How to Buy Rebar for a Residential Building: From Drawings to Delivery

On a reinforced-concrete residential building, a mistake in buying rebar, whether in grade or quantity, goes straight into cost and schedule. This guide walks through buying rebar step by step, from reading the structural drawings to accepting the load on site, with the grades and weights of the Iranian-standard bars in our catalog.

Start from the drawings and the bar schedule

The starting point is the structural design, not the market. Construction drawings give, for every member (footings, columns, beams, shear walls and slabs), the diameter, number, length and shape of the bars. The bar schedule (bar bending schedule) totals the length of each diameter and is the direct basis for the order.

If you do not have one, ask the design engineer or contractor for it before buying. Note three things: the steel grade of each bar group, the diameters used and their total lengths, and the construction sequence — which sizes the foundations need first and which are only needed for the upper slabs.

The grade comes from the drawings

In the Iranian market rebar grades are known as A1 to A4. All rebar in our catalog is supplied to the Iranian national standard INSO 3132, in 12 m bars:

If your project is designed to another code, matching an INSO 3132 grade to the design grade is the design engineer's decision, and no substitution should be made without their approval. Full specifications are on the product pages for A3 ribbed rebar, A4 ribbed rebar and A1 plain bar.

From bar schedule to tonnage

Rebar is sold by weight, so lengths must be converted to kilograms. Nominal weight depends only on diameter and is the same in every grade:

For example, 1,200 m of 16 mm bar in the schedule is about 1,200 × 1.578 ≈ 1,894 kg, or roughly 100 bars. The full table is in our rebar weight table. Add an allowance for cutting waste and laps on top of the net weight; the contractor or supervising engineer should set it for the specific project.

Order units and the quotation

The base price is per kilogram, but you can order by tonne, by 12 m bar or, for grades A1, A3 and A4, by bundle. Tonnes or bundles suit the high-volume diameters; single bars suit sizes used in only a few members. Either way, the final invoice follows the actual weighbridge weight.

Before paying, check that the quotation states clearly: grade and diameter with the standard name, quantity by weight, the date of the price and how long it is valid, whether tax is included, and the delivery terms (ex-works, warehouse or site, and for export the shipping and customs terms). A size marked "price on request" simply has no fixed published price that day.

Buy all at once or in stages?

A building does not need all its rebar at once: foundations first, then columns and walls, then slabs. Buying everything up front fixes the cost for the whole job but ties up capital and needs proper storage on site; buying in stages keeps cash free, but each stage is bought at that day's price. Whichever you choose, take each stage's quantity from the bar schedule so you do not end the project short of one diameter and long on another.

Accepting the delivery

• Compare the weighbridge ticket with the quotation.
• Check diameter and grade on the bundle tags or shipping documents; ask for the mill certificate if the supervising engineer requires it.
• Count the bars in one bundle and multiply by the bar weight to cross-check the declared weight.
• Record any flaking or deep corrosion immediately.

Write any discrepancy on the delivery note and have it signed by the driver or the supplier's representative. Store the bars off the ground, each diameter separately.

Summary

Buying rebar well starts with the design: grade and diameter from the drawings, lengths from the bar schedule, weights from the nominal weight table. Review the quotation line by line and check the load with the weighbridge and the documents. Every size of rebar in our catalog is listed with full specifications; if your bar schedule is ready, contact us for a quotation.