Steelwork Detailing

Description

A Steel Detailer uses a Computer Aided Design (CAD) program to create the drawings needed by steel fabrication companies. Working off the Structural Engineer's plans, he or she draws each column, member and connection in detail, and from this the Advance Bill of Materials is compiled.

The ABM is a comprehensive list of all the main steel components for the building, with lengths, grades and profiles stipulated.

Next come the Anchor Bolt Drawings, which have to be approved before any concrete foundations can be poured, then the Shop Drawings for use by the fabricator; these show all dimensions, cuts, holes and welds etc. And after the Shop Drawings come the Erection Drawings on which all the assembly marks are located.

Usually Steel Detailers work in small teams with a Project Coordinator. Their deadlines are set by the critical date that the first steel must be on site. Working backwards from this, the Project Coordinator determines the start dates for each phase of the project, according to the various lead-times.

The work of the Steel Detailer is intensive but highly satisfying when everything is kept on schedule and within budget. Keeping track requires that communications with the client are quite formalised; every conversation, phone call and email exchange is documented and packaged into Records of Communications or ROC's. The team also keeps a record of Requests For Information or RFI's and Notices Of Change or NOC's. Quantifying these provides a transparent measure of the team's efficiency.

Qualifications

The preferred subjects taken at High School are Graphics & Design (Technical Drawing), Mathematics and Technology (Metalwork/Woodwork). Before a school-leaver could expect to be recruited by a steel detailing company, he or she would probably have to enroll at a Polytechnic for a CAD course, or an Engineering course.

Some may have a structural draughting background, in which case they would take a diploma course while working for the steel detailing company and getting on the job training.

The diplomas available are in

Architectural Technology

Construction Management

Civil Engineering

In their personal attributes, good Steel Detailers have in common an eye for detail, enthusiasm for problem solving and an interest in Structural Engineering.