Technical Documentation, Drawings and Specifications
The Document Set
A complete package includes drawings (general arrangement, detail, assembly, schematic, site plan), specifications, calculations, schedules, and a title block with project identification, scale, date, revision, and approval signatures. Drawings convey geometry; specifications convey quality, materials, and workmanship. Where they conflict, the specification often governs quality while the drawing governs quantity-but the contract's order-of-precedence clause decides.
Standards of Good Practice
Follow consistent line types, symbols, dimensions, and units. Use a revision cloud and revision block; never silently change a drawing. Every drawing should be traceable to a designer and checker. As-built drawings reflect what was actually constructed and differ from design drawings.
Specifications
MasterFormat-style organization groups work by division. Prescriptive specs state means and methods; performance specs state outcomes and leave means to the contractor. Know which you are reading-it changes who bears design responsibility.
Traps
Questions confuse design drawings with as-builts, or assume a sketch is a controlled document. Another trap: assuming the latest revision is always the approved one-check the approval status. Also watch for unit and scale errors; "not to scale" notes mean dimensions govern, not measured lengths.
Rule of Thumb
If it isn't in the title block and revision block, it isn't controlled. Worked example: a contractor builds from a superseded revision. The technologist checks the transmittal log, confirms which revision was issued for construction, and documents the discrepancy rather than assuming the contractor erred-the issue may be an uncontrolled distribution.