Steel fixing inspection: cover, laps and chairs before the engineer arrives
A failed reinforcement inspection costs a pour date. This is what is checked on a tied deck before the engineer is called, and why a first-time pass is the steel fixer's real deliverable.
Cover
Cover to the reinforcement is set by AS 3600 for the exposure classification and the fire rating on the drawings. Chairs and spacers hold it; the crew checks it at the edges, over the beams and at the penetrations, because those are where it is lost.
Laps and bar sizes
Lap lengths follow the engineer's schedule for the bar size and the grade. Bars are checked against the schedule as they are placed, and the laps are staggered where the detail requires it.
Chairs, spacers and mats
Bottom and top mats are chaired to the cover and tied so the top mat does not sink under foot traffic during the pour. Trimmer bars go around every penetration and at every re-entrant corner.
Starter bars and the lift above
Starter bars for walls, columns and the core are left at the right position and length for the next lift, checked against the detail before the pour, because a wrong starter bar is a core drill after the slab has gone off.
Post-tensioned slabs
On a PT slab the support steel holds the ducts at the profile heights, and anti-burst steel sits at the anchorages. The PT contractor checks the ducts before the pour; the steel fixer's job is to have everything around them right first.
Calling the engineer
The inspection is called when the deck is ready, not when the calendar says so. The pour is booked against the inspection, and a first-time pass keeps the cycle.
Questions
Who inspects the reinforcement?
The builder's structural engineer. The steel fixer's job is to have the steel tied, covered and inspection-ready when they arrive.
What is AS/NZS 4671?
The Australian and New Zealand Standard for steel reinforcing materials, which sets the grades and properties of the bar and mesh.
Does the same crew tie the next deck while this one is poured?
On a self-performed package, yes. The crew follows our own formwork floor by floor.
Send the drawings.
Issue the for-construction set for the packages you want priced and the quotation comes back itemised, with the basis shown against every line.