Construction Drawings vs Shop Drawings: Purpose, Review and Changes

A stamp on a shop drawing is easy to read as a yes to every dimension, and as a yes to the change itself. In the unmodified AIA Document A201-2017 general conditions those are different acts, so a wrong dimension or an unmarked deviation can remain after the stamp. This guide separates the two sets and gives you a record to fill from the sheets in front of you and from your own contract.

In the unmodified AIA A201-2017 example, construction drawings are the graphic Contract Documents, and shop drawings are not. Shop drawings show how the contractor proposes to build to that design. Submitting them represents a check of field measurements and coordination, or a statement that the check will be made. The architect’s review looks for conformance with the design information. It does not check dimensions, and it does not by itself approve a deviation. The record further down is where you write the drawing versions, the field checker, the deviation, the review action, the change document and the next person.

What is each drawing for?

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). Shop Drawings are drawings, diagrams, schedules and other data specially prepared for the Work by the contractor, a subcontractor, a manufacturer, a supplier or a distributor, to illustrate some portion of the Work (§3.12.1). Shop drawings, product data, samples and similar submittals are not Contract Documents. Their purpose is to demonstrate how the contractor proposes to conform to the information given and the design concept expressed in the Contract Documents, for the portions of the Work that require submittals (§3.12.4).

This page uses “construction drawings” for that contract set, because that is the phrase people search. A201-2017 says “the Drawings.” Section 1.1.5 classifies them by what they show and by their place in the Contract Documents, not by a job title. Shop drawings are classified by who prepares them for the Work. If your agreement uses another name, the test is whether the set is a Contract Document or a submittal.

When the issued set includes both a plan and an elevation, plan, elevation and section is the check for which sheet answers the question you are comparing.

Takeaway: Match the sheet to a contract role first. A title-block name does not make a shop drawing part of the Contract Documents.

Who checks dimensions, and what does the review cover?

Field dimensions are part of the contractor’s representation, not the architect’s review. The contractor reviews the submittal for compliance with the Contract Documents, approves it, and submits it (§3.12.5). By submitting shop drawings, product data, samples and similar submittals, the contractor represents to the owner and the architect that it has (1) reviewed and approved them, (2) determined and verified materials, field measurements and field construction criteria, or will do so, and (3) checked and coordinated the information with the requirements of the Work and of the Contract Documents (§3.12.6).

AIA Contract Documents published a commentary on that section by Mike Koger, AIA, Esq. It reads the act of submitting as the contractor’s own evaluation, and it says a stamp that only forwards a subcontractor’s sheet, without that evaluation, has not met §3.12.6. The commentary is general information. It says it is not a legal opinion and does not interpret a specific contract.

The architect’s review is a second, narrower pass. The architect reviews and approves, or takes other appropriate action, only to check conformance with the information given and the design concept expressed in the Contract Documents (§4.2.7). The same section says this review is not conducted to determine the accuracy and completeness of other details such as dimensions and quantities, or to substantiate instructions for installation or performance of equipment or systems. Those remain the contractor’s responsibility as the Contract Documents require. The review is not an approval of safety precautions or of construction means, methods, techniques, sequences or procedures. Approval of a specific item does not indicate approval of an assembly of which the item is a component. The review also does not relieve the contractor of the obligations in §§3.3, 3.5 and 3.12.

If the Contract Documents did not require the submittal, the architect may return it without action. Informational submittals can be identified as ones the architect is not expected to act on (§3.12.4). Write that return in the review-action cell. A sheet that comes back with no mark is not an approval you failed to notice.

The contractor performs no portion of the Work for which the Contract Documents require a reviewed submittal until that submittal has been approved (§3.12.7). That approval is the limited action in §4.2.7. It is not a permit, and this page does not authorize construction.

Where the Contract Documents specifically require professional design services or certifications for systems, materials or equipment, the owner and the architect specify the performance and design criteria. An appropriately licensed design professional then signs and seals the shop drawings, calculations and related submittals (§3.12.10.1). The architect’s review of those submittals remains a check for conformance with the information given and the design concept. This page does not review calculations, seals or engineering work.

Submittal review sits beside site visits, written questions and payment certification. Who holds those other tasks is set out in construction administration and construction management.

Common mistake: Reading the architect’s stamp as a dimension check and as acceptance of every cloud on the sheet. In this example the dimension check is the contractor’s representation, and an unmarked difference is still the contractor’s.

Takeaway: Write the name of the person who verified field measurements, and write the review action as design conformance unless your contract says something else.

How do you track a deviation or a change?

The Work is to be in accordance with approved submittals. The architect’s approval does not relieve the contractor of a deviation from the Contract Documents unless the contractor specifically notified the architect of that deviation at the time of submittal and one of two further things happened: the architect gave written approval to the specific deviation as a minor change in the Work, or a Change Order or a Construction Change Directive authorized it (§3.12.8). The contractor is also not relieved of errors or omissions in the shop drawings by the architect’s approval.

A minor change in this example is one the architect orders in writing. It has to be consistent with the intent of the Contract Documents and must not adjust the Contract Sum or extend the Contract Time. If the contractor believes the proposed minor change will affect sum or time, the contractor notifies the architect and does not proceed (§7.4).

A Change Order is a written instrument prepared by the architect and signed by the owner, the contractor and the architect. It states their agreement on the change in the Work, any adjustment in the Contract Sum, and any adjustment in the Contract Time (§7.2.1).

A Construction Change Directive is a written order prepared by the architect and signed by the owner and the architect. It directs a change in the Work before agreement on the adjustment, if any, in the Contract Sum or Contract Time (§7.3.1). It is used in the absence of total agreement on the terms of a Change Order (§7.3.2).

On a resubmittal, the contractor directs attention, in writing or on the sheet, to revisions other than those the architect requested. Without that notice, the architect’s approval of the resubmission does not apply to those revisions (§3.12.9).

Keep the versions together. The example requires the contractor to make available at the site the Contract Documents, including Change Orders, Construction Change Directives and other modifications, marked to record field changes and selections, and the approved shop drawings, product data, samples and similar submittals. At completion they are delivered to the architect for submittal to the owner as a record of the Work as constructed (§3.11). That handover does not turn the shop drawings into Contract Documents (§3.12.4), and it does not supply the written deviation notice that §3.12.8 requires.

The issued set those shop drawings are checked against is produced in later documentation, which the stages of architectural design describes. This page starts when that set and a shop drawing are both in hand.

Takeaway: If the sheets differ, the file needs the written deviation and the named change instrument. The review stamp is not that instrument.

How do you fill the submittal check record?

Copy the table once for each shop-drawing submittal and fill it from the sheets and the signed contract. The right-hand cell is the prompt. Replace it with the revision, name, or clause from your project, and leave a field as “not stated” until you can point to a document.

AIA’s published summary of G712-1972 describes a shop drawing and sample record the architect can use to log receipt, referral to consultants, the action taken, and the date returned to the contractor. That is a chronology. It does not name the field-dimension checker, the deviation, or the change instrument. Those three columns are why this worksheet exists. The table is an editorial record. It is not an AIA form, and it is not a copy of G712.

Record field	What you write
Issued drawing version	Revision and date of the Drawings you compared. In the A201-2017 example those are the graphic Contract Documents (§1.1.5).
Submittal version	Revision and date of the shop drawing prepared for the Work (§3.12.1).
Field-dimension checker	The person who verified field measurements and field construction criteria, or “will verify” if the submittal only represents that the check will be made (§3.12.6).
Deviation note	The difference the contractor notified in writing at submittal, or “none stated” (§3.12.8).
Review action	What came back, and the date: design-conformance review, return without action, or the action your contract names (§§3.12.4, 4.2.7).
Change document	The written minor change, Change Order, or Construction Change Directive that covers a difference, or “none” (§3.12.8).
Next responsible person	Who resubmits, signs, or is allowed to proceed, taken from the signed contract.

To fill a row:

1. Write both revisions and dates before you compare the sheets.
2. Name the person who verified field measurements. If the representation is “or will do so,” write “will verify” and do not treat the check as finished.
3. Copy any written deviation. If nothing is flagged, write “none stated.”
4. Record the review action and the date the sheet came back. A return without action stays described as that.
5. If the sheets differ, name the change instrument. If there is none, write “none.”
6. Name the next person and what they are being asked to do.

Take the completed record to the project architect and the contractor and ask each party to confirm its cell. This site does not review shop drawings. For where the check sits in the life of a project, use the architectural design process guide. The stages themselves are outside this page.

Takeaway: A blank cell is a question for the project team. A filled cell needs a revision, a name, or a clause.

When this comparison does not apply

This guide uses unmodified A201-2017 language as a US example. It does not read your contract. 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 general conditions that move these duties.
• The project is outside the United States, or a state or local rule changes licensing or contract duties. This page does not state a legal conclusion.
• You need the path from schematic design through construction documents. That sequence is in the stages guide linked above.
• You need steps in a drawing program. This page does not teach software.
• You need a structural calculation or a judgment about an engineer’s seal. The note in the review section only records the limit in §3.12.10.1.
• You need permission to fabricate or build. Nothing on this page is that permission.
• You need a fee or a production cost. This page has no prices.
• A dispute is already open. Take the signed documents to the lawyer or other professional your situation requires.

The architectural information disclaimer states the limit of this educational material.

Takeaway: Where the form, the country, or the dispute differs, keep the seven 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, read at §§1.1.5, 3.11, 3.12.1, 3.12.4 through 3.12.10.1, 4.2.7, 7.2.1, 7.3.1, 7.3.2 and 7.4; from AIA Contract Documents’ article on whether a contractor must review subcontractor submittals; and from the published summary of G712-1972. The copies were retrieved on 11 October 2026 and read for this page on 12 October 2026. Sentences above paraphrase those sources. AIA forms are not reproduced. The check record and the three diagrams are editorial. No project file, submittal review, or site visit underlies the guide, and it states no fee, duration, or outcome. See the editorial policy for how sources are chosen and corrected.