Before fabrication, a shop drawing package gets read for the things that stop a cut list, a weld, a finish order or an install: every part dimensioned, every weld, material and finish called out, every sheet agreeing with every other sheet, and the items that need an engineer's judgment set apart from the ones that don't. Plumb reads every sheet of a package against 14 categories and returns a marked-up PDF, an Excel comment log and an online viewer within 24 hours.
The list below is those 14 categories in the order they sit on /categories: what a checker looks for under each, and, where we have one, a miss from a louver package we graded by hand. Seven sheets, 28 confirmed findings, sheet numbers left out.
A checker starts before the categories, with the package as a document: the index against the sheets, the REV column, sheet numbering, title blocks. In the louver package the index had a blank REV column for every sheet, two pages carried the same sheet number and one of them was empty, and the details sheet was a blank page with a blank title block.
01 Dimensional completeness
Every part dimensioned from a stated datum, chains that close, tolerances stated where fit depends on them, and the dimensions that control fit (overall height, width, depth) present in at least one view. A missing dimension becomes a guess on the floor or an RFI.
The louver package never dimensioned the blade pitch, never stated the blade angle, and never gave the front-to-back depth of the assembly in the section that should have shown it. The arched head carried two radius callouts with nothing saying which one governed the frame and which the blade line.
02 Weld and joint definition
A complete symbol on every welded joint: type, size, length, all-around or intermittent, and the field flag where it applies. A general weld note covers joints without symbols only as far as it actually says. The checker also looks for joints drawn as joined with no statement of how.
On the louver frame, weld symbols appeared on one detail with no size, type or process, there was no general weld note, and the only weld-related note said to grind the visible ones. Nothing in the package said how the blades attached to the frame: weld, rivet, screw or formed slot.
03 Material specification
A grade on every member and plate callout, or a general note that sets the default and lists exceptions. Alloy and temper for aluminum, series for stainless, gauge or thickness for sheet, and fasteners that are compatible with what they go through.
The louver package did state the aluminum alloy and temper. It also ran carbon-steel masonry screws through that aluminum frame on an exterior wall with no isolation called out, and the bird screen had no material, mesh size or wire gauge anywhere.
04 Finish and coating callouts
Surface prep, primer, topcoat, dry film thickness and color, and the standard the finish is held to (an AAMA class on exterior aluminum, for example). Which surfaces are exposed, and how welds get treated before the finish goes on.
Exterior aluminum, and no finish anywhere in the package: no AAMA class, no color, no coating system. "Grind visible welds" was the nearest thing to a finish note.
05 Cross-sheet consistency
The same part described the same way everywhere: general notes against detail notes against schedules, elevation against section against detail, index against title block. Every callout resolves to a detail that exists in the set.
The louver blade gauge read 12 Ga. on the elevation and 16 Ga. on a detail on the same sheet. One side of an elevation gave an overall height of 121'-0" while the other side of the same view said 11'-0". A detail callout pointed at a sheet that was not in the package, and another callout bubble carried a number with no destination sheet.
06 Bill of materials accuracy
Quantities on the BOM match what the drawings show, every item is numbered and every number is used, and there are no orphans: BOM items on no sheet, or parts on a sheet that never made the BOM. Grade and finish columns that agree with the callouts and the general notes.
07 Connection design clarity
Fastener type, grade, diameter, length and quantity. Hole pattern and edge distance dimensioned. Slip-critical or bearing stated where it matters. For anything going into concrete or masonry, the embedment depth, which is the engineered number.
The louver anchors were called out by length. The length of a screw is not its embedment, and nothing in the package said how deep the anchors went into the masonry or what the masonry was. That finding and the dissimilar-metal one both came back flagged PE-Review-Required.
08 Fabrication sequence
Sub-assemblies defined, the weldment hierarchy clear (what gets welded to what, and in what order), shop and field breakpoints shown, and transitions between pieces detailed.
The louver frame was a rectangular tube with straight legs and an arched head. Nothing showed how the straight members met the arch: miter, cope, bent tube or a separate curved piece.
09 Shipping and handling
Pick points, piece weights, maximum shipping dimensions, splice locations on long pieces, and protection for finished surfaces. A long welded assembly drawn as one shop piece with no splice is a truck problem, and if it is galvanized, a kettle problem on the same sheet.
10 Field installation
Erection sequence, temporary bracing, anchor coordination with the existing structure, field-verify notes, adjustment provisions, and the sealant or flashing where the piece meets the building.
The louver frame was dimensioned to fit an existing masonry opening with no field-verify note and no shim or scribe allowance. No sealant was specified at the frame-to-masonry joint. A note said the bird screen attaches after installation, with no detail for how.
11 Spec and reference standards
Specs cited correctly, with edition years and addenda. The welding code, the finish standard and the material standards named somewhere in the package, and spec section numbers that match the project's spec.
The louver package named no welding standard (AWS D1.2 is the one a checker looks for on aluminum) and no finish standard.
12 Drawing legibility
Text and line weights that survive a half-size print, notes that do not contradict each other, and a text layer a machine can read; a scanned package reviews worse than a native PDF.
The louver package had a meaningless string of consonants in the middle of an elevation, two sheet titles misspelled in the index, and a small dimension at the base of the frame with no label saying what it controlled.
13 Scope boundary
By-others items called out, owner-furnished material flagged, and the line where the fabricator's scope ends: anchors, embeds, blocking, sealant, flashing. Existing work labeled existing, with who verifies it stated.
14 Engineering review flags
The items that need a licensed engineer's judgment, set apart from the documentation items: anything that touches load path, capacity or the design basis of an anchor, such as an embedment depth the sheet does not give or a weld size on an engineered joint. Plumb marks each finding PE-Review-Required or not. Plumb is not an engineer and does not approve, certify or stamp anything; it reports that the sheet does not say, and the engineer says what it should.
In the louver package the two anchor findings carried the flag. The misspellings did not.
How to use this list
Shops use it two ways. As the last pass before issue, reading the package in this order, index first, and writing the misses on a copy. Or as a key for reading a Plumb deliverable (how it works). Plumb marks every finding on the sheet it came from, and no change to the review engine ships until it scores at least as well as the last one against hand-graded answer keys from real fabrication packages. Findings the drawing cannot back up are left out before delivery.
A single package goes through as an Anytime Review: $25 for up to 10 sheets, with extra sheets at $2.00, covering Tier 1 — Buildability Review and Tier 2 — Submittal Readiness Review. The monthly plans are on /pricing. A full marked-up package is at /sample-shop-drawing-review, and the trade checks that sit on top of these 14 categories are at /trades.