How to Order Roll-⁠Formed C and Z Profiles: A 12-⁠Point RFQ Checklist

A roll former can only price the profile you describe. Send the section, decimal thickness, grade, coating, punch pattern, lengths with piece counts, linear feet or tons per release, annual volume and the delivery plan, and the quote comes back firm instead of a range built on assumptions. Below is the checklist, item by item, with why each one matters.

The 12-point checklist

1. Section drawing, sample or photo. Give out-to-out dimensions for the web, each flange and each lip, and say which way the lips turn. For a Z, say which flange is wider and which one faces up. If there is no drawing, a short sample or a photo with a tape across each face is enough to start.
2. Decimal thickness. Write the decimal and say whether it is nominal or minimum, with the gauge only as a reference: “0.0747 in. nominal (14 ga)”. A bare “14 gauge” can mean 0.0747 in. on the Manufacturers’ Standard Gauge, 0.0785 in. on the galvanized sheet gauge, 0.0713 in. design thickness in SSMA framing, or a supplier’s own decimal.
3. Grade and minimum yield. Name the ASTM specification and grade your engineer designed to. Grade matters for forming as well as strength: the maximum thickness a given section can be roll-⁠formed in depends on its geometry and steel grade.
4. Coating. G90 pre-galvanized (ASTM A653), hot-⁠dip galvanized after forming (ASTM A123), zinc-magnesium coated steel or bare. With pre-galvanized steel, cut ends and punched holes are bare edges; if your specification calls for touch-up, say so, because it is a separate step to quote.
5. Hole and slot pattern. Send a DXF or a dimensioned drawing. Dimension holes from one end of the piece and from the web centerline or a gauge line, give each hole diameter and slot size, and mark which holes repeat at a fixed pitch. Note which holes are lap holes or bolt-up holes to another manufacturer’s part, so their tolerance gets checked.
6. Lengths and quantity per length. A cut list beats a total: each length with its piece count, for example “25 ft 0 in. × 240 pcs; 20 ft 6 in. × 36 pcs”.
7. Linear feet or tons per release. This sets the run length, which drives setup cost per foot.
8. Annual volume and release cadence. Expected annual volume and how often releases ship let the quote cover the program, not just the first release.
9. Delivery ZIP codes and staging. Every ship-to ZIP, plus any staging by block, phase or building.
10. Bundling and labels. Bundle size and weight limits your crew can unload, and the label each bundle needs: block, phase or part number.
11. Documents. Mill test reports with heat numbers, galvanizing certificates where coatings apply, and anything else your customer requires, so it is quoted up front rather than requested at delivery.
12. Dates and pricing basis. The need-by date for the first release, whether you need budgetary or firm pricing, and how long you need the price held.

A request that covers all 12 lets the estimator price the section instead of guessing at it. One that covers only the first two still gets a conversation started.

Tons, linear feet and pieces

Takeoffs count pieces and linear feet; steel is often priced by weight. Converting between them takes one number, the weight per foot, which comes from the width of the strip the section is formed from:

1. Strip width. Add the outside dimension of every side, then subtract 2 × the thickness for each bend.
2. Weight per foot. Strip width × thickness × 3.4032 (12 in. per foot × 0.2836 lb per cubic inch of steel).
3. Feet per ton. 2,000 ÷ the weight per foot.
4. Pieces. Linear feet ÷ piece length, rounded up. Going the other way, pieces × length × lb/ft ÷ 2,000 gives tons.

Worked through for an 8 × 2-1/2 in. lipped C with ¾ in. lips at 0.0747 in. (14 ga): the sides add up to 8 + 2.5 + 2.5 + 0.75 + 0.75 = 14.5 in., the four bends take off 4 × 2 × 0.0747 = 0.598 in., and the 13.902 in. strip weighs 13.902 × 0.0747 × 3.4032 = 3.534 lb/ft. G90 adds about 0.065 lb/ft of zinc on that strip.

These are nominal, square-corner figures for illustration, not a stock size. Corner radii, thickness tolerance and coating move the real weight, so published weights differ a little from the method. Order by piece count and length, use weight to check the budget, and ask every bidder to state the lb/ft behind any price per ton. The purlin weight calculator runs the same math for C, Z and hat sections.

Questions to settle with any roll former before tooling

These are general buying questions. Settle them in writing before tooling is cut, whoever forms the part:

• Tooling. Does tooling already exist for the section, or is it new? Who pays for new tooling, who owns it, and is it billed separately or spread across the piece price?
• First article. How many first-article pieces, what gets measured, and who signs off before production starts?
• Tolerance basis. Name the standard or put the tolerances on the drawing. For reference, MBMA’s Common Industry Practices allow cold-⁠formed cees and zees on metal buildings ±3/16 in. on depth and flange, +3/8 / −1/8 in. on the lip, ±1/16 in. on hole spacing within a group, ±1/8 in. on length, and camber of ¼ in. per 10 ft of length, which is 5/8 in. on a 25 ft piece. MBMA purposely sets no sweep tolerance, because bracing straightens cees and zees on the building. If your part bolts to a racking, tracker or OEM component, write the tolerances it needs on the drawing.
• Lead times. Time to first article, and time from release to ship for repeat releases.
• Minimum runs. The minimum on existing tooling and on new tooling, in linear feet or pieces.
• Releases and price. Can releases ship against a blanket PO, how long is the price held, and how are coil price changes handled between releases?

Roll forming or press brake?

Both make the same open section. Press brake forming suits short runs and one-off shapes: it uses standard punches and dies, holes are laser-cut in the flat blank before bending, and piece length is limited by the brake. Once a profile runs into thousands of linear feet, roll forming delivers lower cost per foot, tighter consistency along the length, and punching and cutting inline.

Where the crossover falls depends on the tooling, the piece length and the hole pattern, so there is no fixed number. For smaller quantities, Mona Steel can often brake-form the same section, in pieces up to 26 ft long, and when a quantity sits near the line, we price both ways and show you the break-even point.

Send it to Mona Steel

Mona Steel LLC, headquartered in Anaheim, California, roll-forms C-⁠purlins, C-⁠channels and Z-⁠purlins, plus U, hat/omega and sigma sections, from 20 gauge to ¼ in., pre-galvanized (ASTM A653, e.g., G90) or hot-⁠dip galvanized (ASTM A123), with pre-punching, slotting, embossing and cut-to-length inline. Volume work is our focus: production runs and repeat releases of profiles that run into thousands of linear feet. Releases can be bundled and labeled by block, phase or part number and staged to your schedule, with mill test reports and heat-number traceability on every order. We deliver across California and ship to Texas, Arizona, Nevada and nationwide, quoted per load.

Laser-cut clips, splice plates and connection plates for the same program are cut on a 20 kW fiber laser and ship with the profiles on one purchase order. Our estimating team reviews every request and comes back with an itemized quote, and we also quote smaller orders when we can help.

Send the checklist and your drawing on the quote form, or see C-⁠purlins, C-⁠channels and Z-⁠purlins and custom roll forming.

Sources

• Metal Building Manufacturers Association, Common Industry Practices, 2024 edition, Section 9.1 and Table 9.1: fabrication tolerances for cold-⁠formed structural members.
• Steel Stud Manufacturers Association, Product Technical Guide: steel thickness table, design and minimum thickness.
• Manufacturers’ Standard Gauge for Sheet Steel, based on 41.82 lb per square foot per inch of thickness, as tabulated in Machinery’s Handbook.
• American Galvanizers Association, Continuous sheet galvanizing: ASTM A653 coating designations such as G90.