Steel fabrication drawings Melbourne logistics warehouse.

Project overview

An East-Melbourne structural steel fabricator engaged ASTCAD for the detailing of an 18,000 m² logistics warehouse in Melbourne’s western industrial corridor. The project included tapered portal frames, a 1,200 m² office mezzanine, a 20-tonne crane runway through the centre bay, and 32 truck dock structures.

The challenge

The fabricator required Tekla-native detailing to feed their CNC profile cutting and beam line. The architectural intent required exposed primary steel inside the office mezzanine, requiring high-quality finish welds and concealed connections. The 32 dock structures had to be detailed as a repeatable assembly to minimise variation.

Our approach

• Tekla Structures model with discipline coordination via IFC
• Connection design to AS/NZS 5131 CC3 for primary frames
• Concealed shear-tab connections at exposed mezzanine columns
• Standardised dock structure as a single repeating assembly
• Bolt list and weld map generation directly from the Tekla model

Deliverables

• 1,840 shop drawings across all elements
• Tekla model deliverable for CNC integration
• Comprehensive bolt list (over 142,000 bolts)
• Erection drawings and rigging arrangements
• AS/NZS 5131 fabrication category documentation

Outcome

The fabrication programme ran on schedule with zero re-fabrication of incorrectly detailed members. The fabricator reported a 22% reduction in detailing-related shop queries compared to their prior project. The warehouse opened to lease in November 2023.

How we approach steel fabrication drawings

Steel fabrication drawings succeed when the workshop never has to ring the engineer. For structures like this Melbourne warehouse we model the full frame in 3D, resolve every connection — base plates, knee joints, apex connections, purlin cleats — before detailing begins, and generate shop drawings with complete welding, bolting and surface treatment information to AS 4100 and AS/NZS 1554. Member marks follow a logical system, assemblies are detailed for transport limits and site access, and the erection drawings sequence the build the way a rigging crew actually works.

What the fabricator receives

The package includes marked general arrangements, erection drawings with bolt lists, individual part and assembly shop drawings, NC data for beamline processing where the fabricator uses it, and a drawing register with revision control. We back the set through fabrication — RFIs answered same-day where possible — because a stalled workshop is the most expensive kind of drafting error.

Fabricators and builders use us both for full detailing packages and for overflow capacity when their own drawing office is at its limit. Send the design drawings and we will quote the detailing scope with a delivery schedule matched to your fabrication program.

Turnaround discipline is what fabricators actually buy from a detailing office: a workshop with steel on order and a crew rostered cannot absorb a late drawing set. We agree the delivery schedule against your fabrication program at quote stage, sequence the detailing so the first assemblies to be fabricated are the first drawings issued, and flag design queries to the project engineer in the first days rather than discovering them mid-package. On this Melbourne warehouse the workshop never waited on drawings, which is the only detailing metric that matters.

For builders taking on design-and-construct steel packages, we can also carry the connection design engineering alongside the detailing, giving you a single accountable party for the complete steel documentation rather than an engineer and detailer pointing at each other when a joint does not fit.