Want to know more about steel in construction?

Then you have to be at Bouwen met Staal. This foundation, established more than 20 years ago on the joint initiative of engineering firms, (steel) construction companies, steel traders and steel producers, works from Zoetermeer every working day to promote the use of steel in construction and infrastructure in our country. In order to facilitate architects, structural engineers, contractors, steel builders and other important disciplines in the building and infrastructure sector in making responsible choices and applications of steel in their project practice, Bouwen met Staal offers, for example, a help desk for technical questions, independent technical advice on construction projects and information brochures, newsletters and websites on application aspects of steel such as fire safety and sustainability. But perhaps most essential to good use of steel in construction is knowledge transfer.

Knowledge of the material steel and the options and points of attention for its use in the construction of buildings and bridges. This is disseminated by Building with Steel through practical/study books, seminars, courses and - especially for the (future) structural engineer - through a complete series of professional training courses. If you have (at least) an MBO degree in architecture or mechanical engineering or a similar level and you want to eventually work your way up to structural designer with a master's degree, you can follow the required training program at Building with Steel.

That journey begins with Steel Construction Detailing BmS. During this MBO-level course you will learn within one year to make working drawings of architectural and civil steel constructions completely independently. Once you have successfully completed the course, you can move on to become a Structural steel draftsman/constructor BmS. This two-year, post MBO course enables you to become even more proficient in modeling structures, but above all it provides you with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills for calculating structures.

To participate in Structural steel draftsman/constructor, you do not necessarily have to take Structural steel detailing first. If you have an MBO 4 diploma with (satisfactory scores for) the subjects mathematics and mechanics, you can enroll directly in Structural steel draftsman/constructor. This also applies even if you have been working at an engineering firm, construction company or steel construction company for several years, in a relevant position.

If you still have doubts about your basic mathematics and mechanics skills, it would not be unwise to first take the separate Building with Steel B-module. You will then be brushed up on matters such as factoring, calculating with powers and roots, functions and equations, and on loads, forces, supports, static values and stresses and deformations. And it only takes four afternoons/evenings.

If you have a steel construction draughtsman/constructor 'in the bag', then you already belong to the steel wool dyed-in-the-wool draughtsmen/constructors. All too often, Building with Steel sees graduates of this course return shortly afterwards as (assistant) group leader at an engineering firm or steel construction company.

The steel construction draftsman/constructor diploma is also the admission ticket for Staalconstructies BV/BmS, the HBO training course jointly organized by the Concrete Association (BV) and Building with Steel (BmS) under the name BV/BmS Opleidingen. You can join the course even if you have an HBO degree in Construction Engineering, Civil Engineering or Mechanical Engineering in your pocket, without having graduated in structural engineering.

During Staalconstructies BV/BmS you will be taught - at the bachelor level, for one year - the knowledge and practical skills you need to make structural calculations independently. You will learn to check structures against standards, check framework calculations and check computer calculations using rules of thumb.

If you want to go one step higher on the knowledge ladder, then follow Constructive Designing BV/BmS, another course of BV/BmS Opleidingen. If you have passed the steel construction course BV/BmS or graduated from a higher vocational school in architecture, civil engineering or mechanical engineering with a structural engineering subject, you can start this three-year course at TU or master level.

During those three years you will broaden and deepen your structural engineering knowledge, gain (even) more structural insight and learn how to design a structure in an integral way, taking into account practicability and safety but also cost and economics, aesthetics and architectural and installation engineering aspects.

After three years, you can graduate in either concrete or steel structures. In both cases the graduation assignment consists of designing, detailing and calculating a structure. You defend the design of that assignment before an examination committee. If the committee is satisfied, you will receive the diploma Constructive Design BV/BmS.

Of course, knowledge is a dynamic phenomenon. It can become dusty, obsolete, overtaken by new developments, insights, information. With short courses on the most diverse subjects (from hall construction or fire safety to stability of steel structures or the finite element method), Building with Steel helps you to keep up to date.

Want to know more? Go to www.bouwenmetstaal.nl