Texas Structural Steel provides full structural steel detailing and design-assist services, from the first set of CDs through approved-for-fabrication shop drawings and into field support. Our detailing team works in SDS2/Tekla and produces AISC-compliant submittal packages, coordinating directly with the engineer of record and GC through every round of review. When design-assist is needed — early schematic, custom connections, or PE-backed structural support — we work alongside the project’s EOR as the steel specialist.

Our shop drawing packages include shop drawings, erection drawings, connection details, and anchor bolt plans — everything the fabricator and field crew need to execute without gaps. Drawings are modeled in SDS2/Tekla, which means the geometry is resolved in 3D before a single piece of steel is ordered. Submittal packages are formatted for AISC-compliant review and delivered with enough lead time to move through the EOR’s review cycle without compressing your fabrication window. We stay engaged through the full review cycle. Revisions are turned around promptly, comments are addressed directly, and we track open items so nothing lingers. RFIs that could stop field work are resolved at the detailing stage — before mobilization, before delivery, before an ironworker is standing on a column waiting for an answer. Every drawing package is sequenced for fabrication release. Materials are called out for procurement, connection sequences are set up for the shop, and erection drawings are organized for the crew in the field. The package isn’t just submittal-ready — it’s build-ready.

When a project calls for more than detailing, Texas Structural Steel provides PE-backed structural steel design support. This includes custom connection design, miscellaneous metals design, and early design-assist work from schematic through permit. We work directly alongside the EOR as the steel specialist, providing steel-specific input while the EOR retains overall structural responsibility. Design-assist services are well-suited to projects where the structural system is still being developed, where custom framing solutions are needed, or where value engineering on the steel package can reduce cost without compromising the structural design intent. We bring fabrication and erection knowledge into the design conversation early, which avoids downstream coordination problems. Code-compliant designs are integrated with the construction schedule from the start. We don’t hand off a permit set and disappear — we stay engaged through fabrication and into the field so that what was designed can be built as drawn.

Structural steel detailing is a coordination-intensive discipline. The detailer sits between the EOR’s structural drawings, the GC’s schedule, the architect’s geometry, and the fabricator’s shop capabilities — and all of those parties expect something different from a submittal package. We manage that coordination directly. We communicate with the EOR in the language of structural engineering — load paths, connection types, design intent — so that review comments are substantive, not administrative. We communicate with the GC in terms of schedule and sequence: when drawings will be ready, when submittals will be returned, when material needs to be released to hit the erection window. Nothing falls through the gap between the two.

OUR DETAILING PROCESS 

1. CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS RECEIVED 

We review the structural drawings, architectural geometry, and project specifications. We identify connection conditions, anchorage requirements, and any design-assist scope before modeling begins. 

2. 3D MODELING IN SDS2/Tekla 

The full steel package is modeled in SDS2/Tekla. Connection geometry is resolved, member sizes are confirmed against the structural drawings, and clash conditions are identified before drawings are issued. 

3. SHOP DRAWING SUBMITTAL 

A complete AISC-compliant submittal package — shop drawings, erection drawings, connection details, and anchor bolt plans — is prepared and submitted to the EOR and GC for review. We track the submittal register and follow up through each review cycle. 

4. REVISIONS AND APPROVED FOR FABRICATION 

Review comments are addressed, revisions are reissued, and the package is advanced to approved-for-fabrication status. Open RFIs are resolved in writing before fab release. 

5. FABRICATION RELEASE AND FIELD SUPPORT 

Approved drawings are issued to the fabrication shop in sequence, timed to the material procurement and erection schedule. We remain available for field questions through the duration of the erection phase.