“Maintain accurate contract drawings to avoid conflict and costly mistakes.”

Today we review maintaining our construction drawings.

Every project has some form of construction drawings. These drawings often change during the course of construction. Having a process to organize and update the drawings is fundamental to successful projects.

What:

Having a standard operating procedure to deal with construction drawings from the start of the project through completion. The system should capture changes and communicate any changes to the field.

Why:

inaccurate construction drawings can result in errors during the construction process which result in delays and cost overruns.

How:

• At the beginning of a project create a drawing log created to identify the documents utilized during construction. The log should list each drawing and the current revision date. Update the log throughout construction with any changes. The drawing log should also be incorporated into any contracts and subcontracts.
• Print a set of construction drawings at the start of the project and keep them available to the construction team. Add all changes, RFIs, Notes, etc to the construction drawings to keep them current. When new drawings are issued insert them into the construction set.
• Assign a responsible person on the team for making all changes and updates to these drawings. Perform updates regularly to avoid any errors.
• Communicate changes to the construction drawings to all project stakeholders on a regular basis. Subcontractors should have these changes incorporated into their subcontract agreements with a change order even of the change is a zero dollar change.

Establish a set of Standard Operating Procedures to deal with your construction drawings. Managing these properly can help eliminate confusion and errors on the jobsite.

Take-Action Items:

1. Develop or review your SOP for construction drawing management

2. Use a drawing log to track the correct construction drawings

3. Maintain a record set of drawings for the project team

4. Communicate changes to the entire team and incorporate into contracts with change orders