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About
A fabrication shop built around getting the detail right first
Northline Metalworks is a Melbourne metal fabrication workshop producing structural steel, architectural metalwork, balustrades, gates and fencing for residential builders, commercial contractors, architects and property owners.
Northline Metalworks started in 2009 in a two-bay shed in Campbellfield, doing repair welding and small fabrication runs for builders across Melbourne's north. The work that kept coming back was the work nobody else wanted to detail properly — retrofit steel into existing buildings, balustrades that had to satisfy a building surveyor, gates that had to hang true on a sloping driveway.
That is still the centre of the business. We have grown to fourteen people and a purpose-fitted workshop, but the thing that gets us repeat work from builders and architects has not changed: we resolve the detail before we cut, and we tell you early when something in the documentation will not work.
Today the workshop runs structural steel for commercial builders alongside architectural metalwork for architects and one-off residential pieces for homeowners. Those are very different clients with very different expectations, and we have deliberately kept the capability to do all three rather than specialising into a single lane.
We are not the cheapest fabricator in Melbourne and we do not try to be. What we offer is steel that fits, paperwork that satisfies the certifier, and a program you can build around.
The workshop
- Established
- 2009
- Team
- Fourteen people: boilermakers, welders, a full-time detailer and two installation crews.
- Workshop
- Unit 6, 42 Hume Reserve Court, Campbellfield VIC 3061
- Coverage
- Metropolitan Melbourne, and regional Victoria within roughly 90 minutes of the workshop.
- Trading name
- Northline Metalworks Pty Ltd
- ABN
- 48 617 302 594
How we operate
The things a client can hold us to
No awards, no badges. These are operational commitments, and every one of them is something you can ask us to evidence before awarding the work.
Shop drawings before we cut
Detailing issued for approval on every structural and architectural job, so clashes are found on paper.
One workshop, no subcontracting
Cutting, fabrication, finishing and load-out happen under one roof in Campbellfield.
$20M public liability
Certificate of currency issued with every commercial quote, alongside our WorkSafe cover.
Quotes in three business days
Most residential and light commercial enquiries are priced within three business days of a site measure.
Our own install crews
Two installation crews and a 4.5 tonne crane truck, so delivery and install stay on our program.
Documented welding procedures
Structural welding carried out to documented procedures in line with AS/NZS 1554.1.
Working with us
What we do differently, and why it matters to you
None of this is exotic. It is the difference between steel that goes up in a morning and steel that turns into three weeks of variations.
Detailing comes before fabrication
Our detailer models every structural and architectural job before a single section is cut. Shop drawings are issued for your approval, which means clashes with services, framing and cladding get resolved on paper rather than on site.
One point of contact from quote to handover
The person who prices your job manages it. You are not passed between an estimator, a workshop manager and an installer, and you are not chasing a subcontractor we have never worked with.
We measure for site reality
Slabs move, frames rack and heritage openings are rarely square. We check-measure on site before fabrication and detail in the tolerance and adjustment needed to make the steel fit the building you actually have.
Finishes are specified, not assumed
Hot-dip galvanising, powder coat colour, primer system and touch-up procedure are written into the quote. You know what turns up, and so does the painter following behind us.
Programmed around your build sequence
Deliveries are staged to match the trade sequence rather than dumped in one load. On multi-stage commercial work we hold finished items in the workshop until the site is ready for them.
Compliance paperwork included
Welder qualifications, material test certificates and inspection records are supplied as part of the job on commercial work, not produced weeks later when the building surveyor asks.
How we work
From enquiry to handover
Six stages, the same on a single lintel and on a multi-stage commercial package. The difference is scale, not process.
01
Enquiry and scope
Send drawings, sketches or photographs through the quote form. We confirm what is included, flag anything that looks unresolved, and tell you what else we need.
02
Site measure or drawing review
For residential and retrofit work we measure on site. For new commercial builds we work from the architectural and structural documentation and raise RFIs where the detail is unclear.
03
Fixed quote and program
You receive a written quote with inclusions, exclusions, finish specification, lead time and installation requirements. Nothing is priced as a provisional sum unless we say so.
04
Shop drawings and approval
We issue shop drawings for approval. Fabrication does not start until they are signed off, which protects both of us from expensive rework.
05
Fabrication and finishing
Cutting, forming, welding and assembly happen in the Campbellfield workshop. Galvanising and powder coating are booked in as part of the program, not as an afterthought.
06
Installation and handover
Our crews deliver and install, make good, and hand over the documentation package. Any defect items are listed and closed out before we invoice the final claim.
Compliance and insurance
Paperwork supplied as part of the job
On commercial work this documentation is issued at contract award rather than chased later. On residential work it is available on request.
- Structural welding carried out to documented welding procedures in line with AS/NZS 1554.1.
- Structural steelwork fabricated to the requirements set out in the project documentation, including AS 4100 where nominated.
- Balustrades and barriers detailed against the loading requirements of AS 1170.1 and the relevant National Construction Code provisions.
- Public liability insurance of $20 million, with certificates of currency supplied on request.
- Workers compensation cover held through WorkSafe Victoria.
- Material test certificates for structural steel supplied on request.
Certificates of currency, welder qualification records and material test certificates are issued on request. If your project requires an inspection and test plan, tell us at tender stage so it is priced in.
What clients say
What clients have said
The trial assembly in their workshop is what sold me. They found two cleat positions that would have meant drilling on site at 2am, and fixed them before the frame went to galvanising. We despatched every morning of that install.
Dean Whitfield
Project Manager, Harrowgate Fitouts
See the project in BrunswickOur stair was already built and it was not perfectly true. Northline templated the whole thing rather than working off the drawings, and absorbed the variation at the landings. Standing at the bottom you would never know.
Priya Raman
Director, Raman Constructions
See the project in KewI have specified perforated screening on a lot of projects and the panel joints usually give it away. They nested the pattern across the whole elevation and cut the panels out of it. That is not the standard approach and it is the reason it works.
Marcus Ellery
Associate Architect, Ellery Studio
See the project in FitzroyRequest a quote
Send us the drawings, or just a photograph
Tell us what you need fabricated and we will come back with a written quote, a lead time and a clear list of what is included. Site measures across metropolitan Melbourne are free.
- Workshop
- Unit 6, 42 Hume Reserve Court
Campbellfield VIC 3061 - Phone
- (03) 5550 0142