As-built drawings

As-built drawings are drawings, marked up during construction, that show how the work was actually built, including any changes from the original plans.

Plans change in the field. A drain moves, a wall shifts, an electrical run takes a different path. As-builts record those changes so the owner and future contractors know what’s actually behind the walls and under the slab.

Keep a set of drawings on site and mark changes as they happen, in a color that stands out, with dates. Note the locations of buried utilities, cleanouts, shutoffs and junction boxes, measured from fixed points. Trying to reconstruct changes at the end of a job is where errors creep in.

Many commercial contracts require as-builts at closeout, and final payment or retainage may depend on them. Some jurisdictions require them for certain work, such as underground utilities.

On residential jobs, a simple marked-up plan and photos of open walls before drywall give the homeowner, and you on any future callback, a record of where everything is. Store the final set with the closeout documents and give the owner a copy.