Pylon RFQ: the ten sizes and the wind line

A pylon or monument RFQ without wind and size fields is a sculpture brief. This note lists the dimensions and code pointers a buyer should put on the first page so a fabricator can price steel, footing, and faces. It names public code sources. It does not reproduce the standard text and it is not an engineering stamp.

Name the standard, then name the site

In the United States the usual parent is the International Building Code as adopted by the city, with wind loads drawn from ASCE 7 as referenced by that code. ICC publishes the I-Codes at codes.iccsafe.org. ASCE describes ASCE 7 on asce.org. Write the adopted IBC year and the ASCE 7 year the city actually uses. “Latest IBC” is not a year.

Outside the US, write the national wind code the local engineer will stamp. Do not paste a US exposure category onto a European site and hope. The method is the same: named code, named year, named site class. The numbers are not the same.

The ten dimensions that unlock a quote

Overall height above grade. Height of the illuminated cabinet. Width and depth of the cabinet. Width and depth of the pole or masonry base. Finished grade to the underside of the cabinet. Reveal or skirt. Number of faces (1 / 2 / 4). Target night-time viewing distance. Soil note if you have a geotech page; otherwise write “footing by engineer, soil unknown.” Those ten fields let a shop decide whether they are looking at a 4 m brick monument or a 12 m steel pylon. Everything else is colour.

Add three electrical fields from the voltage note: mains V/Hz, IP of the cabinet, and whether the base contains a service disconnect. Add one access field: how a technician reaches the face (door, lift-out, crane). Maintenance cost lives in that sentence.

Wind is a site sentence

Ask the engineer for basic wind speed, exposure category, and topographic factor as the adopted standard defines them. Put those three on the RFQ even if you do not understand the formula. A fabricator who prices “150 mph because Florida” without an exposure category is guessing. A fabricator who asks for the three numbers is quoting.

Foundations are usually a local civil or structural scope. Say so. A sign company that includes an unstamped footing sketch is giving you a conversation starter, not a permit set. Budget the stamp as a separate line.

Illumination and glare

For internally lit pylons, write nits or candela per square metre at night and a shut-off or dimming clock if the road authority asks for one. IES public pages at ies.org are the vocabulary source for uniformity language. Do not ask for “as bright as the competitor across the interchange.” That is not a number a lab can hit twice.

RFQ paste block for pylons

Code year (IBC / national): ___. Wind standard year: ___. Basic wind speed: ___. Exposure: ___. Topographic factor: ___. Overall height AGL: ___ m. Cabinet H × W × D: ___ × ___ × ___ m. Pole / base H × W × D: ___ × ___ × ___ m. Faces: 1 | 2 | 4. Viewing distance: ___ m. Mains: ___ V ___ Hz. IP cabinet: ___. Service disconnect in base: yes/no. Access to face: ___. Footing: by engineer | by sign company (stamped). Geotech attached: yes/no.

If a quote comes back without wind fields, it is a cabinet price, not a pylon price. Send it back with the block. Use the GSS pylon / monument heading to find companies that already show structural work on their own sites. Then make them fill the block. A directory card does not replace ASCE 7 or the local stamp. It only stops you emailing wrap shops for a 12 m steel pole.

Keep the ICC and ASCE links in the appendix so a second project manager can see you did not invent the code names. Re-confirm the adopted year with the building department the month you submit. Cities lag. The fabricator’s “we always use 2018” may be wrong on your parcel.

Do not attach the full standard PDF to the RFQ. Point to the official landing page and write the year. That is enough for a complete commercial conversation and it stays inside the rule that this site does not host pirated code text.

Two more fields save a revision cycle: soil and access. If you have a geotechnical note, attach the page that states bearing capacity and frost depth. If you do not, write “footing by engineer, soil unknown” so the fabricator does not invent a shallow pad. Access decides crane time. A cabinet that opens from a hinged door on the shoulder of a highway is a different maintenance contract from a face that needs a boom lift in a live lane. Write the access sentence even when you think it is obvious.

For dual-face pylons, state whether both faces share one structural pipe or sit on a twin. That choice changes vortex shedding and footing size more than paint does. If the brand wants a masonry monument below four metres, say monument, not pylon, so shops do not quote a tapered steel pole you will reject. The GSS heading covers both; your RFQ should pick one noun and stick to it.

Close the first page with the named code year, the ten sizes, and the three wind numbers. Everything after that is colour, media, and schedule. A complete first page lets a structural shop bid. An incomplete first page collects renderings. That is the whole standard for this week.