What is The Cost
of Galvanized Steel?
- The initial cost of protection
- The lifetime cost, which includes the cost of maintenance. This is the cost of ensuring that steelwork is protected from corrosion throughout its service life.
cost
Initial cost
of galvanizing
-
Hot dip galvanizing is often perceived to be more expensive than it is. There are two reasons for this:
- Firstly, that such a high performance coating is automatically assumed to be expensive.
- Secondly, the initial cost of galvanising relative to paint has changed significantly over recent years. Painting costs have steadily increased whilst galvanising costs have remained stable.
Ultimate efficiency comes from speaking to us during design phase and to think about corrosion protection early on, so that we can help optimize the design for galvanizing and ensure that you are working to the relevant standards and specifications. Galvanizers Association has been closely involved with the development of process standards at a European level and across the world.
The paint system was found to be 35% more expensive than hot dip galvanizing.
Whole-life cost
Whole Life Costs for a Building
| Design | Build | Operate | Dispose | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £
3% |
£
17% |
Run/Maintain
£ – 40% |
£
?% |
100%
Cost of Ownership |
| Repair
£ – 30% |
||||
| Periodic
Replacement / Refurbish £ – 10% |
||||
| 1 Year | 2 Year | 25 Year | 1 Year | Total |
whole-life cost
Capturing
whole-life cost
It is estimated that up to 80% of a building’s whole-life cost can be attributed to running, maintenance and refurbishment costs. Consequently, there are spikes in expenditure at 10 years and every five years after that.
The initial choice of materials and the way that they are protected obviously plays an important role within the maintenance and refurbishment costs of a building over its lifetime. They therefore have a very large influence on the whole-life cost profile of the project.
Smoothing
the expenditure
Life cycle expenditure tends to inherently produce ‘spiky’ profiles with large peaks at 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. Information supplied by Turner and Townsend, Construction and Management Consultants.
The overall cost of protecting a steel fabrication throughout its life depends on the cost and durability of the initial coating in the particular environment and, on the costs and frequency of any subsequent treatments where the required life exceeds that of the initial coating.
In the majority of applications, hot dip galvanizing will provide a long, maintenance-free life without any requirement for maintenance.
Take the case of a steel structure that has a projected life of 25 years and for which the discount cost of capital is 5%.
- Hot dip galvanize to BS EN ISO 1461 with a minimum average coating of 85µm on steel of 6mm or more thick. As galvanizing to this standard has an average life expectancy of more than 50 years in the UK, it is very conservative to project a life of 25 years without further maintenance. Let the cost of galvanizing be a base figure of 100 units. There are no further maintenance costs. (NPV = 100)
- A paint system consisting of cleaning followed by an undercoat and two top coats of paint. This system has a life expectancy of eight years and so will need be repainted three times in 25 years. The initial cost is slightly cheaper than hot dip galvanizing at 90 units. The cost of repainting for the first two occasions is 45 units but goes up to 90 units for the third repaint when the original paint must be removed. (NPV = 169)
- A superior paint system consisting of blast cleaning followed by three coats of a higher quality paint. This system has a life expectancy of 11 years and will need to be repainted twice in 25 years. The initial cost is higher than the other paint system at 135 units. The cost of repainting is half this value at 67.5 units. (NPV = 197.5)
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The overall cost of protecting a steel throughout its life depends on the cost and durability of the initial coating in the particular environment and, on the costs and frequency of any subsequent treatments where the required life exceeds that of the initial coating.
In the majority of applications, hot dip galvanizing will provide a long, maintenance-free life without any requirement for maintenance.
How long will galvanizing last in your area?
