Steel detailer: Encyclopedia II - Steel detailer - Responsibilities

Steel detailer - Responsibilities

A steel detailer prepares two primary types of drawings: erection drawings and shop drawings. Erection drawings are used to guide the steel erector on the construction site ("in the field") as to where and how to erect the fabricated steel members. These drawings usually show dimensioned plans to locate the steel members, and they often also show details with specific information and requirements, including special work that must be done in the field (such as welding or installing wedge anchors). Since the erection drawings are intended for use in the field, they contain only the most general information about the fabrication of any individual steel member.

Shop drawings, also called detail drawings, are used to guide the steel fabricator in making the steel members. Complete shop drawings show material sizes, dimensions, welding, bolting, painting requirements, and any other information required to describe each completed member. Since the shop drawings are intended only for use in the shop, they generally contain little or no information about the erection and installation of the steel members they depict.

A steel detailer creates his drawings based on information presented on design drawings created by an architect and/or engineer. These design drawings contain information relevant to several different trades, and the detailer must isolate the information required by the steel fabricator. Furthermore, the design drawings show information in a general way, and the detailer must determine and relate how that information applies to each specific steel member. In these ways the detailer acts as an interpreter of the design drawings for the fabricator.

The detailer must comply with industry standards and protocols for detail drawings, such as those established by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the American Welding Society (AWS). The detailer is not usually responsible for design, including structural strength and integrity (which are the responsibility of the engineer) and compliance with relevant building codes (which are the responsibility of the architect). A detailer is often required to submit his drawings to the architect and engineer for review prior to the use of those drawings for fabrication. This review ideally assures engineering accuracy and compliance with the design.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Responsibilities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki