FAQ

Alliance Engineering Works provides structural steel fabrication, miscellaneous metals fabrication, on-site steel erection, and field welding services across Vancouver Island and BC. Our in-house capabilities include 3D Tekla Structures and AutoCAD detailing, shop priming, and finishing — everything required to take a project from raw material to installed structural steel.

Structural steel fabrication is the process of cutting, bending, and assembling raw steel to produce the framework for buildings, and industrial structures. At Alliance Engineering Works, this happens in our 20,000 sq. ft. facility in Saanichton, BC. We work from engineering drawings to fabricate beams, columns, plates, trusses, and connection details — then install them on-site with our Union Local 97 ironworkers.

Yes. General contractors are our primary clients. We understand the timelines, documentation requirements, and coordination demands of commercial and institutional construction. We work within your project schedule, provide the certifications and paperwork your project requires, and communicate directly with site teams to ensure steel arrives on time and installs without delays.

Alliance Engineering Works employs Union Local 97 ironworkers — the professional standard for structural steel erection in British Columbia. Our fabrication team are affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

We primarily serve Vancouver Island and the surrounding BC region.

We have completed projects in Victoria, Nanaimo, Duncan, Campbell River and Comox as well as The Gulf Islands.

Our team is available for projects throughout BC for the right scope.

Click the “Get In Touch” button or contact us directly by phone or email. Once we receive your documentation, we review scope and respond with a firm quote. We work with preliminary drawings when early-stage pricing is needed, and can revisit pricing as your design develops.

To generate an accurate steel fabrication quote, we need: structural drawings or engineering documents showing steel scope, the project location and site access details, your required delivery and installation schedule, specifications for finish (shop prime, galvanizing, paint system), and any special certifications required by your project specs. The more complete the package, the more accurate the pricing — but we can work with preliminary information for early budgetary numbers.

For government and institutional projects — schools, hospitals, municipal facilities — we provide everything your general contractor bid package requires: firm material and labour pricing, fabrication and installation schedules, proof of Union Local 97 affiliation, project references, and any required certifications. We have direct experience with public sector projects, including school construction on Vancouver Island, and understand the documentation standards these bids demand.

Yes. We regularly act as the structural steel subcontractor on government RFP submissions across BC. We provide the pricing, qualifications, and documentation your bid package needs. If you are assembling a submission for a public sector project and need a reliable steel fabricator with a proven track record in institutional construction, contact us early — award timelines on government projects move quickly once bids close.

We fabricate with standard structural steel grades including W-shapes (wide flange beams), HSS (hollow structural sections), angles, channels, plates, and flat bar. We source material to meet the specifications outlined in your engineering drawings and can work with galvanized, weathering steel, or other specialty grades as the project requires.

Our standard finish is shop prime — a base coat applied in-house before steel leaves our facility. We also work with projects requiring galvanizing, epoxy-based paint systems, powder coating, or intumescent fireproofing coatings. Final finish selection is typically driven by your project’s structural specifications and environment.

Yes. In addition to standard structural steel, we fabricate miscellaneous metals — custom brackets, connection plates, stairs, railings, and architectural steel elements. If it requires precision fabrication and structural steel knowledge, we can build it.

Fabrication timelines depend on project scope, the complexity of the steel package, and shop capacity at the time of award. Smaller commercial projects may move through fabrication in four to six weeks. Larger institutional or industrial projects with significant tonnage require longer lead times. The key variable we ask about early is your required steel delivery date — we work backward from that date to confirm whether your project fits our schedule and capacity.