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Advertising supplement provided by The Council of American Structural Engineers, in conjunction with The American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc.

Not a standard of care

The CASE 962D Guideline is a guideline and not a standard of care. It was developed as the result of the general consensus of a group of authors and is not intended to be a complete and conscientious evaluation of all of the relevant project-specific factors and circumstances regarding the structural engineer’s engagement and performance. The guideline is just that—a guideline that can be utilized to form the basis of a quality management plan.

The guideline itself is structured as a narrative, discussing:

In addition, a detailed review checklist organized by drawing category, discipline and structural system is included as a starting point for firms to create their own quality management plan. In developing the checklist, CASE intended for structural engineering firms to utilize the checklist as a living document that would be adapted for each firm’s individual needs and typical project types.

The role of the architect

If the CASE 962D specifically provides a guideline for the structural engineer, what role does the architect play in the improvement of construction drawings? The contribution of the architect to the construction documents, while different in content and scope, parallels that of the structural engineer in purpose. The end goal of any set of construction documents is to provide documents suitable for accurate bidding and problem-free construction. The architect can best accomplish this by developing a quality management plan that establishes lines of communication and responsibility, defines the importance of information exchange between the architect and the design team and constructors and is project specific. The architect may then monitor the process during document preparation to ensure complete construction documents.