How to check your drawings: Build Phase

Hello! This is Episode #213, and in it, I’ll be helping you see how to review your construction drawings, and what to check as you look through them.

Your construction drawings are a significant gateway to determine how you’re communicating the outcome you want on site in your renovation or new build, and the experience you want to have during that construction too. 

Drawings with insufficient specifications and descriptions on them, will either mean you’ll get what the builder always does, they’ll assume a bunch of decisions on your behalf to keep construction going, or you’ll be receiving phonecalls every day.

Inaccurate drawings, or poorly coordinated drawings, will mean confusion, mistakes and potentially extra spend on your behalf, as it becomes very difficult to establish what was in the contract and what wasn’t.

So, to do a thorough review and know what to check prior to seeking your final price from your builder and getting the contract signed, will help you avoid dramas and mistakes on site.

In addition, your construction drawings form part of your contract and legal arrangement with your builder. So you want to be sure they include all the things you’ve discussed, and been agonising over, as you’ve worked to develop and finalise your design.

Now, if you haven’t listened to the LAST episode, where I talked about how to check your design drawings, be sure to do so. You can listen to it or download the PDF transcript by heading to www.undercoverarchitect.com/212.

There really is no point reviewing your construction drawings when you’re still changing your mind about your design, or finalising your ideas and thoughts about how you want your home to be. 

You’re much better served knowing that the design is locked in, and your construction drawing review is about ensuring all that thought and discussion has been translated into the package your new or renovated home will be constructed from.

Remember too, you can grab a full transcript of THIS episode, plus info about other helpful links and resources related to this topic, as a free PDF download by heading to www.undercoverarchitect.com/213. So be sure to do that so you can file that away and review this episode as needed.

Now, let’s dive in!

SHOW NOTES:

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Your construction documentation will form part of your contract with your chosen builder. 

They, along with any supporting documents such as specifications, are what your builder will use to finalise your contract sum, and refer back to when identifying variations. So, it’s essential that they include all your discussions, changes of mind, and particular details you want in your future home. 

Many a homeowner has been caught out because they discussed something in a meeting, missed that it hadn’t been updated in the construction drawings, went to contract, and then discovered it wasn’t included in their build.

Now, I’m not going to run through what my suggested list of drawings is to enable you to efficiently describe your future new home or renovation, and what you should seek to have included with your chosen design professional. I do have a sample set of documentation inside my online program, the HOME Method, to show my suggested set of drawings that balance budget, efficiency and control, so you can check out HOME Method if you’re keen to get more support in your project journey.

However, in this podcast, I want to dive into your construction drawings, and how to assess whether they include what you need, and what checks to make.

And in doing so, you’ll most likely get an inkling of some of the kinds of drawings that are worth including. 

Again, as with the last episode, this won’t be an exhaustive list. I’m not going to talk about the various other consultant drawings you might need to include in your set, and how to review those as well. This will focus solely on the drawings created by your design professional or draftsperson. 

However I’m hoping that, with what we go through in this episode, it will help you realise that checking your drawings is worthwhile and give you some pointers about what to check. 

So when your designer sends you that package of drawings to look over, you’re not just doing a cursory glance and outsourcing all responsibility to them to ensure that they’ve included everything you’ve been discussing for the past several months. Hopefully, you actually realise it’s worthwhile to review them properly. 

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

For links and resources mentioned in this podcast, head to >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/213

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