Standard of Care in Steel Specification

[mountain]

I am a visitor to your site in search of more information about the "Standard of Care" a client is suppose to receive from a structural engineer when working on an outdoor weight bearing steel structure with a not so common steel. A sub-contractor (engineer) specified steel in a structure that would not meet standards. The owner went to extreme efforts and costs to normalize the steel and only found out through the fabricator of the error. Knowing you are all experts in the industry, what degrees of responsibilities do you feel my sub-contractor has to our client? Other experts in the industry have said he should have considered the Charpy values and perform V-notch tests when working with unfamiliar steel-what are your thoughts?

 

[JAE]

Mountain....difficult to respond to your query as I'm not sure I understand the relationship between engineer, your client, and you. Also, the country in which this occurs would have a bearing due to variations in standards of practice.

In the U.S., the AISC has a "Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges" which outlines various responsibilities and relationships to design/construction. You can get a copy of this document at

http://www.aisc.org

 

[ishvaaag]

In any case, the commissioned to design a structure should, er, must ensure fit for purpose. If the specified steel prevents fitness for purpose, something has gone wrong in the process.