Steel detailing and structural engineering for fabricators and contractors across Europe
Metal KLS runs an in-house drawing office in Cluj, Romania — structural engineers and steel detailers on our own payroll. Send us the design of a steel project and we take it from there: connection design, calculation notes, the 3D model and the workshop drawings. What comes back is one validated package — every drawing, list and file needed to start cutting, in the format your fabricating workshop expects.
What We Do
Structural engineering and steel detailing, in-house
We take a project from a first tonnage estimate through to files a workshop can cut from and drawings that can be built from. Preliminary sizing, connection design, 3D modelling, workshop drawings, NC files, material and bolt lists, erection documentation.
The drawing office is its own department, based in Cluj. Structural engineers and steel detailers on our own payroll, with nothing passed on to a third bureau — so the engineer who takes your first call is the one answering the fabricator’s RFI four months later.
Whether the package is yours to deliver, your fabricator’s to produce, or your own drawing board that is simply full this quarter, the work is the same and it is priced the same way.
The still is an Advance Steel erection drawing from our office. Press play and you are looking at the structure that came out of it — the Maria Production warehouse for dry timber storage at Câmpeni, Romania. Model, workshop drawings, bolt schedule and erection documentation, all issued from Cluj.
FIND YOUR STAGE
Where we come in
Most drawing offices start the day the contract is signed. We are useful earlier than that, and later than that.
| Bidding — the design is not fixed | Preliminary sizing, tonnage take-off, framing option comparison |
| Design fixed, connections open | Connection design, secondary steel, calculation output for the checking engineer |
| Ready for fabrication | Tekla model, workshop drawings, NC1 / DSTV, material and bolt lists |
| Going to site | Erection drawings, stage stability, temporary works, lift plans |
| Somebody else’s design on your desk | Checking, buildability review, second opinion |
BEFORE THE ORDER
Pre-tender studies and weight take-off
If you are bidding and the design is not fixed, this is the work that decides whether your number wins — and whether it is still profitable when it does.
- Preliminary sizing of the primary frame and the secondary steel
- Tonnage take-off and weight lists accurate enough to price against
- Envelope and arrangement drawings showing clearances, structural depths and available headroom
- Comparison of framing options — portal against truss, bolted against welded, one grid against another — with the tonnage difference for each
- Drawings and quantities you can put straight into a tender submission
We are happy to work inside your bid team rather than alongside it. If the job is won, the pre-study rolls into the execution package and nothing is drawn twice.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Connection design and structural engineering
Most of our engineering work starts from an existing design. The engineer of record sets out the frame; we design the connections, check the secondary steel and produce calculation output a checking engineer can follow line by line.
- Connection design to Eurocode 3 (EN 1993-1-8) — end plates, fin plates, splices, base plates, bracing connections
- Design checks in Idea StatiCa and ConSteel, issued with full calculation output
- Load paths traced down to the anchors, with the reactions your foundation engineer needs
- Secondary steel design — purlins, girts, platforms, stairs, walkways and handrails
- Global analysis in SAP2000, Robot, ETABS, Axis VM or CYPE where the scope calls for it
- Member checks against the national annex that applies in the project country
On stamped calculations. Connection design and detailing is what we promote, and it is what we are fastest and best at. Where a project needs full member design of the primary frame issued under a professional stamp, we produce the design and a licensed engineer in the project country verifies and signs it. In Germany and Luxembourg an independent checking engineer is required in any case, whoever did the design. Ask, and we will tell you honestly whether the scope suits us.
STEEL DETAILING
Steel detailing and workshop drawings
A complete fabrication package, modelled once and issued in whatever format your workshop and your BIM coordinator each need.
- 3D modelling in Tekla Structures, coordinated against your architectural and MEP models
- Workshop drawings for every fabricated item — single parts, assemblies and welded built-ups
- NC1 / DSTV files for beam lines, drilling lines, saws and plasma cutters
- Bills of material, bolt lists and shipping lists split by phase or by lorry load
- General arrangement, marking plans and erection drawings the crew works from
- IFC, 3D DWG and native model export for the main contractor’s federated model
- A revision register on every issue, so nothing gets fabricated from a superseded sheet
We work to your drawing standard, not ours. Template, part numbering, layer convention, bolt and weld specification — we adopt yours before modelling starts, so approval is a check rather than a negotiation.
ERECTION ENGINEERING
Temporary works and erection engineering
A finished structure is stable. The half-built one at four o’clock on a Thursday afternoon is the one that has to be engineered, and it is the scope almost nobody sells separately.
- Stability checks for each stage of the erection sequence
- Temporary bracing, guying and propping schemes
- Lifting-point checks, lifting-lug design and rigging arrangements
- Crane lift plans and heavy-lift sequencing
- Erection sequences drawn stage by stage, not described in a method statement
- Erection and slinging drawings, and the erection manual the crew actually reads
- Survey and setting-out data for anchor bolts and base plates
This is design work for the temporary condition, and it is governed by the same codes as the permanent structure — EN 1990 and EN 1991 for the actions, EN 1993 for the members and connections that carry them. The difference is that the load case changes at every stage, so each stage is checked in its own right rather than assumed to be covered by the finished frame.
WHERE THE MONEY MOVES
Value engineering
The cheapest steel package is rarely the one with the lowest rate per hour. It is the one where somebody questioned the design before it was fabricated.
- Section optimisation — the lightest section that still passes, not the one that was convenient to specify
- Connection type — a bolted connection that costs ten minutes on site against a welded one that costs two hours
- Repetition — standardising connections and member lengths across the job so the workshop sets up once
- Fabrication method — details that suit the machines your fabricator actually owns
- Surface treatment and fire protection — decisions that move package cost more than the steel price does
- Erection sequence — a structure that can be built in the crane time you have booked
We review these six on every package we take on and tell you what we would change before you commit to fabrication. It is the cheapest hour you will spend on a steel package, because every one of these decisions gets more expensive the moment steel is cut.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW
Checking, second opinions and buildability review
Not every enquiry needs a drawing package. Some need somebody competent to look hard at what you already have.
- Checking third-party calculation notes and design assumptions
- Reviewing a fabricator’s shop drawings before they go to production
- Buildability review — manufacturability, erectability, access, build sequence, safety and quality, assessed against the site you actually have
- Technical evaluation of fabricator and subcontractor proposals at tender stage
- Capacity checks on existing structures — a new load, a new opening, a reinforcement
- Independent check of setting-out and anchor bolt positions against the model before concrete is poured
This is often how a new client starts with us. It is a small, defined piece of work, it carries no fabrication risk, and it tells both of us whether the working relationship fits before there is a package on the line.
ALSO IN THE OFFICE
Reinforced concrete detailing
Steel packages rarely fail at the steel. They fail at the interface — anchor bolts cast 30mm out, a base plate that will not sit, an embedded plate missing from a pour that happened last month.
- Reinforcement drawings and bar bending schedules in Allplan and Tekla Structures
- Foundation, pile cap and plinth detailing
- Embedded plates, anchor bolt layouts and holding-down bolt templates
- Coordination between the concrete and steel models, so the hole pattern on the template matches the one on the base plate
When we hold both models, that interface stops being a coordination meeting and becomes a clash check.
HOW WE VERIFY
Codes, standards and loads
Cross-border work fails on the national annex, not on the Eurocode. A frame that passes in Bucharest does not automatically pass in Luxembourg, and the difference is snow, wind and a set of partial factors somebody has to look up.
Design codes
- EN 1990 — basis of structural design
- EN 1991 — actions on structures
- EN 1993 — steel structures, including EN 1993-1-1 and EN 1993-1-8 for connections
- EN 1998 — seismic design, where the project country requires it
- The national annex of the country the structure is built in — applied as a matter of course, not on request
- EN 1090-1 / EN 1090-2 — execution of steel structures, to the execution class stated for the project
- EN ISO 14122 parts 1–4 — stairs, walkways, platforms, guardrails and ladders
- EN ISO 5817 weld quality levels and EN ISO 9606-1 welder qualification on the fabrication interface
Loads and actions we design for
- Permanent and imposed loads
- Wind and snow, to the national annex
- Crane and runway loads, including impact and surge
- Seismic actions where applicable
- Thermal effects
- Fire, where the structure carries a rating
- Erection-stage loading — the temporary condition, which is where a surprising amount of our engineering time goes
OUR TOOLS
Software and file formats
We work in what your project already uses. Nothing gets re-keyed, re-drawn or exported through a format that loses information.
| BIM modelling | Tekla Structures, Revit, Advance Steel |
| Steel detailing | Advance Steel, Tekla Structures |
| Connection design | Idea StatiCa, ConSteel |
| Structural analysis | SAP2000, Robot Structural Analysis, ETABS, Axis VM, ConSteel, CYPE |
| Reinforced concrete detailing | Allplan, Tekla Structures |
| Programme and progress | Microsoft Project |
Exchange formats: IFC · 3D DWG · DXF · NC1 / DSTV · PDF
HOW WE WORK FASTER
AI in our drawing office
We use AI where it takes hours out of a project without going anywhere near the engineering.
- Markups become revision tasks. A marked-up PDF from your checker is read, listed and turned into a revision task list instead of being cross-referenced by hand, sheet by sheet.
- Foreign-language documents stop being a delay. Specifications, tender documents and site correspondence in French, German or Dutch are read and cross-checked in hours, not days — and the questions come back to you in English.
- Documents get checked twice. Drawing lists against the model, bolt lists against the drawings, revision clouds against the register. Machines are better than people at noticing that sheet 214 rev C was never reissued.
What AI does not do here. It does not size a member, design a connection, sign a calculation or approve a drawing. Every output that leaves this office has been checked by the engineer whose name is on it, and the professional responsibility sits exactly where it always did — with us.
The benefit reaches you as a number rather than a slogan: fewer billable hours against the same scope, and revisions turned round in hours instead of days. It is a large part of why our rates read the way they do.
How we work
From first enquiry to the last revision — four stages, no surprises.
1. Enquiry & scope
Send the GA drawings, the engineer of record’s design and your fabricator’s preferences. We come back within two working days with scope, an hour estimate and a programme.
2. Quote & set-up
Lump sum where the scope is fixed, hourly where it is still moving. Before anything is modelled we agree the drawing standard, the numbering convention, the bolt and weld specification and the revision protocol in writing.
3. Design & modelling
Connection design first, then the model, then the drawings — in that order, because redrawing around a late connection change is where detailing programmes are lost. First issue goes out for approval and we work to your checker’s comments.
4. Issue & site support
Approved drawings, NC files and lists released to the workshop. The same engineer stays on the project through fabrication and erection for RFIs, site queries and revisions.
PROJECT TYPES
Structures we detail
Sector experience across industrial, mission-critical and infrastructure steelwork, detailed to the code and the execution class the project country requires.
Industrial halls & portal frames
Large-span portal frames, multi-bay structures and distribution centres, including crane gantries and runway beams. One of ours: the Maria Production warehouse for dry timber storage at Câmpeni, Romania — modelled, detailed and issued from Cluj.
Data centre steelwork
Plant decks, roof gantries, generator yard steel and HVAC support structures. The packages we detail most, and the ones with the tightest tolerance on MEP coordination.
Pipe racks & process platforms
Access steel, pipe supports and equipment frames for energy, chemical, water treatment and heavy industry.
Stairs, walkways & handrails
The secondary steel most detailers treat as an afterthought and most sites end up remaking. Detailed to EN ISO 14122, with the tolerances that make it fit first time.
Bridges & temporary works
Steel components, launching and lifting arrangements, and temporary works for bridge and railway packages.
Retrofit & modification
Detailing into an existing structure from a site survey or a point cloud, where the as-built rarely matches the drawing.
WHY CHOOSE METAL KLS
Why fabricators and contractors use our drawing office
Your drawing standard, not ours
Template, part numbering, layer convention, bolt and weld specification — we adopt yours before modelling starts. Approval becomes a check rather than a negotiation.
In-house, not outsourced
Salaried engineers and detailers in our own office. Your work is not passed to a third bureau you never agreed to.
Workshop-ready files
NC1 / DSTV straight to the beam line, lists that match the drawings, revisions that are traceable.
Faster revision cycles
AI takes the repetitive work out of a revision so the engineering time goes where it belongs. Markups come back turned round in hours.
One engineer on your project
A single point of contact from enquiry to handover. No account layer, no ticket queue.
Priced two ways
Lump sum where the scope is defined, hourly where it evolves. We do not use scope creep as a variation strategy.
Overflow capacity, under your title block
Engineering practices and design offices use us when their own board is full. We work to your drawing standard, under your title block, at the rates published below.
Indicative pricing
Transparent hourly rates — final quote based on project specifics.
Steel Detailer
- Tekla Structures modelling
- Workshop and assembly drawings
- NC1 / DSTV output
- Bills of material and bolt lists
- IFC export for BIM coordination
- Revision register on every issue
Detailing Package
- Connection design to Eurocode 3
- Complete fabrication package
- Erection drawings and marking plans
- Fixed lump sum against a defined scope
- Approval-cycle support included
- RFI support through fabrication and erection
Structural Engineer
- Connection design and member checks
- Calculation output for the checking engineer
- Temporary works and erection engineering
- Secondary steel design
- National annex compliance
- Buildability and value-engineering review
Rates are for office-based engineering and detailing, quoted per productive hour. They are what they are because we have taken the repetitive hours out of the work rather than billing you for them. Where the scope is defined, most clients prefer a lump sum — ask for both and compare.
Have a steel structure to detail? Tell us about it.
Send the GA drawings and the tonnage if you have them — and if you are still bidding, send what you have anyway. We reply within two business days. If you haven’t heard back, use the contact details at the top of the page — we’re available Monday to Friday, 08:00–18:00 CET, excluding public holidays. Please do chase us.
Steel detailing and engineering — common questions
Do you produce and sign structural calculations?
We design connections, check secondary steel and issue full calculation output, and that is what we promote. For full member design of a primary frame under a professional stamp, we produce the design and a licensed engineer in the project country verifies and signs it. In Germany and Luxembourg an independent checking engineer is required in any case, whoever did the design.
Do you use AI, and who is responsible for what it produces?
We use it for the repetitive work — reading markups, cross-checking lists and registers, handling documents in French, German and Dutch. It does not size members, design connections or approve drawings. Every deliverable is checked and issued by the engineer responsible for it, and our liability is unchanged by the tools we use to get there.
Can you work at tender stage, before we have won the job?
Yes, and it is often the best time to involve us. Preliminary sizing and a tonnage take-off change the number you submit. If the job is won the pre-study rolls into the execution package, so nothing is drawn twice.
Can you check a design somebody else produced?
Yes — calculation notes, shop drawings from a fabricator, or a buildability review of a design that is already approved. It is a common first job with a new client and it is priced by the hour.
What do you need from us to start?
The general arrangement drawings, the engineer of record’s design or calculations, the project’s execution class under EN 1090, your bolt and weld specification, and your drawing standard if you have one. If you have a Tekla or Revit model, send that instead of the PDFs.
Can you work in our model and to our drawing standard?
Yes. We adopt your template, part numbering and layer convention before modelling starts. If you work in Tekla we can work directly in your model or hand back a native file rather than a flattened export.
Which countries do you work for?
Anywhere in Europe. Most of the drawing office’s current work comes from Luxembourg and Belgium, and we design to Eurocode with the national annex that applies where the structure is being built.
How is the work priced?
Two ways. A lump sum where the scope is clearly defined — a tonnage, a drawing count, an agreed number of approval cycles. Or an hourly rate where the design is still evolving, which is more honest than pricing a moving scope and recovering it through variations.
Do you detail reinforced concrete as well?
Yes — reinforcement drawings, bar bending schedules, foundations and embedded plates in Allplan and Tekla. On steel packages it is most useful at the anchor bolt and base plate interface, where we can clash-check both models against each other instead of coordinating them by email.
You also supply steel erection crews — who actually does the drawings?
A separate department. The drawing office is in Cluj and is staffed by salaried structural engineers and steel detailers who do not work on sites. The erection department is a different set of people, with different qualifications, working across Europe. Every drawing and calculation is produced, checked and issued by the engineer responsible for it.
Our other construction services
Complete construction solutions for data centers, logistical hubs and industrial sites.
Steel Structure Erection
Complete erection of steel structures — industrial halls, platforms, data centers and infrastructure projects. VCA/SCC certified crews.
Roof and Wall Cladding
Professional mounting of sandwich panels for walls and roofing. Fast execution, quality finishes, fully equipped teams.
On-Site Welding & Repairs
Steel fabrication, maintenance and repair works carried out directly on site — welding, cutting, fitting, replacement, painting.
Site Management
Experienced site supervisors and construction site managers deployed to lead and coordinate your projects on the ground.
Labour-Only Supply
Skilled execution crews for steel erection, panel installation and welding — organised under experienced, multilingual team leaders.