Essential Details for Accurate Shop Drawings and Reports

26 March 2020

As anyone who is part of the AEC industry knows, there are a three main types of drawings to work from depending upon the nature of a project. Construction drawings cover all the architectural and structural details of a house or building, shop drawings are for the various components involved in the construction of a structure and the as-built drawings are the final results of the first two after all revisions are made. While it is easy to understand the first and last type of these drawings without a full explanation, shop drawings and reports may be new to you. For this reason, we describe these in further detail in the following, including the essential details that they should contain.

Description of Shop Drawings and Reports

Shop drawings are for depicting the different components that help in the construction of your project. Many clients of the AEC industry confuse these drawings with the construction drawings. Shop drawings differ from construction drawings in that they depict how the structure was originally meant to be complete with its numerous MEP components in their right locations along with their dimensional specifications. In other words, it contains step-by-step assembly instructions.

Think of shop drawings and reports as supplemental assistance for the construction drawings. Usually, they contain fabrication details, installation instructions for doors and windows, structural steel details and other information about the MEP components. By adding these drawings and reports to the construction drawings, you can decide upon which materials are best for the various components of the project, the scope of the necessary installations and time frames for the work. They should be developed prior to the start of the construction project.

The Specifications That Shop Drawings and Reports Should Contain

While the exact specifications and details are different for each project, the following essential details that you should include in yours:

• Name of the project for identification purposes
• The original date of issue
• Dates for each of the revisions
• Project number when relevant
• Names of all involved in the project ranging from designers to suppliers whenever possible
• Number sequence of each drawing
• Notation of all products and materials along with their exact dimensions
• Relation of the components to surrounding structures and materials
• All pertinent building codes and standards

Your material suppliers and contractors are usually the ones who create the shop drawings since they have the needed expertise. However, be certain to hire only professionals if you need to turn to others to receive them. Also, understand that many revisions often are necessary for both construction and shop drawings and reports before the as-built drawings can be formulated.