Construction documents may not seem like the most glamorous part of architectural design. All the ‘fun’ stuff - the model making, sketching, conceptual conversations and wild iterations - happens earlier in schematic design. Even the term ‘construction documents’ sounds boring.
But, construction documents (CDs) are an important part of the architectural process, and provide their own unique opportunities for the designer. Construction documents are directions from the Architect to the Contractor. These documents describe precisely how the Contractor will make the Architect’s design become a built object - through drawings and specifications.
Here, all the details come together, and construction documents serve two basic purposes: to obtain a building permit, and to get the design built. These may be delivered in two types of construction documents - a permit set and a construction set.
While both construction document sets need to be very detailed, it is common practice for the permit set to be delivered prior to the construction set. In so doing, any issues that arise during permitting can be addressed and corrected in the construction set. In order for a completed building to receive its final certificate of occupancy from the local authority having jurisdiction, the building must closely match the construction documents submitted in the permit set.
The purpose of construction documents is to get the design built. These are contract binding documents which describe precisely how the design shall be built: methods, materials, building systems, components. The construction documents describe precisely, in both large and small scales, every facet of the building design. Good construction documents provide the Contractor the most comprehensive understanding of the Architect’s intent.
There are two things included in Construction Documents: Drawings and Specifications. All Construction Documents follow this standard, which helps the reader to know where to look among the hundreds of pages of architectural drawings and specifications. Each affiliated building practice provides both types of construction documents: Architecture, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Landscape Architecture, and Civil.
The Construction Drawing set is regularly hundreds of pages long, at standard architectural sheet sizes. Required sheet sizes vary by jurisdiction, but are typically one of these standard sheet sizes:
Schedules are an important component of construction documents . The most common schedules to appear in construction documents are the door, hardware, window, and equipment schedules. The United States National CAD Standard contains standard formats for schedules in construction drawings and specifications. The schedule helps the Contractor to understand the location of every building component in the architectural design.
Both the drawings and specifications follow standard orders, respectively (the standard for drawing orders and types are covered later in this essay). MasterFormat is a specification standard from the Construction Specifications Institute. This is a common method of specification in construction documents . MasterFormat regularly updates their specification information and templates to allow all designers and engineers to produce building specifications which are safe, sustainable, and long-lasting.
The specifications accompany the construction drawings when submitted for permitting and for construction. Like the construction drawing set, there is a standard for organization in specifications so that all project team members can easily find what they are looking for. Each design team and consultant is responsible for providing specifications to accompany their drawing sets.
Specifications are divided into Divisions, beginning with the contract language for the entire Project team, then the architectural and structural specifications, with consultant specifications at the end.
Entire Project Team:
Structural (and Architectural)
Architectural (and Interiors)
MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing)
Landscape and Civil
The relationship between specifications and drawings is important in the Construction Document set. There should be close coordination of information between both, to provide the most synchronized description of all the elements of a building, with as little conflicting information as possible. Coordination of the specifications and drawings allows for accurate bids, and in turn affords a more seamless construction process.
Construction document drawings follow a standard order. Typically, construction drawings follow the United States National CAD Standard. In this standard, the lower right hand corner of each drawing sheet contains a series of letters and numbers (the sheet number). The sheet number lets the reader know where they are in the drawing set, and allows the reader to know where to look in the drawing set for specific information.
The first part of the sheet number is a letter which lets us know the discipline for the drawing. These disciplines are arranged in the same order (United States National CAD Standard), for consistency in construction documents. This helps all stakeholders: designers, engineers, contractors, the permitting office, and owners.
There are other disciplines which can be included, such as H - Hazardous Materials; B - Geotechnical; I - Interiors; W - Distributed Energy; O - Operations; Z - Contractor/Shop Drawings.
The second component of the sheet number is a number, which lets us know the type of drawing. This organizes the discipline’s drawings into a consistent, standard sequence of drawing types.
7 and 8 are reserved for user defined drawing types.
The last two numbers represent the sequence in the sheet type for each discipline from 01 to 99. These numbers may have gaps to allow additions in future drawing set deliverables.
Each building practice will issue construction plans in the drawings: Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing Engineering), Structural Engineering, and Architecture. While the information contained in each of these plan drawing sets is different, the basis of these drawings is the plan.
There are a few key elements in construction plans: Dimensions, Scales, and Annotations.
Accurate dimensions are critical to representation of the project in all architectural drawings, starting with the plan. Accurate dimensions help avoid discrepancies and conflicts between different drawings and disciplines. Firms will regularly adopt a standard method of dimensioning, for consistency among all drawing types. These standards may include:
Choosing an appropriate drawing scale for the information being presented is important. Overall site plans may be presented at a scale of 1”=40’-0”. Floor plan drawings may be presented at a typical scale of 1/16”=1’-0”, or 1/8"=1’-0” for smaller buildings. Construction details, which show a lot of information in one drawing, may be presented at a scale of 1-1/2"=1’-0” or even larger. Line weight appropriate to the scale of the drawing should always be considered, as it will change across drawing scales.
Annotations appear in almost every drawing in the construction document drawing set, and are used to convey concise information about the materials or components of the building system presented. These short descriptions are elaborated in the specifications, which provide a more comprehensive explanation of the materials, components, and building systems, as well as the installation and execution procedures for each.
The entire project team is included in construction documents: the Owner, the Contractor, the Architect, the Civil Engineer, the Landscape Architect, the Structural Engineer, the Mechanical, Electric and Plumbing Engineer (usually the same company consults for these three - MEP).
Additionally, a project team may hire other consultants for Acoustics, Building Envelope, Fire Suppression and Fire Alarms, Geotechnical, and ADA.
