Metal fabrications (Section 05 50 00) cover a lot of small, unrelated items: lintels, bollards, ladders, door frames, supports, embeds. That variety is exactly why these packages get returned so often. Each item has its own material, finish, anchorage and design requirements, and one miss on any of them sends the whole package back.
Here's what I see most, and how to fix each one before you send.
In my reviews, this is the most common kickback on misc steel. Specs usually split finishes by location: exterior items and items in exterior walls hot-dip galvanized (often to ASTM A123), interior items shop primed. Shops that call everything "shop primed" get returned.
Ladders, stairs, railings, and some supports are often delegated design: the spec makes the fabricator responsible for the engineering. If the spec asks for calculations signed and sealed by a professional engineer licensed in the project's state, "design by fabricator" on a sheet isn't enough.
Embed plates, anchor bolts, concrete fill for bollards, and touch-up paint are frequently noted "by others" on misc steel shops. Very often the spec has this section furnishing them, even when another trade installs them.
More on this in "By others": the most expensive two words on a shop drawing.
Check each shape against Part 2: plates and shapes (often ASTM A36), tubing (often ASTM A500 Grade B or C), pipe (often ASTM A53 Grade B), and the pipe schedule. Bollard pipe schedule is a frequent miss: the spec says Schedule 80 and the shops say Schedule 40.
Specs typically require shop drawings to show connections, anchorage and weld symbols. Plan views without anchorage details for bollards, ladders and lintels get noted or returned.
"All dimensions field verify prior to fabrication" tells the architect you haven't used the contract documents. Dimension from the drawings, call out specific conflicts, and RFI what's truly missing.
Welding certificates, anchor ICC-ES reports, and qualification data are easy to forget because they aren't drawings. If Part 1 lists them, they belong in the package.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your project's Section 05 50 00, Section 01 33 00 and contract govern.
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