Rebar shop drawings are the detailer's drawings that turn the engineer's structural design into bar-by-bar fabrication and placing information. They go to the design team for review before steel is cut, bent or tied. If you are the concrete or steel/rebar sub, you own the schedule risk on them. A late or incomplete package holds up your pour, not the engineer's.
This guide covers what the drawings must show, how the review works, what belongs in the submittal list, and how to write rebar RFIs that get a usable answer.
TL;DR
- Structural drawings state the design intent. Shop drawings (also called placing drawings) give the fabricator and the crew the quantities, sizes, dimensions, spacing and locations they build from.
- A complete package has bar marks, bar schedules, bending details, a bill of materials, and product data for items like mechanical splices and epoxy grout for dowels.
- Cloud every revision, one cloud per change, and keep the revision list current. Contractors and detailers can be held to the same completeness standard as the design team.
- A good rebar RFI names the exact missing item, says why you need it, shows the impact and points to the detail on the drawing.
- Track every package, review status and RFI in one log so nothing sits unnoticed on a GC's desk.
Table of Contents
- What rebar shop drawings are
- What a complete rebar shop drawing package shows
- How review and approval work
- What goes in a rebar submittal list?
- Writing rebar RFIs that get answered
- Where subs lose time on rebar submittals
- A simple workflow for a concrete or rebar sub
- Run your rebar submittals and RFIs in one place
- FAQ
- Sources
What rebar shop drawings are
The structural engineer (the licensed design professional) produces the contract drawings. Those show the design intent: what reinforcement the footing, wall, slab or column needs. ACI 315R-18 exists to help that design professional decide what a reinforcing steel detailer needs, and to present it clearly enough that the fabricator and placer are not guessing.
The detailer takes it from there. The detailer's output is the shop drawing, or placing drawing. ACI 315R-18 defines placing drawings as detailed drawings giving quantity, size, dimensions, spacing, locations and other information needed to fabricate and install the reinforcement.
The difference in plain terms:
| Structural drawings | Rebar shop drawings | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Engineer of record | Detailer (in-house or outside) |
| Purpose | Convey design intent | Fabricate, deliver and place bars |
| Level of detail | Typical sections, sizes, spacing | Every bar mark, shape, count and location |
| Reviewed by | Owner, GC, building officials | Engineer and GC, before fabrication |
Think of it this way. The structural set says what the wall needs. The placing drawing tells your foreman which bar goes where on Tuesday morning.
What a complete rebar shop drawing package shows
Specs vary by project, so read Division 03 first. One public example, the Baytown, Texas technical specification, is a good picture of what reviewers expect. It calls for bending diagrams and reinforcing schedules for all work. It also calls for dimensions, details, notes, location, size, length, each bar mark, bar type, bending, number of bars and bar support type.
The same spec says the drawings must carry enough detail to place the reinforcement without going back to the plans. It also says the information should match the bill of materials line for line. That is the standard to build to, even where your spec is silent.
The pieces reviewers look for
- Bar marks. Every bar gets a mark that ties the drawing, the bar list and the bundle tag together.
- Bar schedules and bending details. Sizes, lengths, quantities and bend shapes, with dimensions the shop can bend from.
- Placing plans, sections and elevations. Footings, grade beams, walls, slabs, columns and piers, with spacing and locations shown.
- Laps, splices and embedments. Lap lengths and splice locations should follow the contract documents, with dowels and embeds located.
- Clear cover and supports. Cover dimensions and the type of bar supports you plan to use.
- Notes and references. The structural sheet and detail each drawing comes from, so the reviewer can check against it.
For a footing-and-wall job, a typical package is a placing plan per pour, a wall elevation with vertical and horizontal bars, a schedule with every bar mark, and a bill of materials. The bill is what you check your takeoff against.
How review and approval work
The detailer prepares the drawings. You, as the concrete or rebar sub, check them against your scope and your field sequence. Then they go to the GC, who passes them to the engineer. ACI 315R-18 devotes a chapter to the review of placing drawings, including the procedure and levels of approval. If your project follows it, read that chapter before your first submission.
Two habits keep the review moving:
- Check before you send. Compare the drawing against the structural set, the spec and your takeoff. Catching a missing dowel yourself costs an hour. Catching it after bars are bent costs a truck and a crew day.
- Make revisions obvious. Guidance from the ASCC, summarizing ACI-CRSI practice, says all revisions should be clouded. Put a cloud around each individual revision, not one big cloud around several. Remove old clouds before starting a new revision, and note each change on the revision list.
The same ASCC piece warns that contractors and their detailers can be held to the same completeness standard as the design team for rebar placing drawings and other documents submitted for review. So treat the package as your document, not a pass-through.
For the broader process of moving submittals through a GC without losing track of them, see our submittals workflow guide for subs.
What goes in a rebar submittal list
The shop drawings are the center of the package, but they are rarely the whole submittal. A sensible rebar submittal list looks like this:
- Rebar shop drawings (placing plans, sections, details)
- Bar lists and bending schedules
- Bill of materials, matching the drawings
- Product data for mechanical bar splices, with the manufacturer's literature, specifications and installation instructions
- Product data for epoxy grout used to anchor dowels into hardened concrete, with recommended installation procedures
- Anything else Division 03 calls out, such as bar supports, coatings or mill certificates
Items 3 to 5 come straight from the Baytown specification. Your project's list may be longer or shorter. Build yours from the spec sections, not from the last job.
Keep a submittal log per job
For each item, track the spec section, the revision, the date sent, who has it, the status and the date it came back. Add the lead time for fabrication so you can see when a late approval will hurt. Cross-check your list against the schedule so a splice data sheet does not hold up a pour.
Masonry subs face a similar problem with reinforcement and shop drawings. Our post on shop drawings in masonry submittals walks through it.
Writing rebar RFIs that get answered
Shop drawing review turns up conflicts. A sleeve through a beam, a missing dimension, a note that contradicts a detail. An RFI is how you get an answer on the record.
QIC Management Systems describes a good RFI as one that names the exact information missing, explains why it is needed, shows the possible impact, and gives the designer enough detail to respond. Their sample formats cover four situations, and each translates directly to rebar work:
- Conflict between disciplines. Their example is a structural drawing against a mechanical duct drawing, with no approved beam penetration. It asks whether to reroute the duct or provide an approved opening detail.
- Missing dimension. It names the drawing revision that lacks the offset and asks for the setting-out dimension, with a marked-up drawing attached.
- Spec and drawing conflict. It cites the schedule revision and the spec clause that disagree, and asks the designer to confirm which governs.
- Existing condition differs from design. It references the drawing and location, attaches photos or survey coordinates, and asks for instructions.
Rebar RFI examples in plain words
These are sample wordings, not quotes from any project.
Conflicting information. "Sheet S-201, Detail 4 shows #5 at 12 inches on center each way at the top of the slab. General Note 7 calls for #4 at 12 inches. Please confirm which governs for the grid C to F slab. Bar lists for this pour are on hold. Fabrication lead time means we need a response by Friday to hold the pour date."
Missing information. "Wall W3 on S-301 does not show dowel embedment into the footing or the lap with the vertical bars. Please provide embedment length and lap, or confirm the typical detail on S-001 applies."
Penetration conflict. "Mechanical sleeve M-12 passes through grade beam GB-4 at gridline 3. S-102 shows no opening or added reinforcement there. Please provide the opening reinforcement detail or direct a reroute."
Each one names the sheet and detail, states the conflict, asks one question, and states the cost of waiting. Attach a screenshot with the area marked up. Bluebeam-style markups are common for this, and a cloud around the exact detail beats a paragraph of description.
One question per RFI. If you bundle five questions, the answer to the easiest one comes back and the other four sit.
Where subs lose time on rebar submittals
The delays are rarely about the drawings themselves. They tend to come from:
- Takeoff and detailing disagree. Your estimate carried one tonnage and the bill of materials shows another. Reconcile early. Our guide to rebar takeoff methods covers which method fits which job.
- No one owns the log. The package goes to the GC and nobody knows the status for two weeks.
- Revisions arrive without clouds. The reviewer cannot see what changed, so the whole set gets rechecked.
- Spec reading skipped. The splice product data requirement in Division 03 only shows up after bars are ordered. Our spec book reading guide shows how to build a scope log at bid time.
- Field changes never make it back. What the crew actually placed differs from the approved drawing. See our as-built drawings process for field-to-closeout habits.
None of this is glamorous. It is a tracking problem, and tracking problems are solvable.
A simple workflow for a concrete or rebar sub
Here is a routine that works for a small shop running several jobs at once.
- At award, pull every Division 03 requirement into a submittal list with spec section, owner and due date.
- Before detailing starts, confirm your takeoff tonnage, bar sizes and pour sequence with the detailer.
- On receipt of drawings, check them against structural sheets and the spec. Log every conflict as a draft RFI.
- Send the package with a transmittal listing every sheet and revision. Note the fabrication lead time and the date you need approval.
- On return, log the approval status and any comments. Revise, cloud each change and resubmit if needed.
- Release for fabrication only on an approved status the spec allows. Keep the approved set in the field folder your foreman can open on a phone.
- During placement, log RFIs and field deviations against the approved drawing so closeout drawings are accurate.
Write the dates down. When a GC says the package sat for three weeks, a log with sent and returned dates ends the argument and supports a time extension request.
Our view: treat shop drawings as job records, not email attachments
I have seen the same thing in trade shops for years. The drawing is fine. The paper trail around it is the problem. Revision C goes out in an email, revision B is in someone's downloads, and the foreman builds off a printout from last month.
Subascent is built for specialty trade subs, so the submittal, the RFI, the change order and the drawing live under the job, not in six inboxes. We include submittal and RFI management, document and drawing storage, change order workflows and daily field reporting, and a free CrewTrack mobile app for foremen as part of the subscription. For concrete and steel/rebar crews, that means the approved set is the one in the field.
Software built around GC workflows tends to assume you are the one issuing the RFIs. A sub is usually the one writing them and chasing them. That is the gap we designed for.
Dave
Run your rebar submittals and RFIs in one place
If you track shop drawing packages in a spreadsheet and RFIs in email, Subascent puts them next to your bids, takeoffs and job costs. Plans are Starter at $49 per month, Scale at $99 per month and Pro at $179 per month, with annual billing at $490, $990 and $1,790 a year. PDF takeoff is a paid add-on at $99 per month. See the plans and features or read how the documents and GC communication tools work.
For estimators, the estimating and takeoff tools tie your quantities to the job, so the bill of materials from the detailer has something to be checked against.
FAQ
What is the difference between rebar shop drawings and placing drawings?
In everyday use the terms mean the same thing. ACI 315R-18 uses "placing drawings" for the detailed drawings that give quantity, size, dimensions, spacing and locations for fabrication and installation. Some specs and detailers say shop drawings, others say placing drawings, so use whichever term your spec uses in the submittal log.
Who prepares rebar shop drawings?
A reinforcing steel detailer prepares them from the engineer's structural drawings. The detailer may work for the fabricator, for you or as an outside service. Whoever makes them, the contractor submits them, and ASCC guidance says contractors and detailers can be held to the same completeness standard as the design team.
What goes in a rebar submittal list?
Start with the shop drawings, bar lists and bending schedules, and a bill of materials that matches them. Add product data for mechanical splices and for epoxy grout used on dowels where the spec requires it. Then add whatever else Division 03 lists for your project.
How should I mark revisions on rebar shop drawings?
Cloud each revision individually, remove earlier clouds before starting a new revision, and note the change on the revision list. That is the practice ASCC summarizes from ACI-CRSI guidance. It lets the reviewer check only what changed.
What makes a good rebar RFI?
It names the sheet and detail, states the missing or conflicting information, explains why you need it and what it affects, and asks one clear question. A marked-up screenshot of the exact area makes it faster to answer.
Sources
- ACI 315R-18: Guide to Presenting Reinforcing Steel Design Details (preview)
- ACI 315R-18 text, definition of placing drawings
- Baytown, TX Technical Specifications, reinforcement shop drawings and submittals
- ASCC: Guidance for Concrete Contractors #10 in a Series
- QIC Management Systems: RFI in Construction, Meaning, Examples and Process