An Introduction to As-Built Drawings

As-built drawings, sometimes referred to as “as-builts,” are one of the key deliverables in a construction project. In this article, you’ll learn about what they are, their benefits, who’s responsible for creating them, and some helpful tools for creating them in Vectorworks Architect.

As-built drawings are detailed documents that reflect the final, built condition of a construction project. They capture any changes or modifications made during the construction process from the construction documents that represent the design intent before the building process begins. As-built drawings show exactly how the project was completed, including precise locations of walls, plumbing, electrical systems, and other components.

These drawings are essential for documenting adjustments made due to unforeseen site conditions, design changes, or client requests. They provide a clear visual record of the finished project, which is valuable for future maintenance, renovations, and legal documentation.

As-built drawings offer several significant benefits for contractors, property owners, and facility managers.

Accurate Documentation: They provide a comprehensive record of the final construction, making it easier to reference changes and additions.

Improved Maintenance: Building owners can use as-built drawings to locate critical systems like electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC for future repairs or upgrades.

Simplified Renovations: When remodeling or expanding a structure, these drawings help contractors understand the current layout and avoid damaging hidden systems.

Dispute Resolution: They can help resolve disputes between contractors and clients by showing exactly what was constructed.

As-built drawings can be created by contractors or subcontractors involved in the construction process, but they typically fall under an architect’s scope of work. During the building process, contractors note any deviations from the original plans and submit redline drawings or field sketches to the design team.

Once construction is complete, architects or drafters create final as-built drawings by incorporating all recorded changes. In some cases, specialized as-built survey companies or laser scanning services are hired to produce highly accurate digital as-built drawings using advanced technology.

As-built drawings should include key information to provide a detailed representation of the final project. Important elements typically include:

Project Layout: Floor plans, elevations, and sections showing the overall layout and dimensions of the building.

Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Systems (MEP): Diagrams of electrical wiring, plumbing systems, HVAC components, and other utilities.

Materials and Finishes: Specifications for materials used in construction, such as flooring, walls, and ceilings.

Changes and Deviations: Detailed notes on any modifications made during construction, including dimensions and materials.

Site Plans: Information on landscaping, drainage, and underground utilities.

Safety Features: Locations of fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and emergency exits.

In a Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflow, as-built drawings achieve the same goal as traditional as-builts but have the potential to be delivered in a much more dynamic and data-rich format. Often, with a fully integrated BIM project team, as-built drawings evolve into as-built models — detailed 3D representations of the final construction. These digital models incorporate precise spatial data, material specifications, and system integrations, offering an invaluable resource for building operators, facility managers, and future project teams.

One of the key advantages of BIM-based as-built documentation is the ability to integrate real-time updates using laser scanning, drone photogrammetry, and reality capture technologies. These tools allow contractors to compare the final built structure with the original design intent. Additionally, as-built BIM models can include data for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems, structural components, and asset tracking, making them highly useful for facility management and ongoing maintenance.

Another major benefit of BIM-based as-built models is their role in digital twin technology, like dTwin. Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical buildings that continuously update with real-time data from IoT sensors, enabling predictive maintenance, energy optimization, and performance analysis. Starting with a precise as-built BIM model means building operators can leverage these capabilities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and extend the lifecycle of their assets.

As has been covered in this article, as-built drawings are final, comprehensive reports of how a building was constructed in the real world. If you’re designing the building in Vectorworks software from the start of a project, almost all of the work will already be complete by the time you need to create as-built drawings; it’s only a matter of using the tools available to you to update a version of the construction drawings to create a set of drawings that represent the final built conditions. Here are some of the key tools you’d use in Vectorworks software to create as-built drawings:

Viewports: Viewports allow you to generate sheet-ready drawings from design layers to include in documentation.

Classes: You can separate different building elements, like walls and windows, into different classes to control their visibility, allowing you to organize and document the project categorically.

Data Visualization and Reports: These features allow you to highlight important model elements to be used for post-construction maintenance.

Sections and elevations: If you have a 3D model, you can generate section and elevation viewports automatically to include in your documentation.

Annotation tools: Tools like Callout, Dimension, Data Tag, and Title Block Border allow you to easily annotate drawings to showcase the proper information.

Point-cloud scanning: The ability to import point-cloud file formats in Vectorworks software means you can compare the model with built conditions to make changes to the model for accuracy.