4 Best Practices in Shop Drawing

 A shop drawing is usually a set of drawings produced by the contractor, supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor, consultants, or fabricator. It generally illustrates the pre-fabricated components on how they should get manufactured or installed.

Some key uses:

• Shop drawing illustrates components such as structural steelwork, reinforcement, lifts, building services equipment, appliances, ductwork, piping, plumbing, windows, cabinets, electrical and data layouts, fire protection, etc.

• Shop drawing is also useful to check installation on site. Suppliers can wish to visit the site before, or during the preparation of the shop. Shop drawings help to verify that vital dimensions are accurate.

Best Practices:

1. Shop drawing is the backbone of any fabrication industry. Detailing is critical, and minor mistakes in drawings get magnified later. The leading service providers ensure seamless communication and standard industrial practices with experienced teams to ensure that everyone remains on the same page, and there are no discrepancies.

2. Project design team checks them before fabrication to assure that they comply with design, drawings, and specifications. It ensures the coordination of different packages of work and components. It means that the shop drawing needs to contain relevant information.

It includes the provision of samples for approval.

3. The variations in shop drawings, and design drawings, should be highlighted on the shop drawings for the design team's attention. It ensures proper coordination on-site, as fabricators are likely to refer to the shop drawings and not the design drawings.

4. Where digital drawings (electronic handling) are required, adhere to file formats, naming and layering conventions.

BIM helps in Shop Drawings

Building information modelling (BIM) helps suppliers with clear information upon which they can base their drawings, and allow them to re-incorporate back into the BIM; eliminating time-consuming manual practices and minimizing errors.