Shop drawings
Shop drawings are detailed fabrication and installation drawings produced by a contractor, supplier or fabricator, showing exactly how a specified element will be made and installed.
Also known as: Fabrication drawings · Submittal drawings
The architect draws intent. The fabricator draws reality. Shop drawings are the second of those: the millwork shop, the steel fabricator or the window supplier takes the design drawings and produces the dimensioned detail they will actually build from, then submits it for review before anything is cut.
The review is not an approval of the contractor's measurements, and that distinction has decided a great many disputes. A design professional reviewing shop drawings is checking conformance with the design intent; responsibility for dimensions taken on site normally stays with whoever took them. Review stamps usually say so in small print that is worth reading before you rely on it.
Where they cost money is time. A shop drawing that sits unreviewed holds up fabrication, fabrication holds up delivery, and delivery holds up a trade that is already scheduled. Tracking the submittal date, the review date and what each one is blocking is the difference between a delay you can explain and one you absorb.
Run the job, not the paperwork
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