A shop drawing is usually a drawing of any object that is
going to be assembled in a shop, away from the job site. The picture
below, represents a partial drawing of a set of stairs that's going to
be constructed off-site and then brought to the job site to be
installed.
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A shop drawing usually needs to be approved by an
architect, owner's agent or engineer, before it's built. The shop
designer's will take a set of plans and use it to design a set of stairs
that will need to be approved by someone else. This someone else is
usually the person responsible for the construction of the building.
Problems With Shop Drawings
If there is any miscommunication between the shop where the stairway is
going to be built and the contractor or person in charge of the
buildings construction, you're going to have a problem.
If you're a contractor, superintendent or project manager and someone
sends you a shop drawing of anything and you're not paying attention,
then you better get ready, because you're about to learn a lesson that
you're never going to forget.
Don't let your pride get in the way of your pocketbook. I've seen plenty
of contractors and project managers look at shop drawings, in total
confusion. Some of them would even go out of their way to find me on the
job site, just to find out what they were actually looking at.
Usually I could walk them through the process and if needed, I could
take the drawing home and review it. The moral to the story is simple,
if you approve a shop drawing and it's incorrect, you could be held
liable. If you don't understand what you're looking at, find somebody
else who does or contact the company who is providing you with the shop
drawing and explain your situation to them.
This is no time to let pride or arrogance get in the way. This simple
mistake cost someone I knew, a lot of money. Even though I wasn't
financially liable, I learned a lesson that I will never forget and I
hope that you won't either.
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