A structural steel shop drawing checklist covers ten topics: material grade, weld symbols and joint definition, bolted connections, anchor rods and embeds, connections in general, the dimensions steel detailing depends on, fabrication sequence and shop-versus-field, galvanizing and coatings, coordination with other trades, and document control. Plumb's steel library is organized under those ten topics and runs on top of the 14 review categories every package gets, with the marked-up package back within 24 hours.
Each topic below is written the way a checker reads it: what has to be on the sheet, and the miss that shows up most. Standards are named as things to look for. Whether a given weld size or edge distance is adequate is engineering, and it stays with the engineer of record.
Material and grade
An ASTM grade on every plate, angle, channel, HSS and rolled-shape callout, or a general note that sets the default for the package and lists the exceptions. A992, A36 or A572 on shapes and plate; an A500 grade or A1085 on HSS; a series on stainless (304, 316, 316L), not "SS". Aluminum or stainless landing on galvanized or plain steel with an isolation method called out.
The typical miss is a callout that gives size and form and nothing else, with no general note to fall back on. HSS called out by size alone is the same miss in a different shape. The checker reads the general notes first; a boilerplate note covers most of a package, and a finding is written only for the members it does not cover. A missing grade comes back flagged PE-Review-Required, because the grade is the engineer's number.
Weld symbols and joint definition
An AWS A2.4 symbol at every welded joint: type, size, length, pitch on intermittent welds, the all-around circle where it applies, and the field flag. "Weld all around" as a text note is not a symbol. A fillet triangle with no leg size is a weld the shop cannot make. Arrow side and other side readable, and not mixed with the ISO convention on a drawing produced overseas. Every weld reachable by a welder once the adjacent parts are in place. A leg size larger than the thinner part on thin material, where distortion is the likely result.
Tier 2 — Submittal Readiness Review adds the items an inspector asks for: pre-heat and interpass where AWS D1.1 requires them, NDT called out on complete-penetration welds in tension, and backing bar disposition at seismic connections per AISC 358 and AWS D1.8.
The typical miss on a steel package: a stiffener weld symbol with no length and no pitch, so continuous versus intermittent is left to the welder.
Bolted connections
Type and grade (A325, A490, A307), diameter, length, quantity, washer and nut requirements, and finish. Slip-critical or bearing stated on every high-strength bolt, with the faying surface class when it is slip-critical, since RCSC prep differs. A hole pattern that matches on both sheets that show the same joint. Edge distances dimensioned at corners. Room to swing a wrench or fit a tension-control gun.
The typical miss is "(4) BOLTS" with no diameter or grade. The expensive one is a bolt size that reads one way in the detail and another in the connection schedule on a slip-critical joint; the wrong order stops erection. Whether an edge distance is adequate under AISC 360 is engineering; that the dimension is missing is documentation.
Anchor rods, embeds and base plates
Projection above top of concrete dimensioned, accounting for base plate, leveling nut, top nut, washer and thread engagement. Embedment depth stated; it is the engineered number, and a hooked rod needs the hook dimensioned too. An F1554 grade on the rods. Base plate holes oversized per AISC Design Guide 1, with plate washers specified, not drilled at the minimum. A rebar-interference note on cast-in embeds. An anchor setting plan with marks.
The typical miss is embedment not shown, followed by base plate holes at the minimum, so rods set within tolerance still do not fit. Embedment and grade come back flagged PE-Review-Required.
Connections in general
Gusset plates fully dimensioned: thickness, edge geometry, work point, and weld lengths to beam and column. Field splices with plate sizes, bolt pattern, weld symbols and the gap. Moment connections showing continuity plates, or a note that they were designed out. Stiffeners or doubler plates where a concentrated load lands on a column web. Under Tier 2, reactions on the framing plan or schedule, or stamped connection details, so it is visible who holds the connection design responsibility AISC 303 describes.
The typical miss is a splice symbol with no detail behind it. Whether stiffeners are required is the engineer's call; that the connection shows none is the finding.
Dimensions specific to steel detailing
Work points and gage lines located, member lengths tied to them, copes, clips and cuts dimensioned, top-of-steel elevations against a stated datum, hole gage and pitch on every pattern. Camber as a value with a convention: point of measurement, direction, and a diagram. One unit system through the package.
The typical misses are camber shown as a number with no convention, and a value that appears in inches on the plan and millimeters in the cut list. Same number, mixed units, and a cut list that gets read by someone who did not read the plan.
Fabrication sequence and shop-vs-field
The field-weld flag on every field weld and a clear shop/field breakpoint on every assembly drawing. Subassembly dimensions against the truck; a long piece drawn as one shop weldment with no splice is a permit load or a redesign. A weld sequence note where distortion on exposed work is the risk.
The typical miss is a package with no field flags anywhere on an assembly that obviously ships in pieces.
Galvanizing and coatings
Hot-dip per ASTM A123, with touch-up per ASTM A780 for the cut edges, field welds and field-drilled holes that come after the kettle. Vent and drain holes per ASTM A385 on every hollow member that goes in; without them the galvanizer refuses the work or drills holes where it suits the galvanizer. Member length against the kettle, or a splice or progressive dip noted with the meeting line. Faying surfaces of slip-critical joints reconciled with the coating. For paint: prep, primer, topcoat and dry film thickness.
The typical miss is HSS called out HDG with no vent or drain holes shown.
Coordination with other trades
Duct, pipe and conduit routing from the MEP set against the steel, with a reinforced web opening detailed (AISC Design Guide 2 is the reference) or the member moved. The architectural revision the shop drawings were built from stated, and checked against the latest issued set. Anchor groups coordinated with rebar. Embeds coordinated with the concrete trade.
The typical miss is a shop drawing built from an architectural revision that an addendum has since superseded. The steel gets fabricated to the old set.
Document control
Piece marks on every erection drawing, matching the shop drawings, so the erector can match a tagged piece to its location. An anchor bolt setting plan with mark numbers. A revision column that is filled in, an index that matches the sheets, and complete title blocks. These feed the cross-sheet and legibility categories every package gets.
The typical miss is an erection plan showing beams as lines with no marks on them.
What a steel review returns
The ten topics above sit on top of the 14 categories on /categories; a steel package gets both. Each finding comes back bubbled on the sheet it came from, logged in Excel, and marked PE-Review-Required or not (how it works). Findings the drawing cannot back up are left out before delivery. Plumb is not an engineer and does not approve, certify or stamp anything, and a reliance notice is printed on every page of the deliverable.
A single package goes through as an Anytime Review, $25 for up to 10 sheets, covering Tier 1 — Buildability Review and Tier 2; Tier 3 — Specification Correspondence Review needs a Shop or Studio plan, and the plans are on /pricing. The steel-specific checks are listed at /trades/structural-steel, and a full marked-up package is at /sample-shop-drawing-review.