What is "As-Building"?
It means to measure the
existing structure how it was built and create a floor plan based on that
information. Verifying conditions As it was Built.
Why is this important?
It is
important to have a good plan when you are planning on remodeling any
structure. It also gives an accurate record of all the existing
conditions, door, wall & window locations in addition to any special
features. Since most buildings do not have plans for the original
construction or the original plans have been lost or destroyed this gives us a
starting point.
Proper
as-build’s will also help to determine what walls may be bearing in addition to
special circumstances that may not be originally known. Once we have an accurate record of what was
built, we can then determine what elements can stay or can be removed to create
the design of a remodel.
I have the original plans, do
I still need this service?
Yes,
due to many circumstances buildings don’t always match what the plans
show. Many times owners change their
minds during construction or there is renovation that is done with no records. The existing plans defiantly help and make
the process easier, but it is still a good idea to have all the existing
conditions verified.
How do you do it?
All
as-builds are done in industry standard CAD format and each is done by our
employees using state of the art computer and laser measuring devices to ensure
accuracy. We have laptops that are used
for all field measuring and drafting – once each component is located it is
drawn on the laptop. This minimizes the
need to return and verify conditions that may not have transferred correctly or
if something does not “line up”. We also
take multiple digital pictures of all conditions for later reference or use. This information is then provided to the
client for their use.
As-Builds are also used for
leased properties. Not only is it used
to create an accurate layout of what is there but many leases are based on
square footage. If there was an error in
calculating the area of a space, the monthly payment could be less than what it
should be.
RKD provided an as-build
service for a large commercial office complex of 16 buildings and over 100
suites. We verified all suites (occupied
and unoccupied) and provided the property management company with our
findings. As it turned out over 1/3 of
the suites were charged for a leased square footage that was less than what was
actually being used. One suite in
particular was off by over 200 square feet – this equated to more than $3,600
in lost revenue.
The property management
company was also then able to use the base files we created for all future
leases and tenant improvements. When a
new tenant improvement is done, that information is updated in the master file
and now there is always an accurate record for all parties.
