Services / Bar bending schedule
Bar bending schedule services for your structural drawings
Send your structural drawings. We prepare the BBS: every bar mark with its shape, cutting length and weight, totals by diameter and by member, and a list of anything the drawings leave unclear.
Excel and PDF · drawing reference on every line · quote after we see your drawings
What the BBS service includes
- A bar mark for every bar. Member, bar mark, shape, diameter, number of bars, cutting length and weight, floor by floor and member by member.
- The drawing reference on each line. Every bar mark names the sheet and the detail it was read from, so your engineer or the steel supplier can trace it back.
- Weight by diameter and by member. Totals for 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 and 25 mm bars, and for footings, columns, beams, slabs and stairs, so you can plan purchase and check deliveries.
- Wastage kept separate. The scheduled quantity stays clean. Any purchasing allowance is shown as its own line, never hidden inside cutting lengths.
- Open questions, not guesses. Where the drawings leave out a lap, a cover or a bar detail, we list it as a question for your engineer instead of assuming it.
- Excel and PDF, with a revision log. An editable workbook with the formulas visible, a print PDF, and a log of what changed when a drawing is revised.
Weights use the IS 1786 sectional weight, D²/162 kg per metre: 0.395 kg/m for 8 mm, 0.888 kg/m for 12 mm and 1.58 kg/m for 16 mm. Each cutting length shows how it was built up from the clear length, anchorage, laps, hooks and bend deductions, so it can be checked line by line.
Structural drawings and inputs we need
- Foundation layout and the footing or raft reinforcement details
- Column layout and the column schedule
- Beam layouts and beam reinforcement details for each floor
- Slab layouts with the reinforcement, and sunken or cantilever slab details
- Staircase, lintel, chajja and parapet details if they are in scope
- The general notes: concrete cover, lap and development lengths, steel grade
CAD files and vector PDFs work best. A phone photo of a drawing has no measurable geometry. If a detail or a note is missing, we schedule what the drawings show and put the rest on the open-questions list.
See what a schedule looks like
Our four-sheet example covers a slab, a beam, a column and a footing, with editable dimensions and the formulas visible. It is an illustrative exercise, not a client job, but the columns and checks are the same ones we deliver.
The working is explained step by step in our BBS format and worked examples guide, with member pages for the slab, beam, column and footing. For a quick bar check, use the BBS calculator.
What a BBS is for
Order steel by diameter, not by thumb rule
A schedule gives the kg of each diameter you need, floor by floor. For one Delhi house with a basement, the BBS came to 17,470 kg from the footings to the plinth.
Check deliveries and site stock
Compare what was scheduled with what was delivered and what is left on site. Without a schedule, the purchase register is the only figure, and there is nothing to check it against.
Back up the steel in a BOQ or a bill
On a builder's G+2 villa we measured the structure with a BBS: 13,178 kg of steel, alongside the RCC and every other trade. On a Mumbai tower where no bar schedule existed, steel could only be estimated from kg per m³ norms.
Read the G+2 villa case study for how the steel, the RCC and the builder's own sheet were checked.
How it works
From structural drawings to a checked schedule in four steps.
Send the structural drawings
On WhatsApp or by email, PDF or DWG. Approved for construction (GFC) drawings give a schedule you can build from.
We agree the scope
Which members and floors, and whether you also need the concrete and shuttering quantities. Then we send the quote.
We schedule bar by bar
Bar marks, shapes and cutting lengths from the details and notes, weights by D²/162, and a check of the totals against the concrete.
You get the files
The Excel schedule, the PDF and the open questions. When a drawing is revised, we update the affected bar marks and log the change.
Reviews, revisions and what is not included
We check each schedule before it goes out: bar counts against spacing and member sizes, and steel per m³ of concrete by member against what is normal for that member, so an outlier is explained or corrected. When a drawing is revised, we update the affected bar marks and record the change in the revision log.
Not included:
- Structural design, detailing changes or any check that the steel is adequate. That stays with your structural engineer.
- Certification of steel placed on site, or site inspection.
- Bar shapes or quantities that the drawings do not show. These go on the open-questions list.
One-off schedule or a monthly desk
Most clients order the BBS once, for the whole structure or a block of floors. Contractors who bill every month can have the BBS prepared alongside the measurement book and the RA bill through our construction billing desk. If you also need quantities for every trade, ask for a BOQ from your drawings.
Price
Quote after we see your drawings. The price depends on the building, the number of floors and the members in scope, and it is agreed before any work starts. First project 50% off (up to ₹5,000), minimum ₹2,500.
WhatsApp +91 93104 92831, or email the drawings to hello@sitesetu.app.
Frequently asked questions
What drawings do you need to prepare a BBS?
The structural drawings: foundation, column, beam and slab layouts with their reinforcement details, and the general notes for cover, laps and steel grade. PDF or DWG. A BBS made from architectural drawings alone would be a guess, so we don't do that.
Do you follow IS 2502?
We follow your drawing notes first. Where they are silent on a bend or a hook, we use the usual IS 2502 conventions and list the assumption, so your engineer can confirm it. Every cutting length shows how it was built up.
Will the BBS match the steel I buy?
The schedule gives the steel the drawings need. What you buy also depends on stock lengths, offcuts and site wastage, which is why we show any purchasing allowance separately instead of adding it to every bar.
Can you prepare the BBS floor by floor as the work goes on?
Yes. You can order one schedule for the whole building, or a floor at a time. If you need it every month with the measurement book and RA bills, see the monthly billing desk.
Can I also get the BOQ?
Yes. We measure the concrete, shuttering and every other trade from the same drawings to IS 1200. See BOQ from drawings. Ask for both and we quote them together.
How much does a BBS cost?
It depends on the building, the number of floors and the members in scope, so we quote after we see the drawings, and the price is agreed before any work starts. First project 50% off (up to ₹5,000), minimum ₹2,500.