Questions about shop drawing review, answered.
What a checker looks for, why packages bounce, what a review costs, and what the words mean. Written by the people who run Plumb, from the review work itself.
Can Bluebeam review shop drawings?
Bluebeam Revu is where reviewers draw clouds and stamps; it does not read the drawings. What a documentation review produces and how it fits Revu.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20266 min read
Does AI shop drawing review actually work?
It works if it finds real problems and does not bury them under wrong ones. How Plumb measures itself, what it leaves out, and where it is weak.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20267 min read
How much does shop drawing review cost?
In-house review costs a checker's hours per package. Plumb's Anytime Review is one price, set from the page count before you pay, back within 24 hours.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20267 min read
What should a structural steel shop drawing checklist cover?
The ten topics a structural steel shop drawing checklist covers, from material grade and weld symbols to galvanizing and document control.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20267 min read
What should I check on shop drawings before fabrication?
The 14 things a checker reads on a shop drawing package before fabrication, with real misses from a hand-graded louver package.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20267 min read
Why do shop drawings get rejected?
Three graded fabrication packages, 50 findings: shop drawings get bounced for document control, missing dimensions and unspecified grades, not design.
Plumb ReviewNov 3, 20267 min read
The terms, defined.
Buildability Review
Buildability Review: Plumb's Tier 1, a systematic review of a shop drawing package for common drawing, documentation, coordination and fabrication issues.
RFI (Request for Information)
An RFI is a formal written question from a contractor or fabricator to the design team for a clarification the contract documents do not provide.
Shop drawing
A shop drawing shows how a fabricator will actually make and install a component, drawn from the design drawings and spec and reviewed by the design team.
Specification Correspondence Review
A Specification Correspondence Review is Plumb's Tier 3: Tier 1 plus a sheet-by-sheet comparison against the project specification the customer supplies.
Submittal
A submittal is the package a contractor sends the design team for review: shop drawings, product data, samples. Stamps run from approved to rejected.
Submittal Readiness Review
A Submittal Readiness Review is Plumb's Tier 2: Tier 1 plus engineering readiness and submittal completeness against the applicable jurisdictional profile.