Bolting and welding records: what the site collects before the steel is covered
Fireproofing is due at the steel podium of a mass-timber hotel. The folder contains a welding report and certification letters, but nobody can find the required bolting inspection record. The folder's thickness is disguising a gap.
Collect steel records by required document and connection location while the work progresses. Match each to the project's specification, drawings and adopted inspection requirements before concealment. Certification, procedure acceptance, a welder's qualification and a report on an actual connection answer different questions. Possessing one does not establish that the others are complete.
Match the record to the connection
- List the actual required documents. With the steel trade and appropriate inspector, identify certification, welding procedures and qualifications, material records, bolting method and inspection reports, weld inspection or testing, and approved field changes where required. Name the producer, reviewer and due stage for each. Do not assume every steel project has an identical list.
- Identify what each record establishes. Certification and qualifications concern defined capabilities or accepted procedures; inspection evidence concerns the installed work identified in the report. Canadian welding-procedure guidance describes review and acceptance of procedure documentation. Read the actual status and scope rather than treating a submission receipt as an accepted procedure.
- Review the connection coverage. Link reports to marks, grids or connection identifiers and the required method. Public US bolting guidance makes inspection depend on joint type and installation method. A generic torque entry is not a universal substitute for the required inspection; ask the qualified reviewer about unclear coverage under this project's adopted requirements.
- Control the concealment decision. Track missing, incomplete and adverse records separately. Confirm the authorized review and release route before decking, fireproofing or other covering affects access. Record the actual decision and any conditions. Neither the coordinator's folder check nor a trade's promised later upload supplies a missing technical acceptance.
Review new records as they arrive, while the erector and inspector can identify the connection. Note whether the report is final, what locations it excludes and which repairs need a later record. Keep replaced reports and approved changes linked to the current entry. An overall 'steel complete' status loses the distinctions that matter when one connection remains unresolved.
Common mistakes
- Treating a certification letter as an installed-connection inspection.
- Accepting an unlocated report without checking its exclusions.
- Closing a missing record because another trade needs access.
Checklist
Review a steel-record gap
- Required document and governing reference.
- Connection IDs and inspected scope.
- Producer, reviewer and actual status.
- Missing information or follow-up inspection.
- Authorized concealment decision and conditions.
Check your understanding
A weld report is filed for the podium. Does it complete the bolting entry?
