The practice guideline Professional Engineers Reviewing Work Pre-
pared by Another Professional Engineer states the following, “Clients a) the PSE’s review of shop drawings is undertaken to determine
or regulatory bodies might ask authoring engineers to submit
design calculations and other information that is not normally
considered part of the fnal documents. Unless there is a contrac-
tual or legislated obligation to do otherwise, authoring engineers
should not provide documents generated during commission of
the engineering services.”
Specifcations
Structural engineers shall provide the technical sections of specifca-
tions for all structural design work for which they are responsible. The
specifcations should cover:
a) the scope of work;
b) standards, codes and bylaws governing the work;
c) submittals required;
d) quality control requirements;
e) materials and tolerances;
f ) workmanship and fabrication;
g) criteria for temporary works;
h) feld review of construction, inspection and testing;
i) provisions for the contractor to provide notifcation before
commencing;
j) signifcant steps of the work;
k) trade warranties; and
l) erection information, where necessary, to ensure the intent
and integrity of the design.
Specifcations are prepared using a format suitable for inclusion in
the contract documents. On smaller projects and where appro-
priate, however, specifcations can be abbreviated in an outline
format and become part of the structural design drawings.
Specifcations should specify that the PSE’s review of submittals
and feld reviews, as well as testing and inspection by independent
companies reporting to the client, are carried out to inform the
client of the quality of the contractor’s performance, and that
these reviews, tests and inspections do not relieve the builder of
his/her responsibilities to build the project to conform to the
structural drawings and specifcations.
Specifcations should specify that the PSE’s review of
submittals and feld reviews, as well as testing and
inspection by independent companies reporting to the
client, are carried out to inform the client of the quality
of the contractor’s performance, and that these reviews,
tests and inspections do not relieve the builder of his/her
responsibilities to build the project to conform to the
structural drawings and specifcations.
The specifcations should make it clear that:
whether they meet the intent of the design; and
b) the client should engage independent agencies to advise on
the quality of the contractor’s performance and whether the
work meets the intent of the design.
Structural Drawings
When structural drawings are issued, they are intended to be
used for a specifc purpose, such as a building permit application,
tendering of the work or construction. These drawings need to
be suffciently complete for the purpose for which they are issued
and they are to be prepared under the direct supervision of the
PSE or SSE who is responsible for the drawing and design content
therein. Whenever structural drawings are issued, the drawings
are to include the purpose of the issuance in the title block and
are to be sealed as per the practice guideline Use of the Professional
Engineer’s Seal.
Working drawings are drawings-in-progress or supplementary
sketches that are intended for use only by those involved with the
design work during the design development and contract docu-
ment stages of the project. Working drawings are not intended
to be issued, except for coordination with others, and should
normally not be sealed.
Best practice is for drawings to be fully coordinated and complete
before they are issued for a building permit application, tender
or construction. It may be necessary in some cases, however, to
issue drawings that are not complete. Therefore, drawings issued
for a building permit application or tender should not be used for
construction. Furthermore, drawings that indicate an incomplete
design should not be submitted for permit application.
Drawings issued for a building permit application must indicate
the complete design intent but may require more details for
pricing or clarifcation of the design intent as a result of questions
raised during the tendering period. When numerous or signifcant
modifications are made to the “Issued for Building Permit” draw-
ings following the building permit application, notifcation of
those alterations should be submitted to the building department
as part of the permit application.
Prior to the start of construction, “Issued for Construction”
drawings should be prepared by the PSE. These drawings incor-
porate all known modifcations to the previously issued drawings.
The design and related data will be conveyed in a combination
of graphical representations, tables and notes that document the
design standards, load criteria, member locations, orientations and
sizes, and any other data required as per applicable CSA Stan-
dards. The design information on the drawing should be suff-
ciently complete so that the design can be fully understood and
verifed by another structural engineer. The drawings also need to
include suffcient detail to enable the fabrication, installation and
connection of the elements by the contractor.
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