The engineer of record (EOR) is the licensed structural engineer responsible for the overall structural design of the building. A specialty engineer is a licensed engineer who designs a specific component or system, such as a glass railing system or a cantilevered stair, under a delegated design arrangement. The specialty engineer's stamped drawings are submitted to the EOR for review and incorporation into the project's structural documentation. We coordinate with both as required by the project.

Yes, without exception. Any metalwork that carries structural load must be designed by a licensed structural engineer and fabricated from engineer-stamped drawings. We produce shop drawings from those stamped drawings and submit them back to the engineer of record for review and approval before fabrication begins. We do not estimate structural member sizes or connection designs ourselves.

Utah is classified as a moderate to high seismic hazard zone under the IBC. Structural steel connections must meet lateral resistance requirements, and moment frame connections may need to meet special moment frame (SMF) or ordinary moment frame (OMF) requirements depending on the building's seismic design category. Your structural engineer will specify the connection requirements based on the seismic design category, and we fabricate to those specifications.

Approved as noted means the engineer or architect has approved the shop drawings subject to specific corrections noted on the review. We incorporate those corrections and either resubmit for final approval or proceed to fabrication, depending on the nature of the notes and the project's submittal requirements. We do not proceed to fabrication on an approved as noted review without confirming with the reviewer that fabrication may proceed.

Yes. We can refer you to licensed structural engineers we have worked with on previous Utah projects. We do not provide structural engineering services ourselves, but we can facilitate the connection and coordinate with the engineer once they are engaged. Having a fabricator involved early in the engineering process often results in more buildable connection details.

For projects requiring special inspection, we coordinate with the inspection agency on weld inspection scheduling, provide access to the shop during fabrication, and maintain the documentation required for the inspection record. We are familiar with the special inspection requirements for structural steel under IBC Chapter 17 and can provide the required documentation package for project closeout.

A weld procedure specification (WPS) is a document that defines the parameters for a specific welding process: the base metal, filler metal, preheat requirements, interpass temperature, and other variables. A welder performance qualification (WPQ) is a record that documents that a specific welder has passed a test weld using the parameters defined in the WPS. Both are required on projects with structural engineering oversight and are part of our standard documentation package for commercial and industrial projects.