After the steel has been produced, every piece of steel in a skyscraper or bridge must be precisely cut its

holes properly placed its pieces welded in exactly the right location. Every single bolt in the structure
must be located and attached at the proper place and all this must be exact to 1/16 of an inch so that
the steel members will fit together perfectly at the site. That’s why a process called detailing is such an
important and integral part of building today’s complex steel based structures. It is the detailer who
must develop drawings that are so precise that they will show the fabricator the exact dimensions
required for manufacturing the finished steel components that will go into the structure. To accomplish
this formidable task, the detailer will take the design prepared by the structural engineer. And on paper
build a two dimension or a 3D model of the steel frame of the building or bride. It is from this model
that the detailer will generate a complete list of every member in the structure, as well as shop drawings
that all the individual steel pieces to accomplish this process. The detailer must compute the length of
the beams and columns as well as the bolts and raw materials. The detailer must also keep track of
every hole in the entire structure if a change is made in a beam connection or in the hole of one column
web, it will be up to the detailer to indicate exactly how that change will affect all the holes in those
beams. In addition if a member has been changed on the shop drawing, the detailer must also change
the erection drawings that will be used in the field. All this information is developed with the help of
computers and it can be downloaded to the drill line in the shot or- the angle master to show them how
to drill holes for the angles. But it is important to realize that although this critical task are done with the
assistance of a computer, they are not done by the computer. The detailers training skill and expertise is
the key to process. It is the detailers ability to translate the engineering drawings of a large structure for
the fabricator so that the fabrication shop will know exactly what must be done to prepare the steel.
The detailer will also indicate the preparation, cleaning and painting of the materials depending on its
specification. If that weren’t enough, the detailer may also have to consider and take into account
shipping requirements. Sometimes even the cranes that will be used in the field and how those cranes
will load and unload members from the truck.