Documenting Structural Steel Design
Any steelwork that is referenced in a construction plan is subject to Australian national standards and code, and it is important that all concept designs and final plans take the regulatory framework and health and safety obligations into account.
The Work Health and Safety Code of Practice 2015 was initially created to provide guidance to “principal contractors and other persons conducting a business or undertaking who carry out construction work on how to meet the health and safety requirements under the WHS Act and Regulations relating to construction work.” Developed by Safe Work Australia, the set of codes is to be used as a model code of practices for adoption by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, and the Act and subsequent regulations place direct responsibility on those in the construction industry including architects, designers, manufacturers and builders.
These regulations relate to all matters of construction including structural steel design and erection and include design standards such as AS 4100 Steel Structures, AS/NZS 4600 Cold-formed Steel Structure and AS/NZS 5131 Structural Steelwork – Fabrication and Erection to name a few. Standards such as these listed above provide information as to what materials can be used and the expected quality of execution in terms of both fabrication and erection.
In addition to this, the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) has also created the National Structural Steelwork Specification (NSSS) to aid engineers with a useful template for both project-specific and company-specific specifications for structural steelwork. These standards help to minimise errors, confusion and misinterpretation, and as these are editable and include a companion set of Standard Drawing Notes, they will also allow you to come up with something to suit your specific project requirements in a professional manner.
National compliance and safety are at the forefront of responsible steelwork design, and as steel is seen as a high-performance and economical solution to the industry, professionals need to adhere to the relevant standards to ensure best practices are met.