Construction Documentation

of a drawing should not overshadow and muddy the necessary information that followers of convention rely on for understanding a landscape-grading drawing or any other technical drawing.

Finally, there is a nearly universal application of graphic communication conventions in landscape architecture throughout the United States and other countries. As globalization becomes increasingly the norm in landscape architecture and related professions, drawing conventions become more universally applied, notwithstanding the use of metric versus imperial systems of measurement—yet another topic for the interested student to investigate elsewhere in the literature.

Up to this point, the term “drafting conventions” has been used to describe primarily graphic communication principles and considerations. In professional practice, the term “documentation”—specifically “construction documentation”—is commonly used when describing graphic communication requirements. Design and construction documentation is integral to the design process. Design is a process involving critical thinking, incorporating a wide range of environmental, cultural, social, economic, and governmental topics. The result of the critical thinking must be effectively and clearly communicated in drawings and words, in order to be understood by others. The quality of the documentation has a significant impact on the design outcome and the process that develops into construction. Although appropriate documentation does not guarantee good design, it can contribute to the understanding of the design so that the intent can be successfully communicated to others, and lead to its successful implementation. Effective documentation can facilitate the process of collaboration between design disciplines working closely together. Effective design and construction documentation have following attributes in common: 1. They are accurate, with minimum conflicts and redundancies. The various components (graphic and written) do not contain conflicting information. Eliminating redundancies can minimize conflicting information. A guiding principle: Say it or draw it once.