Responsibilities of Steel Detailer

The detailer is not usually responsible for design, including structural strength and integrity (which are the responsibility of the engineer) and compliance with relevant building codes (which are the responsibility of the architect).

A detailer is often required to submit his drawings to the architect and engineer for review prior to the use of those drawings for fabrication. This review ideally assures engineering accuracy and compliance with the design.

Techniques

Steel detailers fall into two disciplines: manual drafting and computer-aided drafting (CAD). A manual draftsman creates his drawings by hand, using pencils, paper, and drafting tools such as a parallel bar or drafting machine, triangles, templates of circles and other useful shapes, and a hand calculator for performing computations.

A computer-aided draftsman creates his drawings on a computer, using software specifically designed for the purpose, and printing out his drawings on paper only when they are complete.

Many detailers would add another classification for those using 3-D Modeling applications specifically designed for the task, as the process for the production of drawings using these applications is markedly different from a 2-D drafting approach.

Detailing requires skills in not only drafting but also mathematics (including geometry and trigonometry), logic, reasoning, spatial visualization, and communication. A computer-aided draftsman also requires skills in using computers and an understanding of the specific CAD software he is to use.

A detailer's drawings generally go through several phases. Following creation of the drawing, the detailer must usually (as described above) submit a copy of the drawing to the architect and engineer for review. Copies of the drawing may be sent to other recipients at this time as well, such as the general contractor, for informational purposes only.