CHOP | Chapter 2.3.10 | page 5
Reviewing Shop Drawings
Shop drawings ensure and confirm the accuracy, size, and other specific data about a product or material prior to final purchase, fabrication or delivery. Shop drawings are prepared to indicate:
- Accurate dimensions, size, quantity, and location precise fabrication methods
- Construction and/or field erection techniques
- Information to coordinate related trades or adjacent work
- Elaboration on diagrammatic information
- Confirmation of the selection of options, such as colour or finish.
At the initial pre-construction meeting with the contractor, the architect usually establishes the standard procedures for submittal and review of shop drawings, samples, and mock-ups. Before submitting shop drawings to the architect for review, the contractor is responsible for verifying:
- quantities;
- dimensions;
- accuracy;
- completeness;
- compliance with the specifications.
The submission requirements and the format for shop drawings should be contained in the specifications. Certain shop drawings must be reviewed by the consultants. Shop drawings do not supersede the contract documents but supplement them to assist in the construction.
The review of shop drawings carries certain liabilities for the architect. The architect must take care to review only those portions of the shop drawings which relate to the architectural design. The consultants and engineers are responsible for reviewing their part of the design. The precise wording of the cover letter and application of notations to shop drawings is important.
NOTES
Liability Notes From the point of view of liability cases, it can be critical to clearly describe what the architect actually did with respect to any particular review. The Architect should not review those items for which he has no expertise for this purpose he can use a "not reviewed" or "to be reviewed by others" check box. In some cases the Architect may indicate that review was provided only re specific issues (such as the dimensions only of a Cooling Tower for location and mounting only).
Design-build Notes Design-builders often do their own in-house review and only forward shop drawings to the Architect when the review is beyond their expertise.
Tip: At the pre-construction meeting it should be agreed that all dated materials, i.e. shop drawings, RFI’s, progress billings, etc. should be received prior to noon on Friday’s and/or days prior to holidays. This will help avoid future arguments about how many days the consultants have actually had to review various documents.
DOWNLOADS
Sample Review Log
Shop Drawing Log
Shop Drawing Transmittal
Submittal Review Cover Sheet
Updated: 2020/Jun/28