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Rebar Detailing
Rebar detailing is the craft of creating reinforcing steel placing drawings from a project's contract documents. For any given project the Rebar Detailer accomplishes his task by interpreting the contract drawings and specifications. Also, although all the contract documents are referenced, the structural drawings (Also known as the design or engineering drawings.) would be the Rebar Detailer's main reference.
Rebar Detailers most often work for Fabricators. They could be the Fabricators' employees or subcontractors.
For AEC industry projects that include reinforced concrete structures, typically there would exist six players to bring the structures from concept to constructed product. Those players would be the Contractor, Designer, Detailer, Fabricator, Owner and Placer.
Definitions
Rebar, reinforcing bar or reinforcing steel are all interchangeable terms for rod shaped steel that is placed within a concrete pour to reinforce the concrete. Once a concrete pour has hardened, the resulting composite structure receives its compressive strength from the concrete and its tensile strength from the steel.
Placing Drawings
Placing drawings are presentation drawings. They present or account for all the concrete reinforcement on a given project. They are not design drawings. The CRSI Reinforcing Bar Detailing 2000, 4th Edition manual states,
It is the responsibility of the Architect/Engineer (A/E) to furnish a clear statement of design requirements on the structural drawings. It is the responsibility of the Detailer to carry out these requirements. The A/E's project specifications and drawings should not merely refer the Detailer to an applicable building code for information to use in preparing the placing drawings. Instead, this information should be interpreted by the A/E and shown in the form of specific structural details or notes for the Detailer to follow. Where omissions, ambiguities, or incompatibilities are discovered, additional information, clarifications or corrections should be requested by the Detailer and provided by the A/E. (pg ii) ...The Architect/Engineer's structural drawings should indicate the typical extensions into adjacent slabs, overlaps, and cut-off points required. (pg 3-7)
It can be seen from the quoted pages above that design drawings and specifications contain the directions for the Detailer to create a set of placing drawings that account for all the concrete reinforcing steel that will be needed on a project. The placing drawings should thus include all the individual rebar items presented in a combination of diagram format and schedule format. Namely, detailed quantities, lengths, bending diagrams and positioning of all of the reinforcing steel and bar supports.
The Purpose of Placing Drawings
Placing drawings are created for three uses. First, they are used by Fabricators to fabricate and ship rebars. Secondly, they are used by Contractors to construct whatever structure was designed.
Contractors employ Placers (e.g. Ironworkers) to set the reinforcing bars. The Placers reference the placing drawings in concert with the structural drawings to find details and instructions on how to position the rebars.
Lastly, placing drawings indicate to a project's Architect/Engineer how the Fabricator interpreted the contract documents (drawings and specifications). If the A/E approves the placing drawings, that is considered acceptance of the interpretation.
Qualifications of a Rebar Detailer
Rebar detailing has been spoken of herein as a craft, because the occupation requires no accredited degree, but it does require a certain skill set. That skill set would include the ability to interpret contract drawings and specifications, and a familiarity with any applicable ACI code.
Contact
If you have a rebar detailing project in mind, then please feel free to call the New York City based CAD Consultant Brian M. Curran today in order to discuss it. Call Now: 718.441.3968 or email at: brian@draftingservices.com
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... Thank you many many times for completing all this work so fast. Jay E. Butler, PE, February 26, 2009
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