Glancing at any modern metropolis and you will find a bunch of cranes putting up skyscrapers, in amongst the tall buildings already built. The key constituent in the construction of such edifices is steel. Such structures are the spine of every urban center.

Before a building can be constructed, the building has to be designed. This is where steel structure detailing comes into play. Structural detailing design is essential to the safety of the individuals who live in and around a building, and also the safety of the individuals actually setting up the building. A huge amount of designing is necessary in order to gratify safety regulations while satisfying all the stipulations the architect and client have defined.

A steel drafter must know all about pressure and force - getting the building to yield to outer forces, and when to resist such forces, to maximise the unity of the building. A structure also has to withstand huge weights, so this is another issue the detailer must deal with. From the weight of snow to the speed of wind, a steel structure detailer must design for all kinds of outside forces.

In this modern world, there’s a greater requirement for creative building designs, which means the detailer can often be pushed to accept difficult designs and seek to render them into a secure working space for thousands of people.

Still, it’s not all bad for the detailer - software packages like AutoCad, Asteel and Tekla Steel have helped accelerate the procedure of detailing and drafting large buildings.