Meikle spent several years in the structural fab shop before a sports injury ended his welding career, so he turned to detailing. But unlike most steel detailers working in industry today, Meikle received specialized training and enrolled in VCC’s 10-month certificate program, graduating in July 2020.
Attaining a certificate is unusual, Palma said, adding that most get into steel detailing with only informal training. Whether they are architectural or civil technicians of some sort or managers in steel fabrication, nearly all new detailers learn on the job.
When detailers start, they often lack some of the fundamentals. And considering the speed of fabrication these days—and the need to adapt and change materials thanks to unpredictable supply chains—a steel detailer lacking fundamental knowledge of steel fabrication and erection can put a construction project in a tough spot.
“At VCC, we try to instill the fundamentals,” Palma said. “We read through the fabrication and construction industry standards.”
Being in Vancouver, the school is careful to cover standards that span all of North America, including those from the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB), and the American Welding Society (AWS).
Fundamentals have become even more important as modeling software has permeated the industry. “As powerful as the software is, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can make some bad choices and cause problems in the model, which will be reflected on the drawings,” Palma said. “If detailers aren’t sure about what they’re doing, their decisions can affect a lot of people.”
