Construction glossary · Concrete and masonry

What is lintelin construction?

A lintel is a horizontal structural member that spans an opening in a wall, such as a door or window, and carries the weight of the wall and any loads above the opening to bearing points on each side. In US commercial construction the common types are loose steel angles, precast concrete lintels, reinforced CMU lintels (lintel block or bond beam), and cast-in-place concrete. Estimators count lintels per opening, with length equal to the clear opening width plus bearing at each end.

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Updated August 2026 · Reviewed by the Ruh construction team

Spans openingsCounted from the opening scheduleMaterials steel angle, precast, CMU

How lintels are counted

The definition

Lintel, explained.

On commercial drawings, lintels live in more places than new estimators expect. The structural sheets usually carry a loose lintel schedule or a general note assigning sizes by opening width and wall type, while wall sections, elevations, and the door and window schedules show which openings get them. The common types over openings are loose steel angles for brick veneer, precast concrete lintels, reinforced CMU lintels (lintel block or bond beam with rebar and grout), cast-in-place concrete, and steel beams with plates at wide or heavily loaded openings. Division 04 and Division 05 specs split who furnishes and who installs them. The classic rookie mistakes: missing lintels entirely because they appear only in a schedule note, forgetting that exterior steel is usually hot-dip galvanized, leaving out bearing length when figuring material, and botching the scope gap where the misc metals fabricator furnishes loose lintels but the mason sets them. Also check the mechanical drawings; duct and louver penetrations through masonry need lintels that never show up on the architectural set.

How it is measured

Lintels are taken off as each (ea) by type and size, with lengths extended to linear feet (lf) for pricing. Length per opening equals clear width plus bearing at each end, commonly 8 in per side. Count openings from the door, window, and louver schedules, then bucket them by lintel type using the loose lintel schedule. Loose steel angles often price by weight (lb) at the fabricator, so carry the lf and the section weight per foot. Precast lintels price per ea by length, and reinforced CMU lintels run by lf including lintel block, rebar, grout, and shoring. Keep galvanized exterior pieces separate from primed interior pieces because the unit costs differ.

Worked example

A worked lintel example.

Worked example

Say the opening schedule shows 12 windows at 4 ft 0 in wide and 6 doors at 3 ft 4 in wide in brick veneer, and the loose lintel schedule assigns one galvanized steel angle per opening with 8 in bearing each end. Windows: 4 ft 0 in + 8 in + 8 in = 5 ft 4 in (5.33 lf) each, so 12 ea x 5.33 lf = 64 lf. Doors: 3 ft 4 in + 16 in = 4 ft 8 in (4.67 lf) each, so 6 ea x 4.67 lf = 28 lf. That totals 18 ea and 92 lf of galvanized angle. At an illustrative $18 per lf furnished, material is 92 lf x $18 = $1,656; mason labor at an illustrative $40 per ea adds 18 ea x $40 = $720, so roughly $2,376 before markup. Last check: if the backup wythe is CMU, those same openings likely need precast or bond beam lintels too, counted as a separate line.

How Ruh handles it

How Ruh handles lintel.

Ruh reads the loose lintel schedule, wall sections, and opening schedules in the drawing set, counts lintels by type and size, and extends opening widths plus bearing into ea and lf quantities. It prices those quantities against the contractor's own price book, their real unit costs for galvanized angle, precast units, or grouted lintel block, and hands the estimator a line-item draft. The estimator still makes the judgment calls, like the Division 04 versus Division 05 furnish-and-install split, then adjusts and signs off.

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Lintel: frequently asked questions

How do I know which lintel type each opening gets?+

Start with the loose lintel schedule in the structural general notes; it assigns sizes by opening width and wall construction. As a rule of thumb, brick veneer gets a steel angle, CMU backup gets precast or grouted lintel block, and wide or heavy openings like overhead doors get a steel beam with a plate. Remember that a cavity wall opening often needs two lintels at the same head, one for each wythe.

How much bearing does a lintel need at each end?+

Most US commercial schedules call for 8 in of bearing at each end for steel and precast lintels in masonry, though codes and manufacturers allow as little as 4 in on some short spans. Always pull the bearing requirement from the structural schedule and add it to the clear opening width on both sides when figuring lengths. Skipping bearing is one of the most common shortfalls on lintel material.

Who furnishes and installs loose steel lintels, the steel fabricator or the mason?+

It varies by spec, which is exactly why it is a famous scope gap. Loose lintels are often furnished under Division 05 miscellaneous metals and installed by the mason under Division 04, but some specs push supply to the mason. Read both sections, state your assumption in your scope letter, and make sure exactly one trade carries each piece so lintels are neither doubled nor missed.

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What is lintelin construction?

Lintel, explained.

A worked lintel example.

Worked example

How Ruh handles lintel.

Lintel: frequently asked questions

Related terms

Knowing what lintel means is the easy half.

Try Ruh on a bid you are pricing now.

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