A recent discussion in the office revealed (rather embarrassingly) that I personally still experience confusion over the “drawing check” signature/initial/name section that occurs on many title blocks… in my experience, depending on the project it can have different meanings:

  • CAD manager/drafter check
  • Engineer checking drafting
  • Drawing and design check 

I feel like I am not alone in this.

The conversation progressed into the numerous other check names that might appear on a drawing and the fact that the system is so broken it’s really a superfluous exercise… How many times has your name been on a drawing as a “checker” without you having performed a check?

The industry has become obsessed with ticking a box, with names on drawings, submission check gates, milestones, progress etc, that there is inevitably no way that all those names could have looked at the drawing before it goes out the door.

If you look at the example laid out in typical transport infrastructure project, for each package there might be 3 or more milestone submissions, each with 3 minor submissions. The process would mean approximately 6 people check the same drawing 9 times each before the project is completed (and its often a lot more than that).

The person at the top of the totem pole is likely supposed to have checked all project drawings at each milestone. It’s all too easy to conclude that if multiple drawing checks are performed by multiple persons, I really don’t need to do another check myself… but what if everyone thinks like that? What if the guys before you have also ignored the check given the volume of checks supposed to occur afterwards?

Realistically, how can anyone possibly review and comment on all these drawings whilst running on (what’s likely) a delayed program from the date you are engaged? A notice of delay doesn’t care about the actual checking, reviews, and approvals but it certainly cares about you declaring that you have ticked the box and you have the insurances to indemnify any consequential damages occurring in construction.  

In addition to this, we often find situations with engineers signing off on drawings relating to a completely separate discipline. For example, how about a mechanical engineer ticking the “checker” box on an electrical drawing.

How many times have we seen a checker, reviewer AND approver all having the same initials?

Food for thought