Aluminum system RFQ checklist

Start with the scope split

Before anything else, state whether you are asking for supply only or supply with installation coordinated as part of the project scope. Almost everything downstream — what is priced, who takes field dimensions, who is responsible for perimeter sealing and who handles delivery and handling — follows from that single line.

If you are not sure, say so. It is a legitimate answer and it lets both options be priced.

Project basics

• Project name, city and state, and the site address if it is known.
• Residential, commercial or mixed-use.
• Whether the project is new construction, a renovation or a replacement.
• Your role: owner, architect, general contractor, glazing contractor, fabricator, developer.
• Programme: when the information is needed, and when the material would be needed on site.
• Whether the building is designed, under construction, or still at concept.

The schedule and drawings

Send a tagged window and door schedule if one exists, together with the elevations and plans it refers to. If there is no schedule, send whatever is available and say what stage the design is at — a concept-stage inquiry is perfectly reasonable, it simply gets a different kind of answer.

• Tagged schedule with quantities, sizes and operation.
• Elevations and plans at the current revision.
• Any details for head, jamb and sill conditions.
• Structural information where openings are large or spans are significant.
• Photographs for replacement and renovation work.

System interest and intent

• The system family or families you are considering, if you have a view.
• Whether thermal separation is required at each position.
• Operation types: fixed, hinged, tilt-and-turn, sliding, lift-and-slide.
• Whether frames must match existing elements or other trades' components.
• Any performance intent set by the design team, and whether certified documentation is required.

Glass, hardware and finish

These three are specified with the frame, not after it. Even a provisional position helps: state what is decided, what is intended and what is open. Hardware in particular drives lead time and cutouts, and access control or specialist ironmongery has to be identified early because it affects the profile before fabrication.

Site conditions and access

• Access for delivery and for moving large units into position.
• Storey height and whether external access equipment is available.
• Storage on site, and whether protection can be provided.
• Any restriction on working hours, noise or lift use.
• Whether openings are built, framed or still on paper.

What we will confirm before anything is specified

Availability, final specifications, certification, engineering requirements, glazing, finish, delivery and project suitability are confirmed for each project. We do not publish prices, lead times, ratings or stock positions, and we will not quote them informally either — a figure that turns out to be wrong is worse than no figure.

Where a requirement depends on the jurisdiction, it is confirmed with the applicable authority and the project's design professionals rather than assumed from a general rule.

Sending it

Send everything in one place with the checklist answered inline. Incomplete is fine; inconsistent is the problem. If something is undecided, mark it undecided and we will price around it or list it as an exclusion so the quote stays honest and comparable.