Welded vs Bolted Steel Connections: Choosing the Right Detail
By Certified Steel Engineering · Published · Updated
How Certified Steel Engineering weighs welded and bolted connections across fabrication, site access, tolerance and inspection to specify the right detail for your structure.
Two ways to join steel
Every steel structure lives or dies at its connections. The choice between a welded and a bolted detail is rarely about strength alone — it is about how the frame is fabricated in the shop, how it is erected on site, and how it is inspected once it is in place.
Welded connections
Welds give a clean, continuous load path and are ideal where geometry is complex or where a moment connection must be rigid. Most of our welding happens under controlled conditions in the workshop, where weld quality, preheat and inspection can be governed precisely.
Bolted connections
Bolted details shine on site: faster erection, no hot works, and straightforward inspection. They also make future modification and disassembly practical.
How we decide
We design, fabricate and install in-house, so the connection detail is chosen with the whole workflow in view — not handed between disconnected trades. That is how a detail stays buildable from drawing board to hand-over.