Steel Detailing is the production of fabrication drawings and steel erection plans from engineering drawings.

A Steel Detailer is an engineering draftsperson familiar with fabrication and erection methods. A steel detailer prepares two primary types of drawings: general arrangement drawings and detail drawings & the methods used to complete these drawings vary considerably from drawing board to 3D computer modelling.

General Arrangement drawings or GA’s are used to guide the steel erector on the construction site 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 such as cambering, including all work that must be done in the field such as non standard bolting or on site welding the latter not being common practice in the UK. Since the arrangement drawings are intended for use on site, they contain little information about the fabrication of any individual steel member as all members will already be completed by the time the erection drawings are used.

Detail drawings are used to specify the exact detailing requirements for fabricating each individual member (or “piece”) of a structure, and are used by the steel fabricator to fabricate these members. Complete detail drawings show material specifications, member sizes, all required dimensions, welding, bolting, surface preparation and painting requirements, and any other information required to describe each completed member. The shop drawings are intended for use by the fabrication shop, and thus contain little or no information about the erection and installation of the steel members; this information belongs in the general arrangement drawings.

The detailer must comply with the requirements of the design drawings and with all industry standards and protocols. The detailer is not responsible for design integrity (which are the responsibility of the structural engineer), major dimensions of the structure and compliance with relevant building codes (which are the responsibility of the architect). A detailer is generally required to submit his drawings to the structural engineer and/or architect for review prior to the release of drawings for fabrication. In the case of non-building projects there is typically no architect, and detail drawings are reviewed exclusively by the structural engineer to ensure engineering accuracy and compliance with the design intent.