Why will nobody give me a price per bay over the phone?

The ones who will are quoting a bay they have imagined rather than yours. Frame height, beam length, how many levels, what your pallet weighs and what the slab can take all move the number, and none of them are knowable from a phone call. A supplier who asks those questions first is doing the job properly.

Is used racking worth it?

Sometimes, and it depends far less on the price than on whether the components are a matched, identifiable system with nothing bent in the load path. Installation costs the same for used steel as new, so the saving applies to only part of the job.

Should installation and inspection come from the same company?

It is common, and it is worth being aware of the incentive: a business that sells racking and repairs has an interest in what an inspection finds. Some customers prefer an inspector who does not sell either, which is a preference we pass on rather than hide.

What should I keep after the install?

The layout drawings, the load calculations, the configuration the load signs were issued against, and the manufacturer and system name. All of it becomes hard to reconstruct later and all of it matters the first time you want to change, extend or move the racking.

What pallet racking actually costs to install

We are not going to give you a number. Anyone who quotes a per-bay price without seeing your floor, your height and your pallet is guessing, and the guess will be wrong in whichever direction suits them. What we can do is tell you what the price is made of, so you can read a quote properly.

Last updated 2026-08-24

Compare on cost per pallet position, not cost per bay

A bay is not a fixed quantity of storage. One supplier quotes a bay at three beam levels, another at four, and a third assumes two pallets per level where you can only fit one. Three quotes, three different meanings of the word, and no way to line them up.

Divide the total by the number of pallet positions it delivers and the comparison becomes real. Ask each supplier for the position count their quote produces — if they cannot give you one, they have not designed the layout, they have priced steel.

What is actually in the price

Frames and beams are the obvious part and often not the largest. The rest is design, delivery, labour, and everything that is not racking but has to happen anyway.

Height drives cost more than floor area does, because taller frames are heavier sections and taller installs need more equipment and more time. The clear height you actually have therefore shows up twice: once in how many levels you get, and once in what each one costs to put up.

Design and layout drawings, and the load calculations behind them
Frames, beams, bracing, footplates and anchors
Delivery, and whether the site can take a semi-trailer
Installation labour, plus equipment hire for the height involved
Floor preparation and anchoring — see what the slab will and will not take
Accessories that are quoted separately far more often than they should be: mesh decking and pallet support bars, column guards, and load signage

The line items that go missing

Load signage is the one to check first. It is cheap, it is required by the design rather than optional, and it is left off quotes constantly — then invoiced later or, worse, never fitted.

Protection is the second. A quote without any barriers or end-of-aisle protection is not cheaper than one that includes them; it has moved the cost to whenever the first truck hits an upright.

And a handover. You want the design drawings, the configuration the load signs are based on, and the manufacturer details, because in five years the person deciding whether you can extend the run will need to know what system you actually own.

New, used, and the case for each

Used steel is genuinely cheaper and genuinely riskier, and the risk is not really about the metal. It is about provenance: whether the components are a matched system, whether anything is bent, and whether anyone can put a defensible capacity on the result. The full trade-off is here.

Installation labour, meanwhile, costs the same either way. So the saving is a proportion of the materials, not of the job — which narrows the gap more than people expect once a full fit-out is priced.

What happens after it is standing

A new installation is the cleanest moment your racking will ever have, and it is worth using. Get the drawings filed, the load signs photographed and the configuration written down while everyone still remembers it.

It is also the point at which the ongoing obligation starts. What that obligation actually is — and where the twelve-month figure comes from — is set out under how racking inspection works in Australia. It is a less simple answer than most of the industry gives.

Common questions

Why will nobody give me a price per bay over the phone?: The ones who will are quoting a bay they have imagined rather than yours. Frame height, beam length, how many levels, what your pallet weighs and what the slab can take all move the number, and none of them are knowable from a phone call. A supplier who asks those questions first is doing the job properly.
Is used racking worth it?: Sometimes, and it depends far less on the price than on whether the components are a matched, identifiable system with nothing bent in the load path. Installation costs the same for used steel as new, so the saving applies to only part of the job.
Should installation and inspection come from the same company?: It is common, and it is worth being aware of the incentive: a business that sells racking and repairs has an interest in what an inspection finds. Some customers prefer an inspector who does not sell either, which is a preference we pass on rather than hide.
What should I keep after the install?: The layout drawings, the load calculations, the configuration the load signs were issued against, and the manufacturer and system name. All of it becomes hard to reconstruct later and all of it matters the first time you want to change, extend or move the racking.

Part of our guide to designing a warehouse layout.