Importance of site survey for accurate architectural drawings

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Hello, my name is Gary. When I went into business, I didn't have a great deal of money. The lack of funds meant that I had to buy commercial premises which had seen better days. The roof was leaking, the plumbing was causing problems in the bathrooms and the interior walls were in need of repair. Thankfully, my brother loaned me some money so I could call in some contractors to work on the building before I opened it to my customers. The workmen were great, they carried out a quick but professional repair and I was able to open for business. My business is doing really well and I couldn't be happier with the building. I decided to start this blog to offer advice to others who are considering hiring construction contractors.

Importance of site survey for accurate architectural drawings

26 December 2016
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog


Your dream home would remain a dream were it not for architectural drafting services. An abstract house design comes to fruition only when it takes shape in the form of graphical representation through the use of drafting services. Before actually coming up with the architectural drawings of your dream home, a reputable architect will tell you that a detailed site survey is needed. Read on to learn what a site survey is and why it's needed.

Site survey

As the name implies, a site survey is an examination of the site where you intend to build your home or property by a licensed surveyor. Basically, the surveyor will visit your building site, collect information of the site where the building is going to be erected and represent the gathered information on a correctly scaled plan. Ideally, a detailed survey provides a correct representation of of important inputs including the topography of the site, location of the trees and adjacent structures and the direction of the wind and sun. These accurate inputs are important because they define the basis of the construction design and its adaptability to the natural surroundings.

Existing drawings

In an effort to cut costs, clients might think about overlooking a fresh site survey and instruct the drafting expert to use an existing site drawing. When providing new designs from past drawings, the architect has to make plenty of assumptions. First, they would have to assume the structure was built precisely as seen from the drawings and that no errors were made. Depending heavily on existing site drawings availed by clients or local building councils is highly discouraged on the part of drafters because they may contain mistakes or inaccuracies.

Even a difference of one centimetre on the architectural drawing may turn into a large quantity on the building site especially on large construction projects. A small error might actually ruin the whole project by rendering the design unfeasible. This means there's no room for error. That's why the drafting team should always ascertain the accuracy of these existing drawings by carrying out a fresh site survey prior to embarking on designing any given building.

The bottom line

Designing is an art, and it's done in a design studio, but its groundwork is carried out by the site survey. Architectural drafting services are able to make the most of the natural topography by adapting the building to its immediate environment.