A Rebar Detailer is basically just a draftsman who makes drawings that show where the rebar (short for reinforcing bar) is to be placed in reinforced concrete.
Most rebar detailers drink a lot of coffee. They're under a lot of pressure because the rebar is one of the first materials required at the jobsite. Before the rebar can be supplied the placing drawings must be made and submitted to the engineer for approval. Deciphering the engineer's
intentions can be like putting a puzzle together. Detailing rebar is very dry. Whenever anyone asks me what I do for a living and I proceed to tell them about rebar I'm met with a blank stare and the glazed eyes. You can see it in their face, they can't get away fast enough. Rebar Detailers are the Rodney Dangerfield of drafting.
Rebar is also called deformed bar. It is a steel rod with deformations (bumps) to help lock it into the surrounding concrete where it will be placed. There are many sizes ranging from #4 bar, 1/4" (7mm), to #18 bar, 2-1/4" (57mm). Rebar is one of the two main components of steel reinforced concrete. Rusting rebar can be seen protruding from the crumbling concrete of bridges, curbs and other concrete structures in various stages of disrepair. Keep off of those bridges, ha ha. I've been doing this for over twenty years. My eyesight is fuzzy and I can laugh off an irate contractor who just made an irreverant reference to my mother because I screwed up some of his bars. I've developed my communication (bullshitting) skills talking to these guys. And learned a thing or two about computers
even though we still make our drawings with pencil and paper. We've heard of CAD, it's something somebody else has.