Glossary
As-built drawings
Revised drawings produced at project close that record exactly how the work was actually constructed, including all changes from the original design.
As-built drawings (or record drawings) are the final set of drawings that document the project as it was actually built — capturing every deviation from the original design that occurred during construction.
They incorporate the cumulative effect of change orders, field adjustments, RFI resolutions, and any other modifications, so the owner and future teams have an accurate record of what’s really in the ground and in the walls.
Good as-builts are built up continuously, not reconstructed from memory at the end. When changes are recorded as they happen, producing the as-built set at closeout is straightforward. When they aren’t, it becomes an archaeology project.
Keeping a single, current project record — drawings, decisions, and the changes between them, all in one place — is what makes accurate as-builts a byproduct of the work rather than a scramble at handover.