As-Built Drawings
Permit drawings, construction document revisions, as-built drawings, and site-specific adjustments.
What a As-Built Drawings Covers
As-built drawings document what a building actually is, rather than what it was once designed to be. The two diverge more often than people expect: field changes go unrecorded, tenants alter spaces without updating the set, and older buildings frequently have no usable drawings at all. You need as-builts when someone official asks you to prove the current condition, and you need them accurate, because everything downstream is measured against them.
PermitCare prepares permit drawings/sketches and/or revision of construction documents for contractors and builders, as-built drawings for landlords and tenants, and site-specific drawings adjustment for custom-built projects.
When You Need One
- There are no existing drawings for the building, or the ones you have are clearly out of date
- A landlord or tenant needs documented existing conditions before a lease or a build-out
- A jurisdiction has asked for existing conditions as part of a permit application
- Legalizing work that was built without a permit, where the county needs to see what is actually there
- A field change during construction needs to be recorded back into the permit set
- A sale, refinance, or insurance claim requires documented square footage and layout
What PermitCare Handles
- Field measurement of the existing structure by our team
- Floor plans, elevations, and sections reflecting actual conditions
- Reflected ceiling plans and existing MEP layouts where the scope calls for them
- Site-specific drawing adjustments for custom-built projects
- Revision of construction documents to match what was actually built
- A drawing set formatted to submit, not just to file away, since most as-builts are produced for a permit application
Documents Usually Required
Exact requirements are set by the jurisdiction you file in. This is the package most submissions are built from.
- Access to the property for field measurement
- Any existing drawings, surveys, or plats you have, even if they are outdated
- The recorded plat or survey, where site conditions are part of the scope
- Prior permit records, which often exist even when drawings do not
- A description of what the drawings will be used for, since the required level of detail follows the use
Common Questions
What are as-built drawings?
They are drawings that document a building's actual current condition, produced by measuring what is physically there rather than by reproducing an old design set. They differ from design drawings, which show intent, and from record drawings, which show intent plus noted changes.
Why does the county want as-built drawings?
Because a reviewer cannot evaluate proposed work against unknown existing conditions. This comes up most often in two situations: alterations to an older building with no usable drawings, and code violation cases where the jurisdiction needs to see what was actually built before deciding how to legalize it.
How long do as-built drawings take?
Field measurement is usually a single visit for a typical residential or small commercial space. Drafting time scales with the size of the building and how much of the MEP scope is included. The honest answer for any given project comes after we know the square footage and what the drawings need to support.
Can as-built drawings be used to get a permit?
Yes, and that is the most common reason our clients need them. We prepare them to the submitting jurisdiction's format so they can go straight into an application rather than needing to be redrawn.
Ready to get started?
Free consultation, no obligation. We serve Virginia, Maryland, and D.C.