Does it matter who does the technical design work for steel structures, so long as they’re technically competent? Our experience shows that it does.
Design is clearly a critical phase in any structural steelwork project. Simplistically, a design must ensure that the structure will comply with technical requirements – including load-bearing and overall resilience. But it’s much more than that alone.
There are a multitude of practical issues with structural steelwork that often only become apparent when the installation team gets to work. This is an industry where 50% (or more) project variations are not unusual, which is a reflection of how costly and time-consuming it is to resolve buildability and detailing issues onsite, rather than in a CAD system.
Whose Problem?
Designers can only work with the information they’re given. They rely on others to have practical experience of fabrication and installation. They can ask questions and seek clarification, but if key details about the site constraints, potential clashes, the integrity of surrounding structures and materials were never recorded, problems go undiscovered until it’s time to install.
The familiar blame-game and contractual wrangles start once again.
At the heart of FTE’s intelligent integration approach is a continuous thread of responsibility and accountability. Details missed in the survey, design or detailing stages are our problems so we have a huge incentive to ensure nothing gets missed. Our average project variation is under 5% – and those variations tend to be caused by late changes in requirements or specifications.
Our in-house design team’s contribution does not stop at providing efficient steelwork solutions, our expertise includes much broader responsibilities such as the foundations, retaining structures, temporary works, cranage supports and service protections – ensuring that everything fits first time, whether it’s above or below the ground.
Turn Negatives to Positives
With intelligent integration there’s a direct, two-way communication flow between survey teams, designers, detailers, fabricators and installers. Anything unexpected at the back-end of the process would represent a significant failure in our work – rather than business as usual.
But there’s more to it than avoiding problems and overruns (valuable as that may be), fully integrating the design team into the process opens the way to more elegant, efficient and cost-effective solutions.
You might be able to unlock some of these benefits with a standalone design partner, but without in-house expertise, it’s far harder to achieve the same level of precision and efficiency. With our designers embedded in every stage, we’re driven to get it right first time – every time. Read our case study to see how this works in practice.
To find out more about intelligent integration and how it could benefit your projects, access our free information hub below.
