Enter your joints by pipe size, put in your own shop and field norms, and get diameter inches, labor hours and a welding quotation in the units your shop already prices in.
Start The CalculationOne row per size and weld type. Butt welds are counted at full diameter, socket and fillet welds at the factor you set below.
| Pipe size (in) | Schedule | Weld type | Welds | Shop or field | Dia-inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | ||||||
| 32 | ||||||
| 40 |
The figures below are placeholders so the tool runs. Replace them with your own norms before you trust the output.
Weld inches use the pipe's nominal size as the diameter for the circumference. If your shop prices in weld inches instead of dia-inches, divide your norm by 3.1416 before entering it. For the full explanation of the unit, see the Diameter Inch Calculator.
For fillet and groove welds on plate and structural steel, priced by deposited metal. Defaults are placeholders, replace the deposition rate and arc-on factor with your own.
Fillet volume is half the leg squared times length, groove volume is throat times throat times length, both multiplied by passes. Steel is taken at 0.284 pounds per cubic inch. Hours are pounds divided by deposition rate times arc-on factor. Switch to the joints tab for pipe work priced by diameter inch.
Method maintained by the estimation team at ContraVault AI. The calculator carries none of our norms, only the arithmetic, so the result is only as good as the hours per dia-inch and deposition rate you enter.
Built from the rows above, so it updates as you type.
| Size | Type | Location | Welds | Dia-in | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6" SCH 40 | Butt | Shop | 12 | 72 | 43.2 | $3,780 |
| 4" SCH 80 | Butt | Field | 8 | 32 | 35.2 | $3,040 |
| 2" SCH 80 | Socket | Shop | 20 | 40 | 14.4 | $1,284 |
| Total | 40 | 144 | 92.8 | $8,104 |
The Excel version with the norms table, the quotation sheet and a joint log you can hand to purchasing.
This page prices the welds once you know how many there are. ContraVault AI counts them off your package, marks every one so you can check it, and carries the count into the same quotation.
See A Priced Sample EstimateCount the joints by pipe size and weld type, convert them to diameter inches, multiply by your hours per dia-inch for shop or field, apply a facility factor, then multiply hours by your burdened labor rate and add consumables. That is the calculation this page runs.
It depends on the size, the wall, the process and whether it is done in the shop or the field, which is why there is no single number. A 6-inch butt weld at a shop norm of 0.6 hours per dia-inch and $85 an hour costs about $306 in labor before consumables, and the same joint in the field at 1.1 hours per dia-inch runs about $561.
The hourly rate is the wage plus burden, insurance, taxes and equipment. Most industrial estimates use a fully burdened rate, and the calculator treats the rate you enter as burdened.
Averages across trades are not useful for a bid, because a 2-inch socket weld and a 24-inch butt weld are not the same work. Cost per diameter inch, which the calculator reports, is the figure you can compare between jobs.
As accurate as the norms you put in. The arithmetic is exact, the hours per dia-inch and the deposition rate are the estimate, so take those two figures from your own recent jobs rather than a textbook. Check the output against the last three packages you priced before trusting it on a bid.
Position and access. A joint welded flat on a bench in the shop takes a fraction of the time the same joint takes overhead in a tight rack in the field, which is why the calculator keeps separate shop and field norms and a facility factor on top. After that it is wall thickness, since a Schedule 160 butt weld has several times the passes of a Schedule 40, and the inspection standard, since x-ray quality work adds time for prep and touch-up.
Fit-up and prep, grinding, purge gas on stainless and alloy work, inspection and repair rate, consumable waste, and the time welders spend not welding, which is why arc-on factors sit around 0.3 for manual work. On a bid these are usually carried as a percentage on top of the direct welding cost rather than priced line by line.
On a real bid they come off the isometrics and the piping and instrumentation diagrams, and counting them is where the estimator's time goes. This calculator does the step after that. ContraVault AI does the two steps before it, counting the joints from the package and carrying them into the estimate.
Pipe size multiplied by the number of welds. A 6-inch line with twelve butt welds is 72 diameter inches. It is the unit pipe shops price welds in, so a norm of hours per dia-inch transfers between jobs. Read the dia-inch guide.
The length of weld actually deposited, size times pi times welds. Fabrication shops that track deposition rather than joints use this one, and it is the figure structural estimators ask for first.
The same joint costs more in the field than in the shop, and more at some plants than others. The calculator keeps two norms and one facility factor so the estimate follows the job, not the average.