How do I keep as-built drawings up to date?

Why they go out of date

• Nobody owns them. The drawings came from the design team, and once the building opened no one was given the job of keeping them right.
• Small jobs never reach the drawings. A contractor's markup sits in a folder or an inbox and is never drawn in.
• Copies multiply. PDFs, CAD files and paper sets drift apart until no one knows which is current.
• The building was never as drawn. Many as-builts are the design drawings with a new title, not a record of what was built.

What works

• Give the record an owner. One person or team signs off every change before a job is closed.
• Make capture part of closing a job. No work order is complete until the change is recorded: a marked-up plan, photos, the new equipment's details.
• Keep one copy. One place everyone opens, with older versions kept behind it, not a folder of sets.
• Log the change, then the drawing. A dated list of what changed and where is useful even before the drawing catches up.
• Start from what is really there. If the drawings were never right, a scan of the building gives you a true starting point.

Or keep a live model instead

Manifold by Landex keeps a live model of your building that updates when things change, so the record stays current without redrawing.