Picking a Membrane Canopy Contractor

From Rp850,000/m²·Minimum project Rp20 million·See the rate card

Search for a membrane canopy contractor and dozens of names come back. Some are real contractors. Some are resellers who pass the job to someone else. Some are steel shops handling tensile fabric for the first time. From the outside they look alike: tidy website, fast quotation. The difference only surfaces when something goes wrong, and by then it is usually too late.

Membrane canopy contractor, reseller, or steel shop

A full membrane canopy contractor holds the whole chain in-house. That means structural calculations, frame fabrication, fabric patterning and welding, and the crew on site. A reseller only holds the quotation. The work goes to a third party you never meet. When the fabric slackens a year later, responsibility bounces between them. A steel shop can build a good frame but orders cut fabric from elsewhere. Patterning and tension are not their problem. In a membrane structure the fabric and the frame are one system holding each other in balance. They cannot be managed apart.

The quickest way to tell them apart is to ask who does which part. A contractor who owns the whole thing answers in detail without stalling. An answer that drifts into "our team will handle it" with no names attached is a warning. It usually means someone else is doing the work.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Are there structural calculations? Ask for working drawings and wind-load figures. "We do this all the time, it will be fine" is reassurance, not engineering.
• How is the fabric joined? PVC membrane is joined by high-frequency welding, not stitched and not glued. Stitching punches needle holes that let water in, and adhesive lets go under heat and UV.
• Which fabric brand and type? It belongs in the quotation, with the manufacturer's technical data attached. "Imported membrane" with no type name is marketing language, not a specification.
• Where is the warranty written down? A warranty spoken over WhatsApp helps nobody. Get it on paper. Check that material cover and workmanship cover are stated separately, because they run for different terms.
• Is the install crew employed or subcontracted? A crew of different faces on every job means the installation standard changes on every job too.

What a complete scope actually contains

Quotations that look cheap are often cheap because they contain less, not because the pricing is leaner. A complete scope covers at minimum: site survey and measurement, and a 3D design you approve before fabrication starts. Then structural calculations, frame fabrication with anti-corrosion finishing, and fabric patterning and welding. Then installation by a field crew, and inspection before handover.

Some items sit outside the package for good reason and get quoted separately. Foundations where the existing base cannot take direct anchoring, civil and electrical works, demolition, and permits. What matters is that they are written down at the start rather than appearing halfway through. Ours are set out on the official rate card.

What AeroSpan does in-house as a membrane canopy contractor

Four jobs never leave our hands: structural calculations, frame fabrication, fabric patterning and welding, and installation on site. The AeroSpan team does all of them, from the Bogor workshop to the final tensioning at your site. Work outside the membrane structure, such as foundations or electrical installation, sits outside the package. It is listed as a separate item in the quotation. We work nationally. Projects outside Greater Jakarta use the same crew. Transport and mobilisation are quoted separately and stated plainly, never folded into the per-metre rate. As a first reference, the Essential package starts from Rp850,000 per m² installed. The minimum project value is Rp20 million.

How we work

The AeroSpan workshop is in Bogor, and nearly all the heavy work finishes there before the crew leaves. Frames are cut, welded, and finished in the workshop. Fabric is patterned and welded in the workshop. What is left for your site is frame erection, fitting the fabric, and tensioning it. Time on site stays short. That matters on a building that keeps operating while the work runs.

One team carries the project from design to handover, so responsibility never gets passed between vendors. We also only take complete packages: design, supply, and installation. We do not sell material alone or labour alone. Quality and warranty are only ours to guarantee when the whole process is ours. Every project carries a membrane warranty of up to 10 years and a 1-month workmanship warranty. The sequence is laid out in our installation process guide.

A track record you can check yourself

A portfolio you can walk up to beats a row of client logos on a homepage. Several of our jobs stand in public places. Visit the membrane canopy at Plaza Bapindo on Sudirman or the structures at Terminal 3 Soekarno-Hatta. The Maxs Sport Center grandstand roof is open to visitors too. Look at how they hold up now, not at the renders. That is the fairest test for any membrane canopy contractor, ours included.

Signals worth slowing down for

A fixed price within minutes, with no survey and no idea of the ground conditions. Fabric described only as "premium membrane". Working drawings that are always coming next week. A large deposit before there is a design you have approved. Any one of these can be innocent, but when they arrive together, get a second quotation before committing. If you are still weighing materials, our fabric types guide gives you something to read quotations against.

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