As-built drawings are the most important documents in the construction process. As-built drawings are usually the original design drawings revised to reflect any changes made in the field (e.g., design changes issued by change order and/or RFI, component relocations required for coordination, and rerouting of distribution systems). All of these revisions will need prior approval of the Engineer/Consultant before implementation. As-built drawings must be stand alone documents and contain all of the originals information except that which has been changed by the construction revisions.
As-built drawings are important for at least two primary purposes. First, they are a record from which future system changes and/or additions can be designed. Second, the as-built drawings can be a valuable tool for the O&M staff.
As a standard, though by no means the only, approach to as-built drawing preparation OAJ will maintain a master set of manually marked-up “red-line” record drawings in the site office. The location of these drawings is shown in the attached OAJ site office layout drawing. As the construction progresses, all redlined changes will be transferred to electronic CAD drawings, typically using the original design drawings as the starting point. These CAD drawings will then be considered as the final as-builts and submitted to the Consultant at mutually agreed intervals.
For designs that were drafted using AutoCAD, copies of the original AutoCAD design drawing files will be used and amended as required to reflect the actual construction at project completion. The Original Design Drawings Will Not Be Amended In Any Way. The drawing numbers will remain the same as the originals for storage and retrieval purposes. The drawings shall be drafted in the format and to the standards of the original design drawings.
Each item or area on the drawing that has been changed from the original design shall have a triangle drawn adjacent to the area of the change with the number of the change inscribed within the triangle. The same number will be shown cross referenced in a “Construction Revisions” block with a description of the change beside it. The triangle will be drawn with the apex of the triangle pointing towards the change.
To assure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of as-built drawings quality assurance will be included in the as-built drawings preparation and submission process. To verify the accuracy of the as-built drawings, it is recommended that the Consultant review the drawings on a regular basis as construction proceeds. Though this process can be time-sensitive (and costly), it is probably the most effective way of ensuring that all changes/revisions are documented without jeopardizing the construction schedule.
If accuracy is the concern, the real “check” on accuracy needs to be at the manual record drawing stage to make sure that OAJ is keeping up with the documentation requirements. If the red-lined drawings are deemed accurate, then the only check on the electronic as-built documents will be to review and confirm that all red-lines have been picked up and represented in the CAD drawings.
At the completion of construction a complete set of the as-built drawings will be submitted to the Consultant, in accordance with the contract requirements, as part of the project closeout process.
