So you have a Master Plan from your landscape designer and you might be wondering if you really need to have working drawings done as well. Or maybe you're thinking, "I could save myself some money by not doing working drawings?"
Many of our clients have faced this exact scenario over the past 30 years or so. And almost every time choosing NOT to do working drawings has proved to be a false economy and one that can actually lead to higher costs in the long term.
We've written this article to explain exactly what working drawings are and why they are so important to a successful outcome for your landscaping project.
Asking whether you need working drawings for a landscaping project is a bit similar to asking "Do I really need travel insurance if I'm healthy?"
Being healthy doesn't prevent you from having an accident, missing a flight or even falling ill while overseas.
What are landscaping working drawings?
Working drawings are very detailed visualisations that show exactly how something will be built.
Here is an excerpt from a set of working drawings showing how the steps for a particular project will be built.
As you can see from the detail shown here, this one step will have LED lighting installed under the vertical face of the step. This is just one of several diagrams for that step which clearly show exactly how the LED lighting will go under the face of the step.
Here on the right is another detailed drawing of some other steps for the same Glen Iris project.
This highly detailed drawing shows you that these steps have no LED lighting on them. But it also shows that the tread (step you stand on) extends beyond the vertical face of the steps and is not flush to it, but overhangs it by 20mm.
The problem with relying just on a Master Plan without working drawings is that a plan only shows the view looking DOWN on the various aspects of the garden. A Master Plan has the purpose to help you, the client visualise how the garden will look, from above. But a Master Plan is not a working drawing.
A working drawing shows many different views of the proposed construction. For a start, it shows sectional views (which are side-on views, not views from above like a plan.) This allows whoever is constructing the garden to understand dimensions in height and depth, not just width. It also helps to detail construction methods and other critical details that you simply cannot draw on a plan view from above.
Who uses the Working Drawings?
The Concept Design & Master Plan are developed for you, the client.
The working drawings are created for a landscaper to enable them to properly build your garden as designed by the designer and approved by you. They cannot build it properly without working drawings.
The Master Plan for this Eltham project shows a deck surrounding a pool.
It allowed the homeowner to visualise their future garden and pool area, where the bench and steps will go, etc.
As detailed as this Master Plan is, a landscaper cannot use it for construction as it tells them nothing about HOW anything is to be built.
It simply does not detail what is required in terms of important dimensions such as height for example. It does not detail the important size of beams that are critical to the construction, etc.
Unlike the Master Plan shown above, these working drawings for the same project clearly show how many stumps the decking will have and exactly where they should go. (You cannot even see the decking stumps in the Master Plan.) This is just one detail of many covering three pages of working drawings that detail exactly how all the elements will be built.
The details shown in the working drawings remove any and all assumptions and dramatically reduce the risk of major mistakes being made in the construction of this garden. Mistakes that can be incredibly costly.
Can't a landscaper just use a scaled ruler?
In an effort to cut costs, clients can sometimes be tempted to have the landscaper try to work from the Master Plan in place of using working drawings. As you perhaps have already come to realise, circumventing the proper approach in a misguided attempt to 'save money' opens you and your landscaper up to making possibly huge assumptions that can lead to disaster.
Using our first example of the steps, without proper detailing of the steps your landscaper is onsite building away and you come out and say, "Those steps you are building are supposed to have LED lights under each one". The landscaper answers, "No, I never allowed for that, this will cost you extra and..." As the client you will find yourself shaking your head and wondering what other 'additional' costs are about to spring on you.
In the above example of the pool with decking, a building permit is needed to allow for the deck to be built. The building surveyor will ask for engineering and working drawings. Without working drawing you won't be able to get a permit, unless the engineer is willing to specify it all for you.
But even then, the landscaper has to interpret the engineering computations and rough drawings (not always the easiest task if you have ever seen some of these) and things end up getting lost in the detail.
This is again where the client gets frustrated and confused, "But I thought the vertical faces of the decking were all going to be the same decking boards, why have you used rough timber plinths?" Answer from the landscaper, "Because no one sees this side and I costed it that way to reduce the cost for you."
So many upsets, confusions and actual disasters can be easily avoided when the proper procedure of creating working drawings before proceeding with landscaping works is followed.
In answer to the initial question, "Can't the landscaper just use a scaled ruler?" Yes, they can but how accurate do you think this might be? A printed plan is never accurately scaled and when you try to use a ruler to measure the area or length of things, you are likely to be out by a large margin.
How landscaping costs are quoted
Depending on the complexity of the project, occasionally a Master Plan will suffice.
So many times over the years, we have received Master Plans from a client with a request for a landscaping quotation to build it. The response is nearly always, "We can give you an estimate but until the working drawings are provided, we cannot give you an accurate costing."
Engineering is often required for an estimate. Most engineers will then ask for working drawings so they have the dimensions to work from. Again, you can't escape the need for working drawings.
In the diagram below of a project in North Balwyn, the green section is a footing that has been specified separately in the engineers' notes. It is then added to our working drawings for clarification. As shown, dimensions are added so the position of the pillars is placed correctly.
Even the space where the sliding driveway gate sits is detailed. Detailing everything beforehand takes out the necessity of the landscaper continually discussing with you the client, any changes that need to be made during construction when things just seem to pop up.
What will give you the most peace of mind?
Ask yourself this, "Would you prefer to save a small amount on avoiding the cost of getting working drawings done or do you want to avoid the possibly much larger costs which can be incurred when your landscaper doesn't know exactly how things are supposed to be built?" It's a simple case of clarity vs disappointment and upset!
The detail shown here on the working drawings for this fence provides absolute clarity for everyone involved so there is no confusion.
It avoids any of these comments:
"But I thought..."
"But you said..."
"But shouldn't it be..."
Do you really want to be constantly saying these things to your landscaper during the works? They can lead to cost and time blowouts and costly misunderstandings.
The greatest peace of mind for you is to ensure you have absolute clarity on what to expect. Working drawings are the only way to guarantee this peace of mind.
Decide the right way for you.
Hopefully, this article has provided some useful information on why working drawings are so important to get the right outcome on your landscaping project. We also hope that it helped you understand how to make the right decision regarding them.
They are your best defence against misunderstanding and costly mistakes.
If you have any more questions about the importance of working drawings or other factors in the landscaping process, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or email.
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