14 Jan Structural Steel Fabrication Drawings

Structural Steelwork Drawings

For us here at Baker Steel Trading, structural steel fabrication is our bread and butter. We provide many important services to our valuable clients, but perhaps one of the most vital to any steel build is our service of providing full fabrication drawings and 3D modelling. As far as the required parts and materials for a steel project go, and to ensure steel is fabricated and welded to specification on time and without delay, then this service is arguably one of the most crucial.

Steel fabrication drawings help engineers understand the specifications in the design and construction of a structural steel project. During the steel detailing process, fabrication drawings are produced to determine structural steel sizes as well as the relevant connections required for the build.

Put it like this; architects conceptualise and design the building in terms of its materials, finishes and overall size. The structural elements are subsequently calculated by the structural engineers working on the project. Both the architects and structural engineers then produce relevant information in the form of drawings, which are then used as the basis for steel fabrication drawings. The structural steel fabricators need these drawings in order to complete the job; structural steel fabrication cannot be completed by simply using structural engineers’ drawings or architects’ drawings.

What Details are in Fabrication Drawings?

The detailed fabrication drawings can consist of:

• Assembly Drawings – these drawings show steel beam and plate positions dimensioned to each other, weld type and size, hole position and size, part numbers as well as the type of steel finishing.
• Single Part Drawings – these only show one specific dimensioned part. This could be a plate, column, beam, channel or other particular component, as opposed to a whole assembly drawing detailing more of the whole build.

3D Fabrication Modelling

The process of structural steel detailing usually involves advanced CAD (computer-aided software) software tools to develop sophisticated steel drawings. 3D CAD modelling is widely used across the industry for the process of steel detailing, where a General Assembly drawing is commonly produced.

These GA drawings have to show both architects and structural engineers sufficient detail so they can fully understand the structural steel model without any confusion. It will have to detail all relevant column and beam positions to dimension, elevations, connections, section sizes and heat treatment as well as the steel finish. The GA drawings are submitted for approval before the official structural steel drawings are produced.

Steel detailing software assists in the efficiency of a structural steel project; teams can design effective and accurate project fabrication materials in a way that is beneficial to steel fabricators as much as it is to architects and structural engineers. Below are just a few of the benefits of 3D fabrication drawings to a project.

Advantages of Fabrication Drawings

• Avoids errors and delays – Good CAD 3D steel detailing software specifies every fabrication sheet to be displayed as a visual presentation of the structure, with all parts managed and synchronised effectively. If a model needs changes applied to it, these changes will be reflected in each steel fabrication drawing, meaning that less manual editing is required. By extension, there will be no errors when it comes to the steel fabrication process – it goes without saying that fabricating steel beams to sizes that were incorrectly detailed (and unnoticed) would be hugely frustrating for all project parties.
• Cost-saving measure – by using 3D steel detailing software, alternative models, steel alterations and re-estimates can be calculated swiftly and efficiently. You can estimate the amount of structural steel necessary and even potentially generate a bill of materials, which can save you on both labour and material costs.
• Minimises on-site issues – by using fabrication drawings, you are essentially reducing any on-site fabrication or mobile welding issues to zero. Models can be viewed from virtually every angle possible, and these benefit those on-site to stay fully aware of the progress of the steel buildings’ construction.

Steel Fabrication Companies

Baker Steel Trading produce 3D modelled fabrication drawings for a multitude of clients. We would recommend using 3D fabrication drawings as part of a build as they can be generated to provide extensive and detailed documentation of a project, which all parties can be clued into.

All materials that Baker Steel Trading use are CE marked and have been identified in accordance with relevant standards. For more information on CE marking for structural steel, please click here.

We offer our fabrication drawing process during the tender process of a build, so as to ensure enough time to produce the drawings for approval.

Get in touch with us today to talk to us about how our drawings can help you.