Structural Steel Detailing and Shop Drawing Services

Steel detailing sits between the engineer and the fabricator, and it is where both of them lose time. The engineer waits for drawings to check. The fabricator waits for drawings to cut. Anything unclear comes back as an RFI, and the RFI cycle is what actually sets the steel programme. RIH Engineering provides outsourced structural steel detailing as a dedicated Tekla team producing fabrication-ready output.

What you get

• Complete Tekla Structures models, handed over so you own the model rather than renting access to it
• Fabrication drawings: single part drawings with full dimensions, holes, welds and surface treatment
• Assembly and erection drawings with assembly marks, orientation and site bolt specification
• General arrangement drawings coordinated with the engineering layout
• Advanced bill of materials and bolt lists suitable for direct procurement
• CNC and DSTV files for direct transfer to fabrication machinery
• Clash detection run on the model before any drawing is issued
• Revision control with clear revision clouds and a drawing register you can audit

What we handle for you

Detailing is a production discipline, not a design one, but it needs engineering literacy to do safely. The detailer has to understand why a connection is the way it is, otherwise the model gets built to the drawing rather than to the intent, and the errors only appear on site.

We run detailing as production with engineering oversight. You send the design drawings, connection details and your fabricator's standards. We model it in Tekla, clash check it, and issue fabrication and erection drawings plus the bill of materials and CNC files. Queries come to you in batches with proposed resolutions, not one at a time as they arise.

The cost of doing this in-house

Steel detailing is usually bought as the cheapest line in the package, and that is exactly why it costs so much. Under-skilled detailing produces drawings the fabricator queries, and each RFI cycle is days. Twenty RFIs on a project is a month of programme, and the month is invisible because it is spread across the job.

There is a worse version. Detailing errors that reach the shop become fabricated steel that does not fit, and remediation on fabricated steel is expensive in money, programme and relationships. The fabricator remembers which consultant's detailing caused it. So does the client, because they are the one paying for the crane to stand idle.

Why RIH Engineering is safe to try

Send us one structure, or one zone of one structure. We model it in Tekla, clash check it, and issue the fabrication and erection drawings with the bill of materials. You and your fabricator review. If the drawings do not meet the shop's requirements, we adjust to their standards and reissue.

The Tekla model is handed over to you. You are not locked into us to make the next revision. Under our dedicated resource model you get named detailers who learn your fabricator's preferences, which is what reduces the RFI count over time. 11+ years of EPC experience and 6,500+ designs sit behind the team.

Our process

1. You send design drawings, connection details, steel and bolt grades, and your fabricator's detailing standards
2. We confirm the detailing basis in writing: assembly mark convention, drawing standards, surface treatment, tolerances and CNC format
3. Tekla Structures model built from the design drawings, with connections modelled to the engineer's details
4. Clash detection run across the model and any clashes raised with you as a batch, with proposed resolutions
5. Fabrication drawings produced: single part drawings with dimensions, holes, welds and treatment
6. Assembly and erection drawings produced with assembly marks, orientation and site bolt specification
7. Advanced bill of materials, bolt lists and CNC or DSTV files generated from the model
8. Full package issued with the Tekla model, under revision control with a drawing register

Tools and standards

Our detailing team works in Tekla Structures, including Trimble Connect for model sharing and review, with AutoCAD for supplementary 2D output. CNC and DSTV files are generated directly from the model for transfer to fabrication machinery.

Detailing standards supported include AISC and the US detailing conventions, BS EN (Eurocode 3), BS 5950 and IS 800. For UAE projects we detail to the Dubai Building Code basis, which adopts US codes and standards for the structure, and to ADIBC for Abu Dhabi work. We will also detail to your fabricator's in-house standard where they have one, because that is what reduces queries.

Client-preferred tools: Our team can be trained to use the tool preferred by the client. If your workflow depends on a specific platform, template or drafting standard, we adapt to it rather than force you into ours.

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