Q14: Why is the CRSI opposed to the requirement
that a registered professional engineer seal and sign off placing drawings?
A: The answers to Questions 7 and 8 state that a detailer is a technically
trained person experienced in converting design data into a specific detail format.
Requiring a registered professional engineer to seal placing drawings is meaningless and
only adds to the cost of detailing without enhancing the product. A detailer does not make
engineering decisions. Rather a detailer only determines the quantity, size, length, and
bending shapes of bars from specific instructions and data provided by the design drawings
and project specifications.
Q15: Can the answer to Question 14 be considered a
"POSITION STATEMENT" by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute?
A: Yes, CRSI does not think that any useful purpose is achieved by the
requirement. Aside from the possible ethical and legal violations, the registered
professional engineer who sealed a placing drawing would not have been "in
responsible charge" and would have little knowledge of the structural analysis and
design other than what was shown on the design drawings. The result would be another layer
of engineering expense, but certainly not another layer of engineering expertise
safeguarding the public.
Q16: What Is CRSI's position regarding the
interpretation of building codes?
A: An experienced detailer can undoubtedly interpret some provisions of a
building code, but CRSI believes that code interpretation rightly and properly is the
responsibility of the architect/engineer. Only the architect/engineer-of-record, through
their structural analysis and the specific design resulting from their analysis, can
interpret how the code provisions apply in that particular case.
Q17: When project specifications require submission
of placing drawings for review and approval, what does that imply?
A: An architect/engineer's review implies that the placing drawings have been
checked for conformance to the intent of the design drawings and project specifications.
For example, in the case of slabs, that the correct bar size and spacing are called out on
the placing drawings; and in the case of columns or beams, that the correct bar size and
the number of bars are shown. Approval signifies that the placing drawing reflects the
structural design.
Q18: What is the fabricator (detailer) responsible
for?
A: The responsibility of the fabricator is to supply all the reinforcing steel
requirements shown on the design drawings and project specifications. This means that the
fabricator is obligated to furnish the proper number of pieces in the correct bar size,
and cut and bent to the correct lengths shown. Should any error occur, such as a quantity
shortage, incorrect bar size, wrong bar length, or incorrect bending, the fabricator is
obligated to rectify the error expeditiously.
CONCLUSION
Rebar detailing is not a complicated procedure. It is performed by a technician
with good skills at interpreting design drawings. Rebar detailing involves the use of
information from the design drawings and project specifications to determine the quantity,
size, length, and required bending of the reinforcing bars. The detailer then records this
information or data on a placing drawing in sufficient descriptive detail so that the
field ironworker can place (install) the rebar where intended by the design drawings and
project specifications.
CITED REFERENCES
"Quality in the Constructed
Project" ASCE Manual No. 73, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 149 pp.
"Building Code Requirements for
Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-89) (Revised 1992) and Commentary--318R-89 (Revised
1992)", American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1992, 347 pp.
Reinforcing Bar Detailer Training
Program, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, 1989.
ACI Committee 315, "Details and
Detailing of Reinforcement," ACI 315-80(86), in ACI Detailing Manual --1988,
SP-66(88), American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1988, 218 pp.
Reinforcing Bar Detailing, Third
Edition, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, 1988, 256 pp.
OTHER REFERENCES
"Reinforced Concrete Design Includes Approval. of
Details", ACI Concrete International, V. 10, No. 1, Jan. 1988, pp. 21-22;
also CRSI Engineering Data Report No. 28, Reinforced Concrete Design Includes Approval
of Details.
Placing Drawings for Reinforcing
Steel-Obligations/Responsibilities, Engineering Data Report No. 20, Concrete
Reinforcing Steel Institute.
D. P. Gustafson, "Designing and
Specifying Rebar Embedments and Splices: Who is Responsible?", ACI Concrete
International, V. 14, No. 5, May 1992, pp. 49-50.
