British Columbia
THE SITE DETAILS THAT RAISE OR LOWER AN INSTALL PRICE
Two sites can take the same run of duct and still get different install prices. One site needs more hours than the other.
A ductwork installation cost depends on the hours the site adds, plus any lift or crane the work needs. Access, parking, working height, what's already in the ceiling, and when work is allowed all change those hours. A renovation adds what nobody sees until the old ceiling comes down. Each of these can be planned for, as long as the quote knows about it from the start.
Check your site against each row. Everything in the right-hand column adds time on site.
| Site detail | Quicker to install | Adds hours |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | Ground floor, or an elevator that fits the longest piece | Stairs only, or pieces too long for the elevator |
| Parking | The van parks beside the door for the day | Time-limited street parking, or a long carry from the van |
| Height | Work you can reach from a ladder | Ceilings that need a lift, or a crane to reach the roof |
| The ceiling | Open, with clear spots to hang from | Sprinkler mains, cable trays, or a ceiling grid already in |
| The building | Empty, with nobody working below | Open for business, with floors to cover and quiet hours |
| New or old | New construction | A renovation where old duct or hidden materials come out first |
| Readiness | Roof opening cut, power on, area clear | Other trades still working there on install day |
Every section of duct travels from the van to the spot where it hangs. On a hard site, that trip uses up time before anything goes up.
If the longest duct section won't fit the elevator, it goes up the stairs by hand. Measure the elevator door and the inside of the car, and send those sizes with the drawings.
An install van stays put all day. In Vancouver, a commercial loading zone allows half an hour, and only with a city permit. Tell us where the van can park for the full shift.
A long walk from the door to the work area adds time to every trip. Say how far it is, and whether there's a freight entrance or a loading dock.
Some buildings make you book the elevator, use one entrance, or sign in with security. Send those rules with the address, so the first morning isn't spent waiting at the door.
Height decides the equipment, and the equipment changes the price. BC rules set when the extra equipment is needed.
WorkSafeBC requires fall protection wherever a worker could fall 3 metres or more. At that height, the install plan includes it, which adds equipment and setup time.
If you're supplying the lift, it needs an operator trained on that kind of lift, and a boom lift needs its yearly inspection. Check that it fits through the doors to the work.
The crane company supplies an operator with a certificate WorkSafeBC accepts, and quotes each job. If a crane is already booked for the rooftop unit, ask whether the duct and roof curbs can go up with it.
Ask early whether the lift or crane comes from you, the general contractor, or us. If two trades need the same lift, agree before the job how the rental is split.
Duct goes in around everything else up there. The more that's already in place, the slower each section goes up.
If they cross the duct's path, the run needs offsets to get around them, and each offset adds a fitting and time. Mark them on the drawing, or send photos.
If the grid is in, tiles come out and go back, and the installers work through the gaps. Hanging the duct before the grid goes up saves those hours.
Each hanger fixes to the structure above the ceiling. Tell us whether that structure is concrete, steel, or wood, so the installers bring the right anchors.
When plumbers and electricians are in the ceiling at once, every trade works around the others. If the schedule allows, book the install for days when the ceiling is clear.
Photos help most when they show the whole ceiling, and how to measure ductwork for a custom fitting shows what to capture.
A building that stays open sets its own rules for noise, dust, and timing. Floors and equipment below the work need covering, and loud steps may wait for set hours. A restaurant that keeps serving while its kitchen exhaust duct goes in needs the work timed around service.
Each limit shortens the working day, so the same install spreads over more days. The city's noise bylaw sets the outer limit for construction noise on private property.
| City | Construction noise allowed | Not allowed on |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | Weekdays 7:30 am to 8 pm, and Saturdays 10 am to 8 pm | Sundays and holidays |
| Burnaby | Weekdays 7 am to 8 pm, and Saturdays 9 am to 8 pm | Sundays and holidays |
| Surrey | Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 10 pm, including holidays | Sundays |
Our installers work Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm, inside each city's limits. A building's own quiet hours are what usually shorten the day. A site that only allows work at night or on a weekend isn't a job we can take on.
New construction shows its conditions on the drawings. A renovation hides some of them until the old ceiling or duct comes out.
Get the hazardous materials survey done first. Before any renovation, WorkSafeBC requires a qualified person to check for hazardous materials. Send us the report with the drawings.
Clear anything the survey finds before other trades start. If asbestos turns up in the work area, a licensed abatement contractor removes it first.
Mark what's coming out. Old duct to remove, cap, or connect to changes the work, so show it on the drawing.
Keep some time and budget spare. A field measure only records what's visible, and an old ceiling can hide more than the drawings show.
If the installers arrive at a site they can't work on, they have to come back. The van, the travel, and the setup are paid for twice, and contractors call that second trip a remobilization. Ask how a return trip is priced when the quote comes in.
The site is ready for install day when each of these is true.
These are published Canadian figures for the costs a harder site adds. Use them to see why one site's price differs from another's.
| Cost item | Published range in CAD, not a Duct Duct Goose quote | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 19 ft (about 5.8 m) electric scissor lift rental | $168 to $181 a day, or $504 to $590 weekly | The smallest lift for a ceiling past ladder height |
| 26 to 32 ft (about 8 to 10 m) electric scissor lift rental | $250 to $400 a day | For taller ceilings, like warehouses and atriums |
| 30 to 45 ft (about 9 to 14 m) articulating boom lift rental | $551 to $614 a day | Reaches up and over things a scissor lift can't get past |
| Sheet metal worker wage, Lower Mainland | $22.98 to $45.95 an hour, with a median of $32.17 | A wage, not a Duct Duct Goose quote. A billed rate also covers the van, tools, insurance, and overhead |
| Overtime under BC law | One and a half times the wage after the eighth hour in a day, and double after the twelfth | Why squeezing two days of work into one costs more |
| Crane hire | Quoted by the crane company for each job | No BC crane company publishes a standard rate |
The rental rates are what two BC equipment suppliers list for the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley. The wage range is the Government of Canada's Job Bank figure.
The same run of duct, installed on two sites, shows how the building moves the price. The hours are assumed, and the wage is the Job Bank median.
| Illustration in CAD, hours assumed, not a Duct Duct Goose quote | Site A, ground floor | Site B, third floor |
|---|---|---|
| What the site is like | Van at the door, open ceiling 2.7 metres high | A freight elevator, a 5 metre ceiling, and a sprinkler main in the way |
| Hours hanging the duct, two installers | 16 | 16 |
| Hours carrying it to the work area | 1 | 3 |
| Hours setting up and moving the lift | None | 2 |
| Hours for offsets around the sprinkler main | None | 2 |
| Hours for a second trip, when the ceiling wasn't open | None | 3 |
| Total hours, and days on site with no overtime | 17, over one day | 26, over two days |
| Wage cost at $32.17 an hour | $546.89 | $836.42 |
| 19 ft scissor lift for two days, about the middle of the range | None | $350.00 |
| Total, wage cost and lift only, not a Duct Duct Goose quote | $546.89 | $1,186.42 |
The same run of duct, installed on two different sites
Illustration with hours assumed. The site, not the duct, adds the extra time.
Site A
Ground floorSite B
Third floor, freight elevatorBoth bars use the hours from the worked example on this page. A billed install price follows the same pattern.
Site B takes about 50% more hours and a second day on site, plus two days of lift rental. A billed rate is higher than the wage, so the gap on a quote is bigger still.
An install price starts with your building, not only your drawings. These steps are how the site gets into the price.
Send the site details with the drawings. The address, the route in, parking, ceiling heights, lifting, other trades, and the hours the building allows.
We ask about the ceiling before we price. That covers what's in it, where hangers can go, and how the metal gets up.
We field measure when the job needs it. The field measure is quoted separately.
The install is priced separately, so you see its cost apart from the metal.
The install date is agreed around the other trades on site.
Our HVAC ductwork fabrication page covers the duct we make and install. Grease duct and exhaust jobs follow the same steps.
Most weekday commercial installs in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley suit us. A few site conditions call for a different trade or a different plan.
Ask for a supply-only price as well, so you can compare our install with what your own crew would charge. We'll quote both.
With these in the request, the price comes back matched to your site. It also saves a round of follow-up calls.
Whether to ask for an install at all is covered in supply only or supply and install. Getting the order itself to the right floor is the subject of getting fabricated metal onto a busy jobsite. More fit and install guides sit in Field Measure, Fit and Installation.
Send drawings or a sketch with sizes, plus photos of the site and the way in. We'll ask about anything the price depends on before we quote.
Standard ductwork and fittings price instantly on WebDuct, the online pricing and ordering portal, with a company account. Stainless, grease duct, installs, and other custom work start with a request or a call.
At Duct Duct Goose, we specialize in sheet metal fabrication and stainless steel services for commercial and industrial applications, including HVAC systems, ducts, and custom metalwork. Please note that we do not offer services for automotive-related projects, such as vehicle parts, repairs, or modifications.
