As-Built Drafting: Why it’s important to keep your engineering documentation updated

Ever run into a wall while trying to upgrade your plant facilities or construction?

Do your existing drafts and engineering drawings seem out of sync with the actual existing assembly and structures?

A good solution to your problems would have been to have up-to-date ‘As-built Drafts or Documentation’ of your plant facilities.

What is As-Built Drafting?

As-Built Drafting is one of the most important processes of Plant Design Engineering or any engineering project. As-Built Drawings are the final set of drawings produced at the completion of an engineering project and include all the changes that have been made to the original engineering drawings. They usually contain modifications, field changes, design changes, extra works and every change that was approved and made during construction and commissioning phase, as well as handwritten notes and sketches explaining the changes.

The importance of As-Built Drafting

As-Built Drawings demonstrate how the final construction was executed and shows the existing conditions “as-is”, contrary to designs or proposed conditions. As-Built Drafting is an important process for those who use the finished product, as they provide a legacy of what was actually built and moreover, it helps in knowledge transfer of all aspects related to the plant especially when employees are replaced due to attrition.

There are many benefits associated with As-Built Drafting and having updated drawings of your facilities. As-Built Drawings provide critical information such as location and sizes of all components, concealed elements, pipe and duct routing, terminal unit locations and control system sensor locations among many others. Therefore, they can ensure that future renovation projects are more efficient and are completed on time as they allow for confident planning of expansion, additions and modifications of plant facilities as well as plant turn-a-rounds.

As Built drafting provides important information for Process Safety Management and Process Hazard Analysis requirements. It effectively contributes to emergency preparedness of employees within plant facilities as it can illustrate safety concerns and potential hazards existing in the facility, while also showing the equipment lists and shutdown switches and keys.

Different types of drafting services

• Plan drawings: Plan drawings are the most common types of as built drafts that are used in the construction and engineering industry. These serve as detailed maps of the project and offer an aerial view that depicts various aspects of the building design by cutting through walls. Apart from showing the rooms and walls of the building design, they also show other elements like windows, fixtures, stairs, furniture and appliances.
• Section Drawings: Section drawings, just like plan drawings, offers an inside look of the home. However, instead of presenting an aerial view, it shows all details from the side. This means that the view that these drawings offer seem to look as if a room is vertically cut from top to bottom. They are ideal for showing the heights of the floors and any kind of unique features and aspects of the design.
• Exterior Drawings: Exterior drawings, also referred to as elevation drawings, are visualizations that are made for showing the exteriors of a building. They offer important insight on materials, heights, textures as well as space between different elements.

Therefore, As-Built Drafting becomes a critical function of any Plant Design Engineering Services and keeping the documents up-to-date must be a compulsory process to ensure engineering excellence, cost and schedule effectiveness.