“As-built” or “as built” refers to a set of drawings, plans, and documentation that show the completed construction or installation of a building or a structure. These documents are important because they provide a detailed record of what was actually constructed, which is useful for maintenance, renovation, and future expansion.
As built drawings differ from design or construction drawings as they represent the final product or outcome of construction. Often buildings & structures have slight variations from the design drawings due to various site conditions, permit requirements or inspection requests that get addressed on site as the project construction progress.
To obtain as-built documentation, here’s a list to follow in order:
Contact the original contractor, builder, or designer on record:
The first step is to contact the team or people that designed & built the project. Well established firms will most likely have a complete set of as-built documents, which they can provide to a property owner or manager upon request. In most cases these firms will charge a fee for releasing the drawings.
Check with the local building department:
In most cases, the local building department may also have a set of as-built documents on file. You can contact them to see if they have any records related to the project and could require processing a payment to retrieve the archives of the project.
Hire a professional surveyor or engineer:
If the original contractor or building department does not have as-built documentation, you can hire a professional surveyor or engineer to create one for you. Surveyors and engineers often provide documentation of the exterior site features such as defining property lines, topography, slope, and trees documentation.
Create your own As Built Set:
While the task is not easy, it’s also not impossible and will require patience and spending a good amount of time to create good as built drawings. You will a notebook & pen, a tape measure, and potentially an assistant to help you measure long distances. Consider getting a laser measure to help you be more efficient and get the ability to measure longer distances without stepping on a long tape measure.
There are multiple techniques to creating as built sketches – you can either sketch either room separately, or draw an entire floor plan layout representing the rooms in squares and noting doors that connect the different rooms.
Start with the layout before noting doors, windows, or any other features – getting the layout is crucial before diving into the details of each room.
Hire an As Built Company:
If the task of creating your own as built drawings sound tedious or you do not have the time to take of it, you can contact a local as built company or service to create a clean as built set for your property.
A specialized as built service will have all the tools, software, and technicians training to complete the as built documentation seamlessly and provide you with a clean set of drawings that can be used for renovation or addition projects.
