What is an as-built drawing?
A drawing of what was actually built. On a building site, the plans change during the work; the as-built set records where walls, doors and services really ended up. For an existing home, it is simply the plan of the home as it stands today, measured on site.
Remodelers often call it the existing condition plan. It is the base for every other drawing of the remodel.
As-built drawings and construction drawings
Construction drawings show what is planned. As-built drawings show what is there. A demolition plan shows what comes out, and the proposed plan what is new. A remodel needs all of them, and they should come from the same measurements.
Which drawing shows what
| Drawing | Shows | In the editor |
|---|---|---|
| As-built or existing condition | the home as it stands | the Existing sheet |
| Demolition plan | what comes out, and what is new | the sheet with the work, demolish yellow and dashed, new red |
| Proposed plan | the home after the work | the New sheet, with the areas |
| Construction drawings | how to build it, with details | not made by Squaremetry: an architect or designer adds them |
From as-built to a demolition plan
Below, the same house with a rear addition: the new walls are red, and the piece of the old back wall that opens up is yellow. The legend sits beside the plan.
Permit drawings
For a remodel permit, many building departments ask for the existing and the proposed plan, often with elevations and a site plan. What your town needs differs: ask the building department. Squaremetry draws the plans, elevations, section and site plan from one model, at the scale you pick, with a title block. Whether that is enough for your permit is up to the building department.
How it works in the editor
- Measure each room wall to wall with a tape or a laser; in Chrome, a Bluetooth laser sends each length straight into the plan. Or trace an old plan and check one long wall.
- Draw the rooms, doors and windows. Each wall keeps where its length came from (measured, laser, from a drawing or assumed), so you know what is checked.
- For the remodel, choose a wall and set Renovation to Demolish or New. A new door or window in an existing wall marks the piece that goes.
- In Export, tick Renovation sheets: the existing condition, the demolition and new work with a legend, and the new condition. Or put all sheets in one Drawing set PDF.