Civil and construction design tools

Bending Schedule Spreadsheet

SANS 282 Automated Bending Schedule (Pro)

Eliminate manual calculations and produce inspection-ready rebar schedules in minutes.

The SANS 282 Automated Bending Schedule is a powerful Excel-based tool designed specifically for South African structural engineers and reinforced concrete detailers. It replaces tedious manual data entry with a smart, VBA-driven interface that ensures accuracy and standard compliance.

Why use this tool?

Manual scheduling is prone to calculation errors—especially when estimating steel weights or calculating cutting lengths for complex shape codes. This tool automates the math, ensuring your tonnage orders are accurate and your cutting lists are error-free.

Key Features

  •  SANS 282 Compliant: Pre-loaded with the standard South African Shape Codes (SC 20, 31, 41, 86, etc.).

  •  Auto-Weight Calculation: Instantly calculates total mass based on bar diameter ($Y$, $R$) and total length.

  •  Smart Visual Selection: Includes a custom dialog box (UserForm) to visually select shape codes—no need to memorize them.

  •  Automatic Cutting Lengths: Input the dimensions (A, B, C…), and the tool calculates the total cutting length according to code formulas.

  •  Print-Ready Output: Generates clean, formatted schedules ready for PDF export or site issue.

  •  Project Summary: Automatically compiles a weight summary per bar diameter for easy ordering.

Technical Specifications

Requirement Detail
Format Microsoft Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm)
Compatibility Microsoft Excel 2010 – 2024 (Windows)
Standards SANS 282 (South Africa)
Language English

How it works

  1. Project Setup: Enter your company logo, project name, and drawing references.

  2. Input Data: Select your Bar Type (Y/R) and Diameter from the dropdowns.

  3. Select Shape: Use the visual popup to pick your Shape Code.

  4. Enter Dimensions: Fill in the required legs (A, B, C…)—the tool handles the rest!

Short video tutorial

17 thoughts on “Bending Schedule Spreadsheet”

  1. Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one!
    It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Wonderful choice of colors!

  2. Jemaneh Wubishet

    Its very nice work and keep up!. I recommend its more better if you ADD summary of total length and weight corresponding to each bar diameter, probably put it @ the bottom of the table.
    I’d like to develop my own layout and would you mind sharing me some tricks regarding to coding bar shapes in excel vba?
    Thank you!

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  6. Hi Rodrigue,
    very handy, it makes me remember myself ten years ago starting to VBA in order to create a workbook like this one. What it puzzled me a bit about yours was that numbering of the shapes (until I saw that South Africa standard SANS 282 reference).
    I would trigger the “shapes userform” from a Worksheet_DoubleClick procedure if Target.Column = 9 (“I”) (and Target intersects data range, if you want). That way you will not lost any functionality at all, as the Dropdown already makes the DoubleClick useless (it makes it not so a normal cell to be edited), and makes more usable this app, as you’ll not force users to select cell and then click the “Bar shape” button. The “Shapes Userform” could be automatically closed whenever it losts focus or when a “shape button” is clicked.
    I don’t know if shapes are being created as groups or as isolated shapes, but that will be a feature you should implement if not, just to ease the erasing of a line.
    Kind regards