Impacts of CAD on design realization

Complete and accurate design is critical for construction project success. Manifesting design intent in the constructed facility depends on coordinated design documents that are developed through design realization. This process evolves design intent from architects and engineers to contractors, through the production and review of shop drawings and other submittals. Information technology has been promoted as a tool to improve this process, but is not being fully utilized for this purpose. A case study investigates the impacts of computed aided design (CAD) on design realization. Comparative analysis between shop drawings prepared by hand and those done with CAD quantify notes, corrections and information transfer errors. Results support the hypothesis that utilizing CAD can improve design accuracy and lower project costs. Barriers to wider adoption, implications for practice and further research are discussed.