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If you've ever finished a job and realised you have no record of what's actually inside the walls — this guide is for you.
As-built drawings are one of the most important documents in construction. They're also one of the most neglected. This guide covers what they are, why they matter, who creates them, and how contractors are now capturing them in minutes from any phone.
As-built drawings (also called as-builts, record drawings, or as-built records) are documents that show a structure exactly as it was built — not as it was originally designed. They capture any changes made during construction: relocated walls, rerouted pipes, modified electrical runs, adjusted duct layouts.
The core idea: the approved plans show what was intended. The as-built drawings show what actually happened.
Three situations where as-builts are non-negotiable:
Any future work on a building depends on knowing what's already there. Without as-builts, every renovation starts with a guessing phase — cutting into walls to find pipes, probing ceilings to locate ducts. As-builts eliminate that guesswork entirely.
Facility managers and service technicians need to locate components quickly — isolation valves, circuit breakers, HVAC equipment, control panels. Good as-builts turn a 45-minute search into a 2-minute lookup.
When a client claims damage was pre-existing or scope creep wasn't authorised, as-built documentation from before the work started is the only reliable evidence. A timestamped, GPS-tagged record of existing conditions is worth more than any verbal agreement.
Different trades produce different types of as-builts. The most common in contractor work:
For a deeper look at each type, see our guide to 6 types of as-built records in the AEC industry.
Traditionally, as-builts were prepared by architects, engineers, or specialist surveyors — which made them expensive and slow. On smaller projects, this meant they often weren't done at all.
That's changed significantly. Today, field contractors can capture the data themselves using their phones, and the drawings are generated automatically. The contractor who does the work is also the person best positioned to document it accurately — they know where things actually ended up.
For a full breakdown, see our guide on who creates as-built drawings and what they're responsible for.
The minimum a useful as-built record should contain:
For the complete checklist, see as-built drawings checklist for contractors.
Manual measurement — tape measure, clipboard, hand-sketched plan — is still common, but it's slow and error-prone. The alternative is capturing a 3D record directly from your phone.
Manifold's Orbit Measure feature works on any iOS or Android phone. Walk a space for 60 seconds, upload, and get a measurable 3D model accurate to half an inch. No LiDAR required. Future service calls can take measurements remotely without returning to site.
For iPhone 12 Pro and newer, Floor Plan Scan uses Apple RoomPlan to automatically generate a structured 2D floor plan with labeled dimensions.
See how HVAC contractors use this workflow in our HVAC as-built documentation guide, or how renovation contractors use it in the renovation as-built documentation guide.
A common point of confusion: construction drawings (also called contract drawings or working drawings) show the design intent. As-built drawings show what was actually built. For a full comparison, see as-built drawings vs construction drawings.
Manifold's Photo plan starts at $16/user/month. The Photo+Scan plan ($24/user/month) adds Orbit Measure 3D scanning on any phone. No seat minimums, no credit card required to start.
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