Contruction - what should you have documented? Water pipes, electrical cables, types of walls?

[OneMoreFarang]

Currently I renovate my condominium from scratch. Mostly one contractor does the job. And he has teams for walls, plumbing, etc. I guess that is standard procedure. And the contractor has drawings how things should be build and, hopefully, how they were actually built.

 

I am mostly satisfied with the work in my place. But I am not so sure if the builders do everything exactly like plan. And I am also not sure if the contractor checks this in detail and documents this in detail.

An example: Water pipes and electrical pipes/cables are normally straight down from the ceiling to where they are needed. It they are straight down then that is easy. I.e. later we see a water stop valve below the sink and, if the ceiling is visible, we see a water pipe exactly above at the ceiling. That is best case scenario.

But sometime things are more complicated. I.e. I have a water heater below the kitchen sink. That also supplies water to the bathtub, which is on the opposite side of that wall maybe one meter away. Where exactly is that pipe? Now I made some pictures while it is still in construction. If I wouldn't have these pictures, then I wouldn't know where that pipe is.

I want to know all those details in case I want later, maybe after years, i.e. drill a hole in the wall. The new water pipes are plastic, so I won't be able to detect them with a metal detector.

 

I am sure many people here built their home or renovated their place and then, after years, think that they should have documented certain details which they and the contractor forgot to document. Which information/documentation do you miss now which could have been easily done when your place was built?

 

Here are some of the things which I think are important. Please let me know if I forgot something.

- fresh water pipes

- waste water pipes

- electrical pipes and cables

- drains for ACs

- AC coolant pipes

- sprinkler system (should be obvious to see)

- different wall types (i.e. maybe there are old walls with hollow red bricks and new walls with lightweight bricks. They need different anchors.

- mark similar cables. I.e. I color coded the outside of some electrical cables to make it easy to see which cable is which.

- what else?

[Dan O]

In normal commercial construction there are a set of plans called "As Built" plans. Its a set of construction plans that denote what was constructed, with any changes "red lined" and noted. In Thailand not so much.

 

If you had any plans drawn up to use as a guide for the contractor it would be wise to sign off on each phase of construction with the contractor for both approval\acceptance and any changes made to the plan.

 

Depending on the stage of construction you're at currently you may be able to do that and back track to capture some or all of that info.

 

Its helpful for later construction you may do or for future owners purposes. 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, Dan O said:

In normal commercial construction there are a set of plans called "As Built" plans. Its a set of construction plans that denote what was constructed, with any changes "red lined" and noted. In Thailand not so much.

 

If you had any plans drawn up to use as a guide for the contractor it would be wise to sign off on each phase of construction with the contractor for both approval\acceptance and any changes made to the plan.

 

Depending on the stage of construction you're at currently you may be able to do that and back track to capture some or all of that info.

 

Its helpful for later construction you may do or for future owners purposes. 

Thanks. I see the contractor regularly and sometimes I received updated plans. But until now I didn't talk to him about every single detail. And I would be very surprised if he would record every detail.

 

It seems some builders have sometimes crazy ideas to "optimize" what they should do. If we are lucky then we discover these changes. But I am sure there are things which are not according to plan and which we didn't notice.

 

Currently I take almost daily lots of pictures with changes of that day. So I should be able to see some details even if I didn't really notice them in time. 

[Dan O]

24 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks. I see the contractor regularly and sometimes I received updated plans. But until now I didn't talk to him about every single detail. And I would be very surprised if he would record every detail.

 

It seems some builders have sometimes crazy ideas to "optimize" what they should do. If we are lucky then we discover these changes. But I am sure there are things which are not according to plan and which we didn't notice.

 

Currently I take almost daily lots of pictures with changes of that day. So I should be able to see some details even if I didn't really notice them in time. 

Yes documenting what's done is always helpful. If started at the beginning of construction and matched to the plans its an easy way to both capture and approve payment schedules and noting details for future reference. 

[The Theory]

The best is taking photos during projects. Then you won't miss anything that is not documented or mentioned by the contractor.  

[Tropposurfer]

I employed a structural engineer/surveyor (Englishman) recommended by one of the Westerner real estate agents on the island that deals with falang owners for our build.

 

We contracted and liaised from the very beginning, all meetings with developer architect before we even broke ground.

 

This ensured the specs I wanted were incorporated into the build e.g, Aussie spec wiring, ducted air-con, smart- Alexa wired etc.

He was contract to, and signed off on every stage of the build and fit-outs.

We got a superb home with very minimal build-glitches.

 

 

 

[Bill97]

Back up your photos at least 3 places then photo those back up locations, rinse and repeat.  If you want to sleep.  

[OneMoreFarang]

18 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Back up your photos at least 3 places then photo those back up locations, rinse and repeat.  If you want to sleep.  

And make sure you mark them clearly as backup and make sure you don't edit anything in the backup folder.

I know too many people with too many backups and all are different from what they actually wanted to backup...