, trade-related administration, higher transport and logistics costs, volatile material and energy inputs, and uncertainty about the wider economy.
AECOM reported that construction wages rose 4.5% year on year in Q2 2022, while still increasing more slowly than consumer-price inflation. Its composite building cost index, covering material and labour costs, rose 12.6% in the 12 months to June 2022, with materials driving much of the acceleration in Q2. These are measurements reported at the time; they are not current wage or cost-index readings.
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AECOM’s contemporaneous forecast was for tender prices to rise 6% from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023 and a further 4% from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024. The report said the near-term pricing risk was predominantly upward, while noting that a weaker global economy could reduce some energy and commodity pressure. Those percentages were forecasts made in 2022, not realised outcomes or a present-day forecast. The article’s wording was that “the balance of risks to pricing are clearly still to the upside over the near term,” attributed to the September 2022 AECOM market update rather than to a named speaker.
How should you read the Costing Steelwork 21 frame-cost table?
Use the table as an early comparative benchmark. First select the nearest frame type, then add the chosen floor system and any required fire protection. Finally apply the appropriate BCIS location factor. The ranges reflect changes in major cost drivers; an estimate outside a range is a prompt to check the design, quantities, specification and assumptions rather than evidence that the table is wrong.
| Component | Indicative range (£/m² GIFA) | Basis or note |
|---|---|---|
| Steel frame to low-rise building | 147–178 | Steelwork design based on 55 kg/m² |
| Steel frame to high-rise building | 247–279 | Steelwork design based on 90 kg/m² |
| Complex steel frame | 279–330 | Steelwork design based on 110 kg/m² |
| Composite metal-deck floor with lightweight concrete topping | 85–132 | Two-way spanning deck, typical 3 m span, topping up to 150 mm |
| Precast concrete composite floor with concrete topping | 123–173 | Hollowcore planks with structural topping spanning between primary steel beams |
| Fire protection, 60 minutes | 21–31 | Factory-applied intumescent coating to columns and beams |
| Fire protection, 90 minutes | 26–42 | Factory-applied intumescent coating to columns and beams |
| Large-span single-storey portal frame, low eaves (6–8 m) | 107–140 | Steelwork design based on 35 kg/m² |
| Large-span single-storey portal frame, high eaves (10–13 m) | 130–167 | Steelwork design based on 45 kg/m² |
“£/m²” here means pounds per square metre of GIFA, not a price per tonne of steel or per square metre of site area. The structural-weight assumptions are crucial: changing spans, grids, loads, storey height, openings or robustness requirements can move a project from one range to another.
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What is the worked £297/m² example?
For a typical low-rise frame, the report takes the midpoint of the relevant frame, floor and fire-protection ranges:
- Low-rise steel frame midpoint: £162.50/m²
- Composite metal-deck floor midpoint: £108.50/m²
- 60-minute intumescent protection midpoint: £26.00/m²
The sum is £297/m² before a location adjustment. It is a worked illustration of the issue’s method and 2022 rates, not a quotation for a particular building. It also does not remove the need to define connections, temporary works, edge conditions, detailing, tolerances, finishes and interfaces in a project estimate.
How do I adjust a steel frame cost for location?
Multiply the base rate by the BCIS location factor divided by 100. Issue 21 uses a base factor of 100 and gives, for Q3 2022, Central London at 125, Manchester at 103 and Glasgow at 92.
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| Location | Factor | Illustrative adjusted rate | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central London | 125 | £371.25/m² | £297 × 1.25 |
| Manchester | 103 | £305.91/m² | £297 × 1.03 |
| Glasgow | 92 | £273.24/m² | £297 × 0.92 |
These calculations change only the location factor; they do not update the 2022 material, labour, design or programme assumptions. A current estimate needs the current BCIS factor and current market rates, with the project location and base index stated explicitly. Treating a regional adjustment as a substitute for a new estimate can produce false precision.
Does a steel frame make the whole building cheaper?
Not automatically. The five models show why the frame-and-floor line must be tested against substructure, roof, preliminaries, services, fit-out, programme and building-specific constraints. The selected results below are total building figures from the Q3 2022 models, not universal rankings of materials.
| Building model | Options compared | Selected total-building results and explanation |
|---|---|---|
| City of London office, One Kingdom Street | Cellular steel composite beams with lightweight concrete slab on metal deck; post-tensioned concrete flat slab | Steel composite frame and upper floors: £533; concrete: £505. Total building: steel £3,351 versus concrete £3,416. The lighter structure reduced foundations and the faster programme reduced related costs. |
| Merseyside secondary school, Christ the King Centre for Learning | Steel with precast hollowcore; in-situ concrete flat slab; steel composite with metal deck | Total building: £3,741, £3,705 and £3,679 respectively. The composite option’s lower substructure, roof and shorter-programme preliminaries outweighed its higher frame-and-floor cost than the concrete flat slab. |
| Stoke-on-Trent distribution warehouse | Steel portal frame; hybrid concrete columns with glulam beams/timber rafters; steel portal frame with northlights | Total building: £847, £908 and £888 respectively. Efficient steel spans helped the plain portal frame; the hybrid involved multiple suppliers, while northlights required extra roof framing and glazing. |
| Asda food store, Stockton-on-Tees | Steel portal frame; glulam columns and rafters; steel portal frame with northlight roof | Total building: £3,064, £3,104 and £3,077 respectively. Services and fit-out formed a large share of the total, so changing the frame had a smaller proportional effect. |
| Holiday Inn tower, MediaCityUK, Manchester | Steel frame with Slimdek floors; concrete flat slab; composite deck on cellular beams in offices and universal-column beams in hotel | Total building: £3,409, £3,218 and £3,154 respectively. The composite deck/cellular-beam arrangement was lowest in this model. The Slimdek arrangement reflected a late accommodation change and time constraints, so it is unusual for this building type. |
What can these five models teach a cost planner?
- Compare the same scope. Confirm whether each option includes the same floors, cores, stairs, roof, fire strategy, finishes, services, preliminaries, overheads, profit and contingency. The report’s cost plans include those allowances where specified, but a comparison is only meaningful when the scope is aligned.
- Separate package cost from total cost. A cheaper frame can require heavier foundations, more complex temporary works or a slower erection sequence. A dearer structural package can lower substructure and preliminaries enough to reduce the building total.
- Model the programme. Erection speed affects labour, site overheads, finance exposure and handover. The school example specifically attributes part of the composite option’s advantage to a shorter programme; that is a model result, not a guaranteed steel benefit.
- Check roof and daylight requirements. Northlights add framing and glazing. Warehouse and retail models show that roof geometry can reverse the apparent advantage of a plain portal frame.
- Identify dominant non-structural costs. In the food-store model, services and fit-out diluted the effect of frame selection. On a project with a high services or fit-out content, small structural differences may matter less than coordination and procurement risk.
- Document exceptional constraints. The hotel model’s Slimdek solution followed a late change and time pressure. Recording such circumstances prevents a one-off arrangement being reused as a generic benchmark.
What should be included when preparing a project estimate from the table?
Start with the building brief and a stated measurement basis. Record GIFA, storey count, grid, spans, imposed and environmental loads, floor depth, roof form, openings, robustness requirements, fire resistance, connection assumptions and erection constraints. Select the closest frame and floor categories only after those decisions are visible.
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Then build the estimate in layers:
- Structural frame: apply the relevant low-rise, high-rise, complex or portal-frame range and state the assumed steel weight per square metre.
- Floor system: add composite metal deck, precast hollowcore or another system on a like-for-like performance basis. Check span, topping thickness, vibration, acoustic and fire requirements.
- Fire protection: add the required duration and system. Issue 21’s £21–31/m² and £26–42/m² allowances are for factory-applied intumescent coating to columns and beams, so a different protection strategy needs a different allowance.
- Substructure and roof: quantify the effect of structural weight, column reactions, foundations, roof framing, rooflights or northlights and drainage interfaces.
- Programme and preliminaries: test erection sequence, site access, craneage, temporary stability, logistics and likely duration. A shorter structural programme can change preliminaries, but only a project schedule can establish the saving.
- Location and date: apply the appropriate BCIS factor and identify the price base. Do not present a Q3 2022 rate as a 2026 market price.
- Risk and sensitivity: show how the total changes if steel weight, span, fire rating, programme or location moves toward the top of its range.
A result outside an issue 21 range should trigger an assumption review. Possible explanations include an unusually heavy frame, transfer structures, irregular geometry, difficult access, unusually high fire requirements or a mismatch between GIFA and the measured scope. It should not be “corrected” simply by forcing the number back inside the published range.
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How current is Costing Steelwork 21?
It is a historical snapshot. The source article covers Q2 2022 market conditions and Q3 2022 cost plans. The SteelConstruction.info archive lists later Costing Steelwork updates, including issue 36 in July 2026. For a live budget, use the latest relevant issue, current indices, project quotations and a defined procurement date; retain issue 21 for understanding the comparison method and the historical models.
The original Building feature, “Costing Steelwork 21: Market update”, and the comparative-costs guidance on SteelConstruction.info provide useful context. AECOM states that the article’s rates are for comparative purposes and should not be relied on for another purpose without further discussion with AECOM. That limitation matters: an early-stage benchmark is not a contractor’s offer, a bill of quantities or a final account forecast.
What is the practical takeaway for clients and design teams?
Use Costing Steelwork 21 to ask better questions, not to select a material by headline rate. Define the same building, at the same date and location, with the same performance requirements; compare frame and floor cost alongside foundations, roof, programme, preliminaries, services and fit-out; and show the assumptions behind every adjustment. Steel is advantageous in some of the issue 21 models, while concrete or another hybrid is competitive in others. The deciding factor is the whole-building outcome under the project’s actual constraints.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Costing Steelwork 21 still a valid 2026 price guide?
No. It is a September 2022 publication with Q3 2022 rates and forecasts made at that time. It remains useful as a historical benchmark and comparison method, but a 2026 budget needs current indices, location data and project-specific quotations.
What does GIFA mean in the Costing Steelwork tables?
GIFA is gross internal floor area: the building’s measured internal floor area used as the denominator for the indicative rates. It is different from site area, net lettable area and the weight of steel purchased, so changing the measurement basis can make two apparently similar £/m² figures incomparable.
Why is fire protection shown as a separate allowance?
The report separates 60- and 90-minute factory-applied intumescent coating from the frame and floor components so the required resistance can be added to the chosen system. If a project uses board protection, concrete encasement or a different tested build-up, its cost and detailing should be assessed separately rather than substituted directly.
What should I do if my estimate falls outside an issue 21 range?
Audit the assumptions first: structural weight, spans, transfers, geometry, fire rating, access, erection sequence, location factor and measured area. An out-of-range result may be reasonable for an unusual building, but it should be explained and supported by current project information rather than hidden by selecting a wider published category.
