Structural Draftsman
Structural Draftsman
(OP)
It sure is hard to find good structural draftspeople. I know that the steel detailing industry is going through a semi-crises with maintaining qualified detailers and wonder if drafting as a whole is becoming scarce. Anybody have any good tips on finding qualified structural draftsmen?






RE: Structural Draftsman
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After all the engineer's hourly rate is much higher than the draftsman's.
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Ginger
RE: Structural Draftsman
RE: Structural Draftsman
Probably, what I said earlier, is not suitable for an employee in a firm, where it is not financially acceptable for the engineer to do the work of a draftsman who is paid less.
It may not be also suitable for an owner of a small consultancy, who has to divide his time between doing and checking designs and getting new jobs.
What I said earlier is suitable for me because I am a free-lancer. My clients are a couple of architectural firms. It is their responsibility to go out and get new jobs. New clients for me mean employing not just draftsmen but engineers as well, in other words opening an office.
Maybe, my opinion is applicable more to the area I operate in which are the Gulf States. Not the UK or USA.
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By the way, hasanh, if your doing your own drafting, your loosing money.
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Good draftsman are stolen from other firms by offering more money!
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Regards Ginger
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Quality doesn't come cheap, nor should it!
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I really enjoyed "forwarding the profession in terms of creative thought." What a joke, all we ever 'design' is what we used on the last job, for the last hundred years. There have been advances in the field, but seldom by creative thought, they have come from competition and necessity, and probably more often by fine tuning and placing our stamp on a jobsite sketch. And as far as salesmanship, who needs to set time aside in a market like this. Unless your reputation succeeds you, or your firm, you should be turning work away.
Now back to the subject, I personally have had great success hiring State cad operators, and now have six. They are underpaid for their skills, highly trained, most have more field experience than the engineers directing them, and seemingly only seek respect for their efforts.
And from reading a few of these messages respect for non-engineers seems to be lacking. Don't forget, we stamp the sheets, without much examination more often than not, and trust that our employees have enough respect for us not to do something to ruin our livelihoods.
RE: Structural Draftsman
It appears that your company is devoid of capable engineers of any standing if your CAD operators are dictating to your engineers. Obviously, if your engineers are inexperienced then all you are capable of producing is a re-hash of your old designs. If your engineers are simply rubber stamping you CAD operators drawings and trusting to luck that the draughtsmen don't make mistakes then you should take a good look at your PI insurance policy because sooner rather than later you're going to need it.
In our market we are constantly trying to develop new design ideas in order to stay competetive. We target the more technically challenging work as the standard design market is pretty saturated and cut-throat yielding low margins and we can easily be undercut by smaller companies who have lower overheads.
Respect for good CAD draughtsmen is not lacking. We all realise how valuable they are and that is why their salaries are rising and we are fighting amongst ourselves to get the good ones. If you have six good operators who are underpaid then hope that they don't read the vacancies page in the technical journals. Our better CAD operators will earn around £20-£22000 per annum.
Regards
Ginger
RE: Structural Draftsman
1. "You get what you pay for"
2. "A chain is only as string as its weakest link"
Also, currently (at least in the US Philadelphia area) there is lack of quality designers and an apparent abundance of engineers. Can you say "SUPPLY vs. DEMAND"?
Frank
Francis.Mann@Jacobs.com
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Firstly, I apologize for failing to take into account the international audience the internet commands, and failing to be so exacting in reference to overcome the ignorance of American stereotypes. State employees in America sell themselves at a fairly low price in the return for job security. However, States are forced to continually train their employees to keep up with the demands of industry. Those familiar with working with these employees are often reluctant to hire them because many develop habits that are not desirable for profit motivated companies. I however have experienced a deal of success with six, as I mentioned. I was actually extending them a compliment by expressing that many of them have more field experience than their supervisors, normally engineers. Again, in America there is a misconception among State governments that only engineers are capable of making decisions and directing activities. This mind set combined with the aforementioned low pay often leaves States hiring engineers that could not land better paying jobs due to a lack of skills or experience, simply to fill positions. In many cases these engineers develop the skills and gain the experience needed to land a better paying job, causing the cycle of hiring inexperienced engineers to begin once again. I in no way intend that this characterization applies to all State employees, as I know many personally, and know that they are committed professionals.
Secondly, it is a fitting tribute to a superintendent or foreman to take their idea, usually scratched out on whatever material is handy, and put your stamp on it, albeit most are altered significantly to meet engineering standards. I am personally grateful for the ingenuity of my employees, and value their perspective, particularly when it saves me time and money. Admittedly, as one looks over the history of modern construction in the past 100 years it is easy to find examples of creative design, but in relation to the countless projects that have been completed they are very few in number. In my opinion, the true creativity begins once the plans have been completed and a contractor/engineer looks square in the face of statuesque construction methods, and takes it upon himself to develop a new method of construction. More often than not, and probably in every case, this new method of construction is what opens the way for new design.
Lastly, with regard to salesman ship, salaries, and markets, we apparently experience differing conditions. But, regardless of what market you work in, or the present conditions, a substantial amount of a contractor/engineers work is doing the typical project. And with respect to my fellow professional, I will not respond to issues of personal character and responsibility, or there stated lack thereof.
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By the way, state structual plancheck employees in our area are overpaid and take pride in, not only boggin down job progress, but actually stopping it when they can. Not since lawyers, have so many made so much money off real engineers existance.
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I should predjudice the above comments by noting that our structural drafties also are put through a Pre- Apprenticeship training course run in Sydney by the Association of Consulting Engineers. This is an intensive 6 month course run by a private consultant that gives them a very good understanding of structural drafting practices. So that when they start working and studying in our office they are already that much ahead of the people who have simply come straight from school. The cost of the course is about $9000 (AUD) per person and from an employers viewpoint it is worth every cent.
Hope that these comments from across the Pacific assist in the debate.
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