Today in this article we will talk about the intricacies of steel detailing services, what is required to meet quality expectations and delivery time.
Many countries use steel as the main component of construction. The construction of steel structures is extremely complex and precarious. Many aspects must be taken into account when constructing steel buildings. First of all, it is important to hire a structural engineer to design and calculate the structural side of the building construction. Determining the load that the building structure can support, the size of the members, the total steel required for construction, and finally developing the structural plans is what the structural engineer is expected to do. The Engineer’s aesthetic sense, experience and skills mostly affect the construction of the building. Once design drawings are completed and calculations approved and sealed, structural detailing begins.
Structural detailers must process excellent speed, technical insight, drafting skills, and engineering skills to solve design problems. Working knowledge of how the manufacturing process is carried out is an added bonus. Structural details consist of two types of drawing sets, erection drawings and shop drawings. Today, there is software that makes steel detailing simpler than ever before. Software like Tekla, Revit, SDS, etc. help develop a parametric model and extract drawings that can be used for manufacturing. In addition, the steel detail standards that are applicable to an individual building type/location are equally important. These standards determine how structures are built, how members are placed, and the typical size of the building. Standards include AISC, Canadian Standards, Australian Steel Detail Standards, etc. The drawings must comply with the standards developed by various establishments in this field.
Aside from all of the above, steel detailing personnel are extremely specialized and important. This trade offers very limited labor and technicians. In addition, they are very expensive and can be very cost-effective to hire in-house, especially when the workflow is intermittent. Today, many manufacturers have chosen to outsource structural details. Very few companies have internal staff due to this inconvenience. Companies in countries like India offer steel detailing services at lower prices combined with high quality. In addition to quality, fast turnaround time and accuracy are also equally important for steel detailing projects. The use of software also plays an important role today. Steel detail drawings were previously developed using AutoCAD, while today parametric 3D modeling software has replaced AutoCAD.
