In this guide 6 sections
Excel is enough for a drawing register while one person issues every set and projects are few. Practice software becomes worth considering when several people issue revisions, site and consultants need the current set, and fees are billed by stage. The deciding question is whether anyone can tell which revision is current without asking.
What a drawing register has to hold
Whatever the tool, the register carries the same facts. Every plan, section, elevation and detail gets a number. Each revision sits under that number with its reason, its author and its date.
Issue is the second half. A register that shows revisions but not who received them answers only part of the question. The site needs to know which set is current, and so does every consultant.
- Drawing number and title
- Revision, reason and author
- Date issued and recipient
- Acknowledgement of receipt
- Status, such as good for construction
Where an Excel register works well
A single architect with a few live projects can run a tidy register in a spreadsheet. Filters find a drawing quickly. Everyone already knows how to use it.
It works because one person updates it. That person issues the sets, writes the revision line and remembers who has the old print. Keep the numbering strict and the sheet in one shared place. That alone prevents many errors.
Where the spreadsheet starts to slip
Trouble begins when several people issue drawings. Copies of the sheet travel by email, and two versions disagree. A revised set goes out by mail while the site keeps working from an earlier printout.
The sheet also stands alone. Consultant drawings awaited, sanction queries, site visit notes and stage fees each live somewhere else. A stage gets finished on the board but billed weeks later, because nothing links the two.
What practice software adds around the register
Practice software keeps the register but ties other records to it. Transmittals carry acknowledgements. Consultant inputs are listed by project with the date each is due, and site visit reports reach the contractor with photographs and snags.
Fees follow the stages in the appointment letter. GullySystem’s Architecture Firm Management Software raises a stage bill once a stage is marked complete, beside the drawings issued for it. Sanction sets, queries and replies are dated and kept with the project.
- Transmittals with receipt acknowledged
- Consultant drawings awaited by project
- Site visit reports with snags
- Sanction submissions and queries
- Stage bills and fees outstanding
How to decide for your practice
Count the people who issue drawings and the projects running at once. Then count how often in the past year a site built from an old set. Those three numbers say more than any feature list.
If one person issues everything and the answer to the last question is never, stay with the sheet. If not, try the software on a single live project before moving the rest.
- How many people issue drawings?
- How many projects run together?
- Do consultants need the current set?
- Has site built from an old revision?
Drawing register health check
Pick one live project and list every drawing issued in the last month with its current revision. Ask the site and two consultants which revision they hold. Each mismatch is a line on the sheet, and the count tells you whether the register is working.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Does practice software replace AutoCAD or Revit?
No. Design stays in the tools you use now. The software registers what those tools produce, which revision is current and who holds that set.
Can an Excel register be moved into software later?
Yes. Your own numbering for plans, sections, elevations and details is entered as the studio writes it, with revisions under each number. A clean, consistent sheet today makes that move simpler.
Does it lodge sanction drawings with the authority?
Not on its own. Lodging still happens at the authority’s counter or portal. The record keeps the sets lodged, the papers filed, the queries raised and the replies your office sent.
Is software worth it for a two-person practice?
Perhaps not yet. With two or three projects running, folders and a drawing list may serve. Review the question when a second person starts issuing sets.