Wednesday, August 22, 2012

What You Should Understand Regarding As Built Drawings And Construction Projects

By Jason O. Rowleye


Finding the AS built drawings before starting a remodeling project is probably the single most important thing to do. But some people don't know what these are or how they are made. And unfortunately, it's not uncommon for the drawings to no longer be available, or for them not to be up to date. This is when it becomes important to get new ones drawn. Included below are some pointers for what to do before the project begins.

Whenever a building gets built there are bound to be items that get built differently than the designs specify. Lots of unforeseen things can happen on a building site. Pipe and electrical conduit are some of the items that get discovered in unusual places on a site. Substitutions of materials when something isn't available are quite likely to have occurred too. It's quite common for a change to be initiated during construction because it has a nicer look. No matter what is altered or for what reason, there is a standardized way of keeping a note of the change.

The as built is the drawing which is used to mark any and all changes to the plans or the way things are built. On large commercial sites, when things are changed, it's required that the drawings will be changed right then and there and marked on the construction drawings. The changed drawings are all put together at the completion of the job so that there is a thorough record. Copies are typically given to the owner and the architect or designer. The drawings generally have to be given to the inspector who is responsible for the building being up to code as well.

Then, time will pass and an owner or other person will want to make some changes to the property. Then it will be time to find the drawings which show how things really are built and they will be misplaced or difficult to find. This is the time many owners will consider hiring a surveyor who can do laser scanning of the site. If a change is going to require permitting and inspection for code, then hiring a surveyor to work on the site is actually the best choice for most remodels.

For people considering a remodel with drawings from an engineer or architect, having drawings detailing how the building is actually constructed is essential. The surveyor is the next choice if the drawings can't be found because he or she can provide real time information about the site. Surveyors provide a large number of choices for those who require their services, including 3D renderings of the site, markups to the drawings that were used to build the site, or even small concept drawings to outline the site quickly.




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