As-built drawings record the final, installed condition of a building: where the pipes, conduits, ducts, valves and structural elements actually are, after RFIs, change orders and field adjustments. Trades usually keep marked-up “redline” sets during construction, and these are compiled into the final as-builts (sometimes called record drawings when the architect prepares them) delivered at closeout.
Why it matters
Owners operate and renovate buildings using these drawings for decades. Wrong as-builts mean cut pipes, surprise conduits and expensive investigation later. They are also a common closeout requirement, so incomplete as-builts can hold up final payment and retainage.
Worked example
Illustrative: on Riverside Medical Center, the fire dampers added through RFI-212 and CO #14 must appear on the mechanical as-builts with their locations and access panels. If the sheet metal crew relocated duct to fit them, that relocation must be redlined, too. The owner’s facility team will rely on those drawings for damper inspections over the building’s life.
Common mistakes
- Leaving redlines until the end of the job, when nobody remembers the changes.
- Not incorporating RFI answers and change orders into the drawings.
- Delivering as-builts in a format the owner can’t use.
How os.construction handles it
We’re building RFIs and change orders linked to drawing locations, so the changes that need to reach the as-builts can be listed from the project record at closeout.