Why does our fabrication work always come in over the quote?

Almost always the labour, and almost always the small tasks: filing, test-fitting, packing. Materials are visible on the drawing so they get counted; bench time is not, so it gets estimated by someone who is not going to do it. Clock three real jobs and the gap usually explains itself.

Should we price by square metre or by perimeter?

Both, on the same sign. Sheet materials and faces price on area and yield; anything running around the edge prices on perimeter; illumination prices on lit area and depth. A single rate per square metre cannot represent a built-up sign, which is why it goes wrong on exactly the jobs worth having.

How do we handle a customer’s logo rather than lettering?

Get the vector file and measure it, rather than quoting off a picture. A logo’s perimeter and true face area are usually nothing like what it looks like on screen, and the difference is the whole margin on the job.

Quoting fabricated signs: acrylic, extrusion and LED

Published 30 August 2026

Print pricing is a solved problem in most shops — square metres, a machine rate, some finishing. Fabrication is where the same shops guess, because built-up work is priced by perimeter, by lineal metre and by hours at a bench, and none of those behave like area. This guide covers the four quantities that actually drive a fabricated sign’s cost.

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Acrylic and ACM are bought in sheets, not square metres

The most common fabrication underquote is pricing a panel at its own area. A 1200 × 900 face out of a 2440 × 1220 sheet is 1.08 m² of sign and a whole sheet of acrylic, unless the remainder is genuinely a piece you will use. Bill the sheet, or bill a share of it you can honestly justify.

Cut-outs are the second trap. Removing counters from letters reduces the face area you bill but does not reduce the sheet you bought, and it increases the cut length you pay for. Face area goes down, cutting cost goes up — quoting the first without the second is how intricate work loses money.

Bill sheets, not theoretical area, unless the offcut is real
Counters and cut-outs reduce face area and increase cut length
Thickness changes the router pass count, not just the material cost
Nest before you quote if the job is more than a couple of panels

Extrusion and return coil are lineal metres of perimeter

Anything that runs around the edge of a sign — return coil, trim cap, aluminium extrusion, edge trim — is priced off perimeter, and perimeter does not scale the way people expect. Doubling a sign’s dimensions quadruples the area but only doubles the perimeter, so a big simple sign is cheaper per square metre and a small intricate one is far more expensive.

For letters, the perimeter is the outline of the letterform, not the box around it. A script capital can carry two or three times the coil of a block letter the same height. If your quoting method cannot tell those apart, it is wrong on both.

Perimeter, not area, drives coil, trim cap and extrusion
Use the true letterform outline, not a bounding box
Buy in stock lengths — account for the offcut on the last length
Corners, welds and joins are labour, not material

LED and power: count modules, then check the supply

LED cost is module count plus power supplies, and module count comes from the area and depth being lit, not from the number of letters. Under-lighting to save twenty dollars produces a sign with visible hot spots that you will be back to fix, which is the most expensive twenty dollars in signage.

Then size the supplies with headroom, and price the electrical work honestly. Module placement and power draw are fabrication figures for your quote and your bill of materials — they are not a certified mains design, and the electrical connection is a licensed trade’s job in every Australian state.

Module count from lit area and return depth
Size power supplies with headroom, not to the exact draw
Price the electrician — do not absorb it
Include the raceway or mounting method in the same quote

The hours nobody quotes

Fabrication labour is where built-up quotes actually fail, because it is invisible until someone is standing at the bench. Weeding and masking, gluing returns, filing edges, drilling and tapping, test-fitting, packing so it survives the trip — none of it is on the drawing and all of it is on the clock.

The only reliable fix is measurement. Clock a few real fabricated jobs against their steps and compare the total to what you quoted. Most shops find their first honest number is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 times their estimate, and once it is measured it stops being a guess forever.

Weeding, masking, gluing, filing, drilling, test-fitting, packing
Setup per job, run time per unit — keep them separate
Clock real jobs and correct the recipe
Install is its own quote: access, height, traffic, permits

Frequently asked questions

Why does our fabrication work always come in over the quote?: Almost always the labour, and almost always the small tasks: filing, test-fitting, packing. Materials are visible on the drawing so they get counted; bench time is not, so it gets estimated by someone who is not going to do it. Clock three real jobs and the gap usually explains itself.
Should we price by square metre or by perimeter?: Both, on the same sign. Sheet materials and faces price on area and yield; anything running around the edge prices on perimeter; illumination prices on lit area and depth. A single rate per square metre cannot represent a built-up sign, which is why it goes wrong on exactly the jobs worth having.
How do we handle a customer’s logo rather than lettering?: Get the vector file and measure it, rather than quoting off a picture. A logo’s perimeter and true face area are usually nothing like what it looks like on screen, and the difference is the whole margin on the job.