We measure the route in too.
The opening is checked against the engineer's drawings, then we walk from the road to the bearing. Door widths, the turn in the hall, the back alley, the garden wall. That decides whether the beam comes whole or spliced.
Steel erection / Norwich
Steel beams into terraces, goalpost frames behind shopfronts and new frames for commercial units. Our workshop is in the city, so a visit to measure up and look at the access is easy to arrange.
Made and installedRAMS for your site
Based in Norwich, so city sites are on our doorstep.
Structural steel installation, Norwich
In Norwich, the hard part is getting steel in.
Most city jobs mean an existing building, a narrow street and a beam longer than the hallway.
Swift Fabrication carries out steel erection in Norwich for builders, developers and property owners. Our steel erectors fit RSJs over knock-throughs, goalpost and box frames for rear extensions, and new frames and mezzanines for commercial units around the city and the Norfolk villages close by.
Because the workshop is local, we can call round to measure, walk the route in and see what the beam has to pass on the way. Send the engineer's drawings and describe the street: parking, the width of the side passage, steps, scaffolding, neighbours. How the steel is made follows from how it will get in.
Structural steel fabrication in Norwich
A city job, stage by stage
How a steel beam goes into a Norwich terrace.
Refurbishment work rarely matches the drawing exactly. We look first, settle the method and the price with your builder, and only then cut steel.
Getting the beam to its bearings.
Where a telehandler cannot reach, steel is carried in by hand in lengths a team can manage, then raised with lifting gear that suits the room. Splices are bolted up in place. Your builder has the props in and the padstones set before we turn up.
Packed up tight, then handed back.
The beam is set level on its padstones, packed tight to the masonry above and each connection bolted as drawn. We tell your builder when our part is finished, so Building Control can see the steel before it is boxed in.
Commercial units and new frames
Not only houses. Units and frames too.
Out by the ring road the work changes. Units on Sweet Briar Road, the Airport Industrial Estate, Bowthorpe and Longwater call for mezzanines, plant platforms, new door openings and whole frames for extensions.
Here there is room for plant, so a telehandler, crane or MEWP is hired to suit the lift. We put up steel from our own workshop, and we will price steelwork another fabricator has made if you send the drawings, the steel list and the delivery dates.
Each site job comes with a risk assessment and method statement written for that address. Let us know the main contractor's rules early.
Refurbishments in the city centre
Old buildings, new openings.
Norwich has plenty of old fabric: Victorian terraces in the Golden Triangle, brick and flint shops in the Lanes. Opening them up means steel meeting walls that are neither square nor plumb, so we measure on site before cutting. Listed building and conservation consents are yours or your architect's to arrange.
We fit in with your builder's programme: who props, who beds the padstones, which day the opening is ready. On a shop or office fit-out we can work early or late to stay clear of trading hours, by arrangement.
Machinery installation in NorwichNorwich and nearby
Steel erectors a short drive from site.
We cover the whole city and the places around it: Hellesdon, Sprowston, Thorpe St Andrew, Taverham, Drayton, Hethersett and Poringland, plus Rackheath and Broadland Business Park off the Northway. Being local keeps travel out of the price and makes a second visit simple.
To price a Norwich job we need the engineer's drawings, the address and photographs of the front, the side access and the room the steel is going into. Mention any scaffolding or a skip on the road. Estimates are free, and the figure is agreed with you before any steel is ordered.
Steel fabrication in NorwichNorwich steel erection FAQs
Steel erection in Norwich: what builders ask.
Can you get a beam into a terraced house?
Usually, yes. The route from the street to the bearing is measured before the beam is made. If it will not go in whole, your engineer can approve a bolted splice so it arrives in shorter lengths and is joined in place. You will know which it needs to be after the visit.
Who does the propping and padstones, you or the builder?
Your builder. Temporary propping, forming the opening and bedding padstones sit with the main builder, working to the engineer's details. We supply and fit the steel, and fix the day with them so nobody is left waiting on site.
Do you work in the city centre?
Yes. Deliveries in the centre need thought: narrow lanes, loading restrictions and pedestrian streets. We plan the drop for a quiet time, send a smaller lorry where a HIAB cannot get close, and carry the steel the last stretch if we have to.
Can you install steel made by someone else?
We can quote for it. Send the drawings, a list of the steel and when it is due on site. We look at the connections first, because the pieces have to go together in the space available.
Steel erection, Norwich
Steel going into a Norwich building?
Send the drawings and a few photographs of the access. We can normally call round to measure, then you get a free estimate with the method set out.