Construction Drawings vs As-Builts: Checking the Handover Record

Building the next repair from the drawing alone, after the contractor marked a field change on another set, causes rework. In the unmodified AIA Document A201-2017 general conditions, the Drawings show design, location and dimensions, and the contractor delivers the marked documents as a record of the Work as constructed. This page is a handover record you fill from the two sets in front of you.

In the unmodified AIA A201-2017 example, construction drawings are the Drawings: the graphic portions of the Contract Documents, showing the design, location and dimensions of the Work. On completion the contractor delivers those documents, marked for field changes and selections, with the approved shop drawings, product data and samples, as a record of the Work as constructed. The B201-2017 instructions call that later record as-constructed record drawings, commonly as-builts, based on information the contractor provides. Because the record uses the contractor’s mark-ups, the architect is not responsible for its accuracy or completeness. The sections read here do not say the marked set was measured, and they state no sheet count, fee, or hidden location. Copy the drawing revision, the marked-set date, and whether the file names who measured. Leave a cell blank until a document supports it.

What does each set show?

In this example the Drawings are the graphic and pictorial portions of the Contract Documents. They show the design, location and dimensions of the Work, generally including plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules and diagrams (§1.1.5). This page uses “construction drawings” because that is the phrase people search. A201-2017 says “the Drawings.” A sheet earns that name when the Agreement enumerates it among the Contract Documents.

A written requirement for materials, equipment, systems, standards or workmanship is a specification, not this marked set. When the drawing and the specification describe the same item in different words, use the construction drawings vs specifications record and log both revisions there.

Takeaway: Copy the identifier printed on the drawing you are comparing. A sketch the Agreement does not list is not “the Drawings” in this example.

What does the contractor deliver at completion?

Section 3.11 says the Contractor makes the Contract Documents available at the Project site, including Change Orders, Construction Change Directives and other Modifications, in good order and marked currently to indicate field changes and selections made during construction. The same set includes the approved Shop Drawings, Product Data, Samples and similar required submittals. They are in electronic form or paper copy, available to the Architect and Owner, and delivered to the Architect for submittal to the Owner upon completion of the Work as a record of the Work as constructed.

AIA’s article on as-built drawings, read on 14 October 2026 from a copy retrieved on 11 October 2026, says the AIA contract documents avoid the term “as-built drawings,” and that section 3.11 is the contractor’s updated set. The article also says contractors are not licensed design professionals, so the level of detail in these records may not fully meet an owner’s long-term maintenance needs.

A fabrication sheet prepared for the Work is one of the submittals section 3.11 keeps with the site set. When that sheet is the document in your hand, use the construction drawings vs shop drawings record for the issued set, the submittal revision and the review.

Takeaway: Write “record of the Work as constructed” when the file is the marked set section 3.11 describes. Do not relabel it as a survey.

How do as-designed records differ from as-builts?

The B201-2017 instructions separate three sets that people often file under one name.

As-designed record drawings are the record of everything the Architect designed for the Project. They include the original Construction Documents plus all addenda, Architect’s Supplemental Instructions, Change Orders, Construction Change Directives and minor changes in the work (§3.1.15).

As-constructed record drawings, commonly called as-builts, are the record of the Project as constructed based on information the Contractor provides to the Owner under the contract for construction. Because they are based on the Contractor’s mark-ups, the Architect is not responsible for their accuracy or completeness (§3.1.16).

Conformed documents for construction, commonly identified as issued-for-construction documents, are the Construction Documents modified to include addenda issued during bidding or negotiation and accepted alternates (§3.1.14). That set records what was issued for building. It is not the as-constructed record.

AIA’s article says section 4.1.1.16 of B101-2017 lets the architect provide as-constructed record drawings as a supplemental service. The article says those drawings are not part of the architect’s basic services, and that the parties can add them to the contract by agreement. This page did not read the B101 form itself. Read the signed owner-architect agreement before you treat the service as included.

Who observes the work, answers questions and signs changes during construction is a separate check. Use the construction administration and construction management record for that allocation.

Takeaway: Keep three labels apart: as-designed, issued for construction, and as-constructed. The accuracy limit in §3.1.16 attaches to the third.

Are as-builts the same as floor plans?

No. A floor plan is one kind of drawing. Section 1.1.5 says the Drawings generally include plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules and diagrams. An as-constructed record is the marked set delivered as a record of the Work as constructed. A plan sheet can sit in the Drawings, and a marked copy of that plan can sit in the completion set. The word as-built does not turn the plan into a measurement.

When you need to know whether the sheet in front of you is a plan, an elevation or a section, use plans, elevations and sections compared.

Takeaway: Name the sheet type and the record type on separate lines. A plan that was never marked is still a drawing.

How do you fill the handover record?

Copy the table once for each item where the drawing and the marked set differ, or where you cannot tell which file you are holding. Replace each prompt with a date, a name or a clause from your project. Leave a field blank until you can point to a document. Leave the measurement cell blank until a document names who measured and the date.

Record field	What you write
File date	The date printed on the set you are holding. If none is printed, leave blank.
Drawing number and revision	The identifier and revision on the drawing you compared. In this example the Drawings are the graphic Contract Documents (§1.1.5). If the Agreement does not list that sheet, write “not enumerated.”
Marked-set date and marker	The date of the marks, and who made them, if the set says so. Section 3.11 describes the contractor’s marked documents. If the set names no marker, leave blank.
Change source	The Change Order, Construction Change Directive or other Modification the mark points to, if one is named (§3.11). If the mark names no instrument, leave blank.
Contractor mark-up or a measurement	Write “contractor mark-up” only when the set says the contractor marked it (§3.1.16). If the set names no measurer, leave that cell blank.
Known difference	The one difference between the drawing and the marked set, in a sentence. If you have not compared them, leave blank.
Concealed work not opened	The wall, ceiling or slab nobody opened. These sections do not locate a hidden pipe. If you did not look, leave blank.
Shop drawings, product data and samples	The titles and dates of the submittals kept with the site set (§3.11). If they are absent, leave blank.
Version you keep	The file name or the label on the paper set, and where you stored it.

To fill a row:

1. Name the component before you open either set, so both sides are about the same item.
2. Copy the drawing number and revision, then the date on the marked set.
3. Write who marked it, if the set says so. If the set names no measurer, leave that cell blank.
4. Name the change instrument the mark points to, or leave that cell blank.
5. Write the difference in one sentence. Do not cross out either statement.
6. List the shop drawings, product data and samples that came with the set, by title and date.
7. Write the file name or paper label of the version you are keeping.

Show the completed row to the project architect and the contractor and ask each party to confirm its own cell. This site does not interpret contract documents. For where the check sits in the life of a project, use the architectural design process guide.

Takeaway: A blank cell is a question for the project team. A filled cell needs a date, a name, or a clause from a document you can point to.

When this comparison does not apply

This guide uses unmodified A201-2017 and the B201-2017 instructions as a US example. Set it aside, and use the record only as a list of questions, when any of these is true:

• The project uses another standard form, a heavily edited A201 or B201, or supplementary conditions that assign the record differently. Read that assignment.
• The project is outside the United States, or a state or local rule changes duties. This page does not state a legal conclusion.
• The second document is a shop drawing or a specification. Use the records linked above.
• You need the path from schematic design through construction documents. That sequence is outside this page.
• You need steps in a drawing program. This page does not teach software.
• You need a fee, a sheet count, or the location of a pipe inside a closed wall. This page has none of those.
• A dispute is already open. Take the signed documents to the lawyer or other professional your situation requires.

Takeaway: Where the form or the country differs, keep the record fields and replace each prompt with a clause from your own contract.

Method and sources

This comparison was compiled from the AIA A201-2017 general conditions preview at §§1.1.5 and 3.11, the B201-2017 instructions at §§3.1.14, 3.1.15 and 3.1.16, and AIA’s article “How AIA Contract Documents Address As-Built Drawings,” including its note on B101-2017 §4.1.1.16. The copies were retrieved on 11 October 2026 and read for this page on 14 October 2026. Sentences above paraphrase those passages. AIA forms are not reproduced. The handover record and the photographs are editorial. No project file or site visit underlies the guide, and it states no fee, sheet count, duration or outcome.