On some plans, I wonder why the architect and engineer even bothered drawing a set of plans based on the number of notes they have included. There can be more work located in the notes than what is shown on the drawings!
Estimator should notate on the plans which notes they have included or excluded in their estimate. I typically color code my lines through the notes. I select one color to cross off items that do not affect my estimate what so ever. When starting a new sheet, the first thing you should do is read all the notes and cross off the ones that don’t pertain to you. This will help eliminate an error of not including work associated with a note. It can also save you time required to estimate the project. There’s nothing worse than having to adjust your estimate because a note clarified that a portion of the work is actually an alternate.
Typically, there are two types of notes on blueprints. The first type of note is a general note. These usually will be stated on several if not all of the drawings. I think it’s more of a “CYA” for the architects and engineers. Especially when the note states something to the effect of all other associated work required for a complete and operational system. To me this says, hey we aren’t sure what we were doing, but it’s your responsibility to make sure everything is correct.
The second type of note is much more detailed. This usually correlates to something drawn on the plans but unfortunately doesn’t always match up to the plans. This is often used to help describe what is shown on the plans. These can be very dangerous if missed! A single note could represent thousands of dollars worth of work required.
Recently, I estimated a project that showed large bore stainless steel pipes going to a single existing tank. There was a note on the plans that stated this was typical for all five tanks! There was no other mention on the plans of these other four tanks so if I would have missed this note I would have missed almost 1,000 feet of stainless steel pipe.
Notes on a drawing are just as important as the drawing itself. Read the notes and save yourself headaches later!
