As-built drawings

Established

Also: As-builts, Record drawings, As-built model

Drawings, prepared from the contractor's marked-up site records, that show the work as actually constructed, including changes and field deviations from the design.

Explanation

Contractors maintain a marked-up set of documents through construction and hand it over at close-out; under CCDC 2 (2020) as-built drawings are one of the listed Ready-for-Takeover items (deferrable by agreement). "Record drawings" usually means the consultant's drawings updated from the contractor's as-builts; contracts should define both terms, since responsibility and liability differ. On BIM projects the equivalent deliverable is a verified as-built or record model, and owners increasingly require only the information their Asset information requirements call for, transferred into the Asset information model.

Practical example

At handover of a water pumping station, the contractor submits marked-up drawings showing three valve relocations and a rerouted electrical duct bank; the engineer issues record drawings and the utility updates its GIS from them.

Why it matters

Accurate as-built information saves time and risk in every future maintenance, renovation and excavation.

Common confusion

As-built drawings (contractor's record of what was built) and record drawings (consultant's updated set) are often used interchangeably but are not the same responsibility.

Standards and references

  1. CCDC 2 (2020): 8 Key Changes to the Stipulated Price Contract. McInnes Cooper, 2021.Widely accepted professional interpretation
    Supports: As-built drawings listed among Ready-for-Takeover items that may be deferred

VDC Stack.io writes its own explanations and does not reproduce copyrighted standards text. Consult the cited standard for normative wording.

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VDC Stack.io. (2026). As-built drawings. In VDC Stack.io Knowledge Dictionary. Retrieved from https://vdcstack.io/dictionary/as-built-drawings/