subject: Areas Of Delay Or Revision In Structural Steel Fabrication Drawings [print this page] Steel fabrication shop drawings are of utmost importance for the success of any steel design and structure. All trades including fabrication and erection at site suffer when contract documents are incomplete, erroneous or late. Unlike trades where the majority of the hours are performed on site by specific crew, most steel projects have twice as many hours consumed in shop than the field. Missing material order deadlines and shop issue schedules result in significant costs to cover unabsorbed overhead and overtime.
Incomplete contract documents resulting in Requests for Information (RFIs) and drawing revisions create more cost and schedule impacts than all other drawing problems combined. The problem may touch to various parties including Structural Engineer, Architect, General Contractor and the Owner.
In most cases the late approval was preceded by a late award and submittal. Only the construction manager can decide if savings from protracted negotiations outweigh the added cost and delays associated with detailing revisions, missing the fabrication window, or revising the work in the shop and/or field. An informed owner usually makes the right decision and funds impact with trade specific savings, but only when the impact is known.
When it comes to trades where deferred approvals and missing information impact the progress of structural design and shop drawings, following aspects should be considered a list of the usual suspects.
Elevators: guide rail support steel, hoist way perimeter framing, hoist way bent plate, ventilation framing, and hoist beams cannot be sized or located.
MEPs: Floor and beam penetration framing, interior bent plate, accommodations to support raised and depressed slabs, equipment support beams and mechanical screen dimensions require coordination.
Stairs/Misc Metals: stair opening framing, stringer to beam connections, intermediate platform framing, require coordination. Design/build stair systems very greatly.
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) outlines the requirements for contract documents in the code of standard practice for steel buildings and bridges. Steel subcontractors price their scope of work with the understanding that all the information will be shown in the contract documents prior to starting shop drawings. When the requirements are not met, impacts and mitigation efforts are unavoidable.
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