458 Interiors Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. ■ Proprietary. Proprietary specifications indicate a specific manufacturer’s products by name, model, or part number, as well as color and finish. They are restrictive to those who wish to bid a job, but allow control over what is installed for the client’s project. ■ Descriptive. These specifications provide details about the materials, finishes, fabrication methods, acceptable workmanship, and installation methods to use for the project. They do not specify a manufacturer or trade name instead they set a standard of quality. ■ Performance. When describing the expected performance of the item(s) specified, designers often use performance specifications for custom components installed in the interior. Construction documents, or working drawings, are part of the contract document package and are highly tech- nical in detail. The designer or design team creates them during the Design Development and Construction Administration phases of the design process. For design success, it is important to learn how to accurately decipher or read construction drawings and how to create them, Figure 13-30. Organization Construction documents communicate how and where to construct the building. They also indicate where to lay the foundation, how to finish the interior spaces, where to install the cabinets and add the built-in furniture, what type of window/door styles to use, and the exact materials with which to complete the specified project. For large commer- cial projects, a set of construction drawings may be over 100 pages long. For a small residential-remodel project, a set of construction drawings may total three pages. Because construction documents are a communica- tion tool, you need to know your audience. While the intent of a perspective drawing is to enhance the client’s understanding of a design idea or solution, construction documents are for the designer, contractor, and subcon- tractors who are completing the work. Using their standard language—called architectural drawing conventions— ensures they and you obtain the desired result. Construction drawings include pages that illustrate demolition, floor plans, sections, elevations, interiors, and electrical plans. In addition, they include engineer- ing drawings which define exact structural compo- nents such as size and space of steel reinforcements in a wall. There are legal consequences connected with construction documents. For example, if installation of a perimeter drain around the house foundation does not properly follow the construction drawings, the house can heave up—destroying parts of the building. The liability for this error returns to the builder and possibly subcontractor. The designer sequentially labels and numbers each page of the construction drawings set to show the order in which to construct the building—from location of the building on-site to the interiors. The designer uses prefixes to label each section. For example, A-1 is the prefix for the first page of the Architecture section and ID-3 is the prefix for the third page of the Interior Design section. Other section prefixes include ■ D—Demolition ■ S—Structural ■ M—Mechanical ■ E—Electrical ■ P—Plumbing ■ FP—Fire protection plan ■ FF—Finishes and furniture ■ Q—Equipment Each page communicates to the expert the details he or she is responsible for as part of the project. This allows a subcontractor—such as an electrician—to turn directly to the page of the construction documents he or she needs to complete the work. See Figure 13-31. naito8/Shutterstock.com Figure 13-30 Construction drawings are highly technical and details. They help the builders and contractors execute the design accurately.