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Advertising supplement provided by
The Council of American Structural Engineers, in conjunction
with The American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc.
Structural engineers address the problem
In order to help break this harmful cycle,
the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE) chose
to attack the problem through a fresh approach. Instead of
focusing on their required sources of information for structural
design and pointing to examples of where they have received
inadequate information, CASE addressed the issue by recognizing
the contribution of structural engineers to the solution of
the problem and focusing on how structural engineers can contribute
to the solution. With a strong focus on how structural engineers
can improve their documents, CASE charged their National Guidelines
Committee with the responsibility to develop the Guideline
Addressing Coordination and Completeness of Structural Construction
Documents (CASE 962D). The CASE 962D Guideline, published
in 2003, provides a guideline for each firm to develop its
own specific quality management plans and to implement that
plan on each project. Such a plan will aid in the production
of construction documents that are complete and well coordinated.
However, the structural engineer of record cannot take these
steps alone—the entire design team must get on board
in order to reverse the trend and raise the quality of construction
documents. Quality documents can then be used:
- for accurate bid or cost estimate preparation
- to allow effective project planning and construction
schedule development
- to efficiently produce shop drawings
- to allow the structure to be built as intended
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In addition, complete construction documents will:
- include clear descriptions of structural elements
and their material specifications
- be coordinated across disciplines
- show all dimensions necessary for construction and
the relationship of structural and non-structural
elements
- document the governing codes and loads used
- identify and provide requirements for portions to
be designed by specialty engineers
- specify the quality assurance requirements.
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These considerations are independent of the type of framing
system selected for the project.
In developing the 962D Guideline, CASE drew on the expertise
of its members from across the country with experience in
utilizing various framing materials.
In addition, they sought input from trade associations representing
various industries. This input was used to identify key elements
that should be included in a coordinated and complete set
of structural construction documents.
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