If There's No Time to Do It Right, How Is There Always Time to Fix It?

The Importance of Pre-Surveying Locations Before Design: Avoiding Hidden Pitfalls in Renovation Projects.

Skipping the field survey prior to design leads to frustration.

In my 30+ years of managing construction projects, one of the most frequent and costly challenges I’ve encountered is the disconnect between what’s on paper and what’s in the walls and ceilings. This is especially true in renovation projects within older facilities such as hospitals, medical offices, industrial spaces, etc. - where the new designs are often based on outdated or incomplete drawings. The original blueprints and engineering drawings may have been accurate 10 or 40 years ago, but many times, "as-built" documents, which reflect the actual changes made over time, are lost, neglected, misfiled or not done at all.

When a renovation is designed solely using old drawings, without pre-surveying the existing conditions, the project can quickly go off track. In-house maintenance teams and outside contractors often modify spaces without properly documenting the changes, particularly in areas involving mechanical systems. Time and time again, I’ve seen designers assume that the existing systems have the capacity to support a new renovation, only to discover during construction that the systems are maxed out or, worse, improperly configured.

This disconnect can lead to delays, redesigns, and costly overruns.

• Why Pre-Surveying Is Critical

Pre-surveying - or physically inspecting and verifying the current state of the facility before finalizing a design is a vital step to prevent costly surprises. Facilities, often expect architects and engineers to design based on decades-old drawings. But these documents rarely reflect the small, undocumented changes made over time, whether it’s a reconfigured room, repurposed spaces, or changes to mechanical systems.

One of the most common oversights is in the HVAC system. Engineers will rely on the original blueprints, assuming there’s plenty of capacity, only to discover once the work begins that the system is already strained. This happens because system modifications - small changes here and there, over the years - often aren’t recorded or shared.

As a contractor, I’ve always made it a point to review the actual site conditions prior to bidding, looking for inconsistencies between the design and reality. Even though the design is typically based on old drawings, I know that things may need to be re-engineered once construction starts. I’ve learned to qualify my proposals to account for this reality, ensuring that clients understand there may be a need for redesigns and adjustments once work begins.

• Collaboration Between Contractors and Designers

In my experience, the best outcomes occur when architects, engineers, and contractors collaborate early in the process. Pre-surveying a space allows for the actual conditions to be incorporated into the design, minimizing the risk of surprises during construction. This not only keeps the project on schedule but also helps control costs.

For example, I make sure to stress to every architect and engineer I work with that we need to pre-survey the space before we finalize the design. By catching discrepancies early, we avoid expensive change orders, redesigns, and delays once construction starts.

• Conclusion

Pre-surveying isn’t just a recommendation - it’s a necessity. Neglecting this critical step can result in significant project delays, cost overruns, and frustrated clients. Contractors, architects, and engineers must work together to ensure that the actual conditions of the space are known before design begins. Doing so helps avoid the headache of discovering mid-project that the systems are maxed out, or that rooms have been reconfigured in ways the drawings don’t show.

At the end of the day, taking the time to pre-survey the site is a small investment that can pay huge dividends in project success.

Story By. Vernon Fitzwater