As-Builts
As-built drawings are an essential part of every construction project. The main purpose an as-built drawing serves is to replicate how the contractor built the project and identify what changes were made throughout the course of constructing the project. The final sets of as-built drawings hold important information; such as shop drawing changes, design changes, field changes, approved and disapproved changes during construction, and any minor or major modification to the final resulting project.
As one cam imagine, any construction project goes through many changes and modifications before reaching completion, no matter how minor these modifications are, recording as-built drawings visualizes the changes being made and how it will affect the remainder of the project.
By definition, an as-built drawing is a revised set of drawings submitted by a contractor upon completion of a construction project. As-built drawings show the dimensions, geometry, and location of all components of the project. These 2D floor plans commonly include details such as walls, doors, windows, and plumbing fixtures. One of the main purposes of an as-built drawing is to be able to document any changes made during construction of the project that strays away from the original design.
Because as-built drawings contain important information, it is crucial that every construction site has at least one set of completed set of as-built drawing available at all times. When handling as-built drawings, whether you are on or off the construction site, keep in mind these few factors:
Always record exact details of changes or additions to previous information, some example of this would be sizing, materials used, dimension measurements, or installation. If any of these details change throughout the course of construction, be sure not to remove them from the as-built documentation. Crossing out old details and writing updated information is the best way to document changes being made, this way anyone can look back at as-built drawings and see exactly what details were made and where the changes stemmed from.
As-Builts to Include;
– written explanations to describe modifications being made
– written dates in the corner of all as-built drawing sheets
– clear and concise handwriting
– using the same scale when adding to as-built drawings or recreating as-built drawings on different sheets
– primary colors, if applicable, to color code when items are added, deleted, or important changes
Many construction projects can take over a year to complete, every time an updated revision is made by the architect and sent to the construction site, labor workers must replace hundreds of pages with the updated versions; sometimes this could even require having to hand transfer any notes made on old drawings. This process is tedious and time-consuming, especially if it happens multiple times throughout a single project. Turning over your documentation and drawings to a digital platform can eliminate these hassles, and improve the efficiency of your construction project completion
In order to make your as builts as clear and useful as possible, you must include a wide variety of details and documents. This information includes, but is not limited to:
- Recording changes in scale, or ideally using the same scale as the original drawings
- Using clear labels and descriptions rather than vague phrases such as “similar” or “equal to”
- Including changes in sizing, materials, dimensions, location, installation, fabrication and so on
- Noting unexpected obstructions encountered, and the solutions decided upon
- Noting dates when changes were made
- Recording any changes made as a result of final inspection
- Attaching all related shop drawings and appendices
We shall ask contractor’s Engineers to visit site and take print out of A3 sized shop drawings and cloud them what was constructed during the month time. Contractor needs to scan these clouded drawings and send to us. We will digitalize this information on Auto-cad 2D drawings and use this information for various purposes.