Shop Drawings

[Alwayslearningelec]

Generally speaking you can't start any electrical work until shop drawings are approved? Is every aspect of an electrical installation on a shop drawing thus must be approved?

 

[infinity]

Depends on what's in the contract. For a small job there might not be any shop drawings. If coordination with other trades is required you may build your shop drawings onto the GC's model.

 

[steve66]

I've never heard you can't start before.

But I generally expect shop drawings at the beginning of a project, and definitely before the item is ordered or installed.

Anything ordered or installed before shop drawings are approved I consider to be at the contractor's risk of having to remove, return, and replace. Pretty much even if someone just changed their mind about what they want.

So if the engineer asks for shop drawings on basic material like wire/cable/conduit/boxes/hangers, then yes, I could see that delaying the start of the project.

 

[steve66]

Generally speaking you can't start any electrical work until shop drawings are approved? Is every aspect of an electrical installation on a shop drawing thus must be approved?

Another note: There are product submittals, and there are shop drawings. But they are frequently lumped together and called "shop drawings".

Product submittals usually include manufacturer standard cut sheets. Like a basic 2x4 light fixture.

Shop drawings tend to be more project specific and might include drawings the contractor puts together like equipment layouts and conduit routing. Or it might include manufacturer drawings like dimensions for an air handing unit with all the selected components and options.

I'm not sure if you are specifically referring to one or the other.

 

[ron]

If you start before they are approved (submittals or shop drawings), you are working at risk.

 

[Pinnie]

The company I work for rolls the dice when we are slow. We’ve worked jobs that haven’t had a permit for a month. It’s risky.

 

[Ken_S]

If you start before they are approved (submittals or shop drawings), you are working at risk.

Yep. I've been involved with time sensitive projects where they dragged their feet on approvals and loved to use that line.