Building to drawings, I used to! How many other managers do?

How many builders and subcontractors truly adhere to the technical drawings? As a Site Manager, I earned a Level 4 Site Management qualification from college. Despite this qualification, I recognised that I didn't have as many years of hands-on experience as my colleagues.

Determined to learn more, I meticulously reviewed every drawing, just as I was trained in college, ensuring I fully understood them. Drawings aren't complicated (though some structural ones are), they're well-written and detailed. To be very clear I can read a drawing BECUASE I CAN READ! If you can read, you could understand a construction drawing.

I'm concerned about the poor culture surrounding drawings. When you ask most operatives about drawings, they often say, “They’re a load of rubbish, they never work.” I only encountered a couple of drawings that needed adjustments. When I flagged the issue, the technical team simply revised it to ensure it worked as intended. Drawings are not the problem, it's the reluctance to follow them that is.

Despite barely attending high school for the last two years, I pursued my site management qualification while working full-time on-site. Even with my non-traditional educational background, I know I am neither intelligent enough nor experienced enough to construct a building without proper drawings or specifications. The notion that some builders believe they can build without a drawing is deeply concerning. How can someone claim that drawings are useless when they may not have completed formal education, while the professionals who design these drawings have spent a minimum of three years at university earning a degree in structural or civil engineering?

Quality control

There are many stages during a build where contractors will expect staged payments. If you inspect a completed piece of work with the drawing, there are minimal snags you should release payment to them. I would only release payment if I knew the contractor well and that they would completed the snags before moving forward with the build. If you are not happy or something looks wrong, withhold payment and put the job on hold until it is rectified. Withholding payment is a good way to ensure quality. I will be breaking down the key stages in following posts in The Unfiltered Female Site Manager blog - Quality Control.

It was challenging on site to ensure all trades referred to the correct revision and adhered to the drawings. As we move further into a digital age, most drawings are clearest when viewed on a computer, yet there were few computers available on site.

Whilst this is an excuse that is widely used, I printed many drawings for my trades to ensure they were working to the correct revision. I once worked with a sub-contractor who had completed some of the onsite work using the tender drawings, but the technical revisions were half way through the alphabet LOL.

One of my former Project Managers met with his whole team and explained that he only expected us to check 15-20% of the trades work. You can imagine how I was perceived when I said I checked all trades on site 100% of the time, with the drawings and documented every snag list. Little miss goody two shoes!

Building control are instructed to assist on sites to ensure the building regulations are followed and upheld. But I do not believe it is their job to check the structural specifics within the drawings. They have their standard building regulations to work to. It’s the site manager’s responsibility to check the work has been built according to the technical drawings.

On a site a long time ago, building control had approved a foundation ready for pouring. It was my responsibility to check the steel in the foundation was as per the drawing, the only way to do this is on site with the drawing and the rebar schedule. The groundworkers were surprised that not only could I read a rebar schedule, but I was also actively on site checking their work against it. Alarmingly, I discovered that several steel bars, designed by a structural engineer, had been completely omitted.

Over Engineering

Why did this contractor omit the steels? Another prevailing misconception on-site is that engineers over-engineer designs LINK INCOMING. However, these calculations account for many critical factors some including ground conditions and wind loadings. Again when did builders assume the authority to disregard the expertise of highly qualified engineers?

I once had a very hard conversation with a Director, this director hired me and knew how I wanted to operate. During our conversation, he told me that I needed to improve my relationships on-site. My response was direct: "I can't do that because I do not believe the trades are building according to the drawings. Would you prefer me to prioritise relationships or ensure the project is built to a drawing?" Without hesitation, he affirmed that building to the drawings was the priority.

Before driving home that day, I sat in the restroom and cried, overwhelmed by the impossible expectation that I should somehow balance both maintaining relationships while enforcing compliance with the drawings.

Drawing Transparency

I strongly believe there should be legislation allowing homebuyers to have access to the technical drawings their new-build homes were constructed from. Providing this transparency would empower homeowners to check their homes against these drawings and see if they had been followed. Many technical drawings are relatively straightforward to check, even without specialised knowledge.

We've all seen the viral BBC Hampshire video where a gable end collapses entirely. The critical question is: Why did this happen? Was it poor workmanship, missing structural elements, or a failure to follow the approved design? I would love to review the truss drawings for that project and compare them against what was actually built. Incidents like this highlight the need for greater accountability in the construction industry.

If homeowners had access to their property's technical drawings, they could enlist professionals to assess whether their homes were constructed in line with the approved plans, potentially preventing serious structural failures in the future. Not everything is hidden and can be rectified without causing future problems. These alterations of course need to be picked up within the two year warranty period most house builders offer.

In reality, there isn’t much to "figure out" when fully qualified professionals have designed the drawings for you. I have always found them easy to interpret. Like I said at the start if you can read, you can understand a drawing.

Now I have a family I would never want to return to working for a large builder, site work is complicated and long hours due to how much planning, H&S and quality checking is involved. But part time project management helping domestic clients with the their builds is something I would like to give a try.

I cannot and will not build any large construction project without drawings or specification. If anyone claims they can, I would seriously question whether their work will remain free of defects in the years to come. 

PETITION INCOMING!