The approval documents shall be submitted to the ODRD and the ODRС for review and approval. The approval documents shall be returned to the fabricator within 14 calendar days.
Final substantiating connection information shall also be submitted with the approval documents when Option 3 is designated, and as required in the contract documents when Option 2 is designated. The ODRD is the final authority in the event of a disagreement between parties regarding the design of connections to be incorporated into the overall structural steel frame. The fabricator and licensed engineer in responsible charge of connection design are entitled to rely upon the connection design criteria provided in accordance with Section 3.2. Revisions to these criteria shall be addressed in accordance with Sections 9.3 and 9.4.
Approved approval documents shall be individually annotated by the ODRD and the ODRC as either approved or approved subject to corrections noted. When so required, the fabricator shall subsequently make the corrections noted and furnish corrected fabrication and erection documents to the ODRD and the ODRC.
Commentary
As used in this Code, the 14-day allotment for the return of approval documents is intended to represent the fabricator's portal-to-portal time. The intent in this Code is that, in the absence of information to the contrary in the contract documents, 14 days may be assumed for the purposes of bidding, contracting, and scheduling. When additional time is desired, such as when substantiating connection information is part of the submittals, the modified allotment should be specified in the contract documents. A submittal schedule is commonly used to facilitate the approval process.
If the approval documents are approved subject to corrections noted, the ODRD may or may not require that it be resubmitted for record purposes following correction. If the approval documents are not approved, revisions must be made and the documents resubmitted until approval is achieved.
4.4.1
Approval, approval subject to corrections noted, and similar approvals of the approval documents shall constitute the following:
- (a) Confirmation that the fabricator has correctly interpreted the contract documents in the preparation of those submittals.
- (b) Confirmation that the ODRD has reviewed and approved the connection details shown in the approval documents submitted in accordance with Section 3.2.3.
- (c) Release by the ODRD and the ODRC for the fabricator to begin fabrication using the approved submittals.
Such approval shall not relieve the fabricator of the responsibility for either the accuracy of the detailed dimensions in the approval documents or the general fit-up of parts that are to be assembled in the field.
The fabricator shall determine the fabrication schedule that is necessary to meet the requirements of the contract.
Commentary
When considering the current language in this Section, the Committee sought language that would parallel the practices of CASE. In CASE Document 962, CASE indicates that when the design of some element of the primary structural system is left to someone other than the structural engineer of record, “…such elements, including connections designed by others, should be reviewed by the structural engineer of record. He [or she] should review such designs and details, accept or reject them and be responsible for their effects on the primary structural system.” Historically, this Code has embraced this same concept.
From the inception of this Code, AISC and the industry in general have recognized that only the ODRD has all the information necessary to evaluate the total impact of connection details on the overall structural design of the project. This authority traditionally has been exercised during the approval process for the approval documents. The ODRD has thus retained responsibility for the adequacy and safety of the entire structure since at least the 1927 edition of this Code.
4.4.2
Unless otherwise noted, any additions, deletions or revisions that are indicated in responses to RFIs or on the approved approval documents shall constitute authorization by the owner that the additions, deletions, or revisions are released for construction. The fabricator and the erector shall promptly notify the ODRC when any direction or notation in responses to RFIs or on the approval documents or other information will result in an additional cost and/or a delay. See Sections 3.6 and 9.3.
Commentary
When the fabricator notifies the ODRC that a direction or notation in responses to RFIs or on the approval documents will result in an additional cost or a delay, it is then normally the responsibility of the ODRC to subsequently notify the ODRD.