The Nigro Firm has KeenLook redicheck reviewed over 220 sets of construction drawings in the last 19 years and in the last eight years have noticed a dramatic decrease in the quality of so called ready-to-build-from drawings. We are often asked, how can you tell the quality of construction drawings at a glance?

8 Sure Signs of Construction Drawing Trouble

It is easy to get a general idea of the quality of your drawings by looking at how the drawings are organized and how information is related. If the drawings cannot relate basic, necessary information than it is likely complex instructions are also going to be poorly communicated, resulting in numerous RFIs and change orders.

When you receive your drawings, look them over and be leery if you see the following eight signs of trouble:

1. Sheet titles and numbers do not match between the list of drawings and actual sheets. This is a sure sign of sloppy work.
2. Sheet titles are vague – when 34 sheets are titled “Panel Board Schedules,” you know the fun is about to begin.
3. Gridlines are missing or not used on all applicable pages. Without gridlines, especially when dealing with multiple floors, it is difficult to know how to line things up.
4. Missing room names or numbers, or sometimes a room will have more than one name, which is always confusing.
5. Door, Finish, Hardware Set, Mechanical, Panel Board and/or Luminaire Schedules with empty rows or columns.
6. Orientation does not match; we actually saw a drawing with two North directions.
7. Details, enlarged plans, cross section cuts or other references are labeled as “XX-XXX.” This is a red flag for a set of incomplete drawings.
8. References are incomplete or not specific, such as “see structural” instead of “see 3/S507.” In large projects, finding a specific item with a bad reference is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

We hope this list of warning signs helps you evaluate your projects and negotiate better contract agreements. If you think your drawings can benefit from a redicheck review, please give us a call, before you get on site and up to your elbows in RFIs and change orders.