Fabrication Drawings

The Need for Fabrication Drawings

As a head start, a shop drawing is a typical drawing of prefabricated construction components that shows rich details about the components for efficient execution in the projects. 3D building designs may not be as explicit to all stakeholders as they are to professional engineers who created them. Typically, shop and fabrication drawings are issued by fabricators, suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, or manufacturers to give their version of how the product looks like or should be installed or fabricated.

In our shop and fabrication drawing production, we take into account the design intent from architectural drawings from which we infer when generating these drawings. NY Engineers is a hub of a variety of MEP professionals with their expertise in all sorts of drawings: architectural drawings, structural drawings, shop and fabrication drawings, steel structures drawings, HVAC shop drawings, pipe fabrication drawings, MEP shop drawings, 2D shop drawings, Millwork drawings, ductwork drawings, concrete reinforcement drawings, AutoCAD structural detailing, IFC drawings, and many more.

Considering the importance of shop and fabrication drawings, the need for that should be obvious to all AEC professionals. As a form of quality control, AEC professionals often outsource the production of shop and fabrication drawing to renowned engineering firms like NY Engineers to have their drawings efficiently done. We have the requisite skills and software programs to fulfill their needs. Production of shop drawings requires specialist skills, which we possess.

Why consider fabrication drawings for your project?

You may have a large or medium scale project to complete; that project needs shop drawings as long as there are prefabricated components needed to complete it. As we highlighted already, shop drawings are dedicated to prefabricated components.

All construction projects have, in one way or the other, prefabricated components. In spite of the emergence of BIM technology in the designing, planning, construction and coordination of building designs, shop drawings are still valuable.

The information portrayed by shop and fabrication drawings is richer than the information shown on construction documents. These drawings, therefore, are designed to show finer details of how the component should look like or should be installed. However, the drawings are done in accordance with the design specifications and architects and engineers have a final say to any alterations shown in the drawings.

If there are some changes, no matter how infinitesimal, in the shop drawings, the design team will have to verify them or disagree with them. This process is done before the fabrication stage begins. Our engineers, in the decade of experience, have not encountered circumstances of altering changes unless we detect MEP clashes in them. This explains why you should outsource these drawings from professional engineers.

For your project to be completed with great details, you need shop drawings to reveal finer details about it. We can fulfill that requirement. Even when presenting your project to potential investors, a compilation of shop and fabrication drawings can play a huge role in clarifying the extent of your project in laymen’s terms.

Why consider fabrication drawings if you have BIM building designs?

Shop and fabrication drawings do not, in any way, negate the need for BIM building designs. Building information modeling plays a role in the construction industry. It has more functions than what shop drawings show. Both are, however, representations of the building components.

However, BIM designs, although they reveal much of the information about the components holistically, may not give clarity to all stakeholders, especially those who are not tech-savvy. Shop and fabrication drawings come to the rescue by selectively revealing the information of prefabricated components.

Again, shop and fabrication drawings are not necessarily done by engineers and architects but by contractors, subcontractors, fabricators, and suppliers. After completion of the drawings, they will be sent to architects and engineers who will verify the design consistencies with the original designs before fabrication starts.

Fabrication of these drawings without the approval of engineers and architects could lead to change orders, and that could incur costs to the facility owner. NY Engineers eliminates such inconveniences by following the right procedure in shop and fabrication drawing production.

These drawings are still needed despite the availability of BIM building designs. In fact, NY Engineers can extract 2D drawings from the BIM model and utilize them for shop and fabrication drawing production. Our expertise and experience in building information modeling enable us to manipulate the model. We know that most fabricators are not well-rounded with BIM technology, and so they prefer working on shop drawings rather than the 3D building designs.

What happens if fabrication drawings differ from the original designs?

Creating original building designs is a lengthy process that goes through various stages of approvals. That said, shop and fabrication drawings do not override the importance of original designs. They should always meet the design intent of the building. NY Engineers always prioritize the original design given to us for the production of shop drawings.

In cases where the drawings vary from the design drawings, the differences will be highlighted for the attention of the design team. The design team will have to validate such variations before fabrication can commence. From a different angle, shop drawings help the design team to verify the coordination between the components and the workflow.

What should a fabrication drawing contain?

Shop and fabrication drawings are a comprehensive set of drawings inclusive of rich details about the component they represent.

The information below is typical of what should be included in these drawings:

Comparison of information: Ultimately, the shop and fabrication drawings should be drafted to the design intent. They should therefore include information that compares with the original design for architects and engineers to verify the consistencies. Among others, the drawings should portray the description of the component, its specifications, and its performance. Ideally, the shop and fabrication drawing give the architects and the engineer the version of the fabricator about the product. NY Engineers excels in portraying this information in the drawings. We make them clear to assist with faster approval from engineers and architects.
Highlights of the variations: if there is any change to the drawings inconsistent with the original designs, notes should be made for the attention of the relevant design teams. The main idea of these drawings is to be consistent with the design intent. However, we note that there could be some errors and omissions in the design hence the fabricator make alterations. The design team has to validate such variations. Ideally, there should be strong communication between the fabricator and the engineer and architects. Our engineers can liaise with whichever engineering team you have when effecting changes to the drawings.
Dimension verification: the drawings should allow for the verification of dimensions at the construction site. Some dimensions may vary with the actual dimensions at the construction site. Such verification is needed before fabrication starts.
Important information about the drawings: shop drawings reveal finer details about the components. Among others, there should be information about manufacturer’s specification, manufacturing conventions, dimensions, and fabrication instructions included on the drawings. Our engineers achieve this inclusion of rich details in our drawing production. The drawings are made clear enough to improve the quality of fabrications.
Installation information: because these drawings are often for prefabricated components, they should therefore contain information about the placement or installation information. This guides the fabrication crew and the construction crew towards the completion of the project.

Advantages of outsourcing fabrication drawings

Outsourcing shop and fabrication drawing production is part of quality control if your design team is incapable of drafting them. These drawings require a special skill which our engineers have acquired for many years on the field. We have served a plethora of companies with these drawings.

NY Engineers provides unparalleled shop and fabrication drawing production simply because we have a dynamic, experienced team of MEP engineers who excel in drafting the drawings. We also excel in all the latest technologies in the BIM industry, which then equips us with the requisite knowledge to extract drawings from 3D designs.

When you outsource these drawings to us, we will do more than producing the drawings for you. Our engineers will detect errors and recommend the best solutions to make your drawings perfect. The accuracy and efficiency of construction projects depend on the veracity of information portrayed by the shop and fabrication drawings.

Importance of fabrication drawings for facility owners

Facility owners can also benefit tremendously from our shop and fabrication drawing production. It gives you a glimpse of what typical materials are needed for your project and what are specifications. The BIM model can seem foreign to you if you are not tech-savvy. There is too much information included in 3D building designs and that may not be easy to decipher with no technological background.

Having these drawings drafted helps the owner present the project and its components with ease. The drawings are also used to fabricate high-quality components to complete your project. Without these drawings, manufacturers and fabricators may not know the exact manufacturer specifications of the material needed.

Most fabricators prefer the shop and fabrication drawings than 3D BIM designs, which seem complex to the general public. NY Engineers can provide you these drawings faster and cost-effectively.

Why choose us?

Our engineers are experts in MEP designs. Outsourcing shop and fabrication drawing production to us is the best decision to take for your project. We excel in these drawings. Our engineers understand the impact these drawings have on your final product. We also understand that they must be approved prior to the commencement of fabrication. We therefore put more efforts in producing unambiguous and readable drawings with so much information for your components.

Our engineers are trained in spotting errors in drawings. We possess a decade of experience in construction technologies. This equips us with the knowledge to extract drawings from BIM models and produce great shop drawings.

Our drawings are generated cost-effectively and quickly. We understand that constructions are fast-paced whereby even a single day’s delay could incur exorbitant costs. We make the job easy for your fabricators, contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers, and suppliers to be on schedule.

When you choose NY Engineers, you choose a heavily experienced team of MEP engineers who excel in building designs and installation of MEP building systems. Maneuvering your drawings will not be a problem for us.

We liaise with all construction teams to ensure that the drawings meet the design intent. Because we are engineers and architects, we will negate the need for the drawings to pass through the approval stage of engineers and architects.