Steel Approval Drawing Process Explained Step by Step

The approval process is a loop: assemble a package, check it, send it, collect comments, revise, and only then release fabrication. Teams get into trouble when they treat the first PDF as a mill-order. Approval is a question. Shop release is an answer.

This sequence works for conventional steel and for PEB work. The sheet graphics change; the loop does not. If assembling the sheets is the slow part, automation for approval drawings and the MBS Approval Package target that bottleneck — not the review judgement.

Pair this with the submission checklist on the day you transmit.

Step 1 — Confirm what “approval” means on this job

Read the specification and the structural notes. Some jobs want GAs and typicals. Some want connections designed by the fabricator to be submitted with calculations. Some want electronic models. Write that interpretation on the cover sheet so the reviewer is not guessing your intent.

Step 2 — Freeze inputs or mark holds

You can issue a partial package. You cannot silently assume missing crane data. List holds on the cover and on the affected plans. Purchasing should see the same holds.

• Current structural and architectural issues
• Connection responsibility
• Anchor and foundation interface owner
• Vendor drawings that affect steel

Step 3 — Assemble the package as a package

Cover, index, notes, plans, elevations, typicals, specials. One drawing list. One revision letter for the issue (sheets may have local revisions, but the transmittal should explain them). See cover sheet contents.

Step 4 — Internal check before the reviewer

Run how to check approval drawings. Do not use the engineer as your first checker. It trains them to expect errors and to stop looking for the serious ones.

Step 5 — Transmit with a question and a date

The transmittal should say what you want: “Please review for general conformance and return comments by [date].” Attach the index. If you use a portal, still keep a PDF copy of what was sent.

Step 6 — Log comments and back-check

Every comment gets a status: accepted, accepted as noted, rejected with reason, or RFI. Then the changed sheets, and only the related ones, get clouds and a new letter. See managing revisions and responding to comments.

Step 7 — Shop release is a separate decision

“Approved as noted” is not automatically a mill-order. Read the notes. Close comments that affect geometry and connections. Then issue shop drawings from the same source files.

A practical workflow

1. Interpret the specification’s approval requirements.
2. Collect inputs and list holds.
3. Assemble cover, notes, plans, elevations, typicals.
4. Internal QC.
5. Transmit with due date.
6. Log comments; revise; back-check.
7. Release shop information only for closed zones.

Engineering tips

• One transmittal per issue, not fifteen emails.
• Keep the comment log in the project folder, not in one person’s inbox.
• If you resubmit, say whether it is a full reissue or only changed sheets.

Common mistakes

Starting fabrication on verbal comments

If it is not on the drawing, it will not survive the next shift.

Reissuing the whole set for a note change on one typical

That buries the real change. Follow your revision system.

No owner for the comment log

Then comments close in meetings and reopen on site.

Checklist

• Specification interpretation written down
• Holds listed on cover
• Index complete
• Internal check done
• Transmittal dated
• Comment log opened
• Shop release separate from approval issue

Frequently asked questions

How long should review take?

Whatever the contract says. If it is silent, agree a date on the transmittal rather than assuming silence is approval.

Can we overlap shop detailing with approval?

You can prepare shop files, but do not cut steel in zones that are still open. Parallel CAD work is not parallel fabrication.

What if comments contradict the specification?

Raise it. Do not pick the easier document in private.

Is a model review a substitute for this process?

Only if the contract says the model is the submittal. Even then, record what was reviewed and when.

Where this leaves the work

The process is a loop with a clear exit: comments that affect steel are closed, then the shop is released. Everything else is a stalled loop.

Use the submission checklist on the morning you upload the files.