Design and Construction Documentation
Design and Construction Documentation
This domain tests whether you can produce a coordinated, buildable package. Expect questions on plan-set organization, drawing scale, dimensioning, notes, details, schedules, specifications, and consistency between drawings and written documents.
Core rules
- A typical set moves from cover and general notes through existing conditions, demolition, layout, grading, drainage, planting, details, sections, and schedules. Specifications complement, not duplicate, the drawings.
- Dimension from fixed control points and use string dimensions to avoid cumulative error. Do not rely on scaling a drawing.
- Each detail needs a reference, scale, material labels, and enough information to build the junction.
- Planting plans need botanic names, sizes, spacing, quantities, root-barrier or staking notes, and soil preparation.
- Coordinate civil, architectural, structural, and landscape information. Conflicting elevations or pipe sizes are documentation failures.
Worked example
A walk layout shows a dimension from a building corner to the walk centerline, but no dimension to the outer edge. A contractor scales the drawing and installs the walk 6 inches off. The reasoning: scaled dimensions are not contract dimensions. The fix is to dimension both edges from a fixed baseline or show a width dimension plus a centerline offset, and to cross-check the detail. The lesson is to dimension what must be built, not what is convenient to draw.
Traps
- Leaving a critical dimension to scale.
- Conflicts between plan, section, and detail.
- Missing benchmark or control point for grading.
- Specifications that contradict the drawings instead of clarifying intent.
- Unlabeled north arrow, scale bar, or revision cloud.