As-built drawings and why they save you in three years
What actually got built is never exactly what was drawn. Mark up the changes now, while you still remember where the mainline runs and which cable goes where, and future-you will not dig through a new lawn to find out.
Not planted yet — but the plan for it is final
The practical task and the checklist below are exactly what this lesson will teach. What is missing is the written explanation and the curated links, each one fetched and verified before it ships.
In the meantime the checklist is genuinely usable on its own. Take it outside.
Do this on your own block
Field journal entry
As-built drawings
Mark up your documentation with what was actually built: real dimensions, actual irrigation and cable routes, valve and junction positions, soakwell locations and depths, and any substituted material or plant.
Saved to your workbook
Sign in to write this straight into your project workbook — or just keep it in a notebook.
Checklist
- Every buried service marked with dimensions from two fixed points
- Photographs of open trenches filed with the drawings
- Plant substitutions recorded against the original schedule
- Drawings stored somewhere you will find them in five years