Glulam Building: Start to Finish – Part Five

Welcome to our “Glulam Building: Start to Finish” series. Our goal is to provide an overview – from idea to completion – of a glulam building from the perspective of the glulam manufacturer and designer.


Part 5: Shop Drawing Review


Once a set of shop drawings is complete it is submitted for review. The drawings are typically reviewed by the General Contractor, the Architect, and the Engineer of Record. They are checking our scope (are we including all of the items expected), general conformance with project requirements (are we using the expected materials and finishes, and does our overall geometry match their design), and the structural capacity of the connections detailed on our drawings. They will return the drawings with clarifying comments as either:


Approved – no revisions are required and production can commence.
Approved as Noted – minor revisions are required, but production can commence once those revisions are made.
Revised and Resubmit – revisions are required, and they are extensive or complicated enough that the drawings will need to be submitted again for approval.

In addition to the official review, shop drawings also go through an internal review – our “check print”.


Where the official review is focused on the overall design, our internal check is focused on all of the small details. It is primarily a review to ensure that our drawings are consistent with each other and provide all of the required information for shop production and field assembly. Things like:


          Are part labels consistent from layout drawings to connection details to member details?
          Are member and connection quantities accurate?
          Are part counts and dimensions accurate for all connection components?
          Are hole sizes and spacing consistent between connection and member details?
          Is it clear and accurate which surfaces of glulam members need to be finished?
          Are all dimensions necessary for glulam fabrication shown?
          Are hole sizes and length shown on glulam parts? Are they appropriate for the hardware specified?
          Are stress combinations and cambers correct for all glulam members?