The terms, untangled
What measured drawings are
Short answer
Measured drawings record a building as it actually stands, produced from an on-site measurement rather than from old plans or assumptions. US practice also calls them as-built drawings or existing-conditions documentation - the same deliverable under different names: dimensioned floor plans, elevations and sections accurate enough to design, permit and lease from, delivered as CAD files.
What counts as a measured drawing
The test is the source. If every dimension on the sheet was measured on site - wall thicknesses, opening sizes, ceiling heights, the building as modified over its life - it is a measured drawing. If it was traced from original plans or estimated from photos, it is not, however clean it looks. Buildings almost never match their original drawings after a few decades, which is the entire reason the discipline exists.
Measured, as-built, existing conditions: the same thing
The vocabulary varies by who is asking. Architects tend to say existing-conditions documentation, contractors and permit offices say as-builts, and British practice says measured building survey - which confusingly has nothing to do with land surveying. All describe the same work: measure the building, draw what is actually there. When a drawing list asks for any of these, one on-site measure answers all of them.
What a building measurement service actually does
Four steps. Measure on site, with laser distance meters and a 3D laser scanner where the geometry earns it. Draft in CAD to a consistent layer structure and stated scales. Check before issue, so revisions are tracked rather than silent. Deliver in the formats the next person needs - layered DWG, scaled PDF, IFC on request. The value is not the measuring alone; it is drawings the next professional can work from without re-verifying them.
How they differ from design drawings
Measured drawings answer what is there; design drawings answer what is proposed. A renovation needs both, in that order - the design is only as good as the base it sits on, and permit reviewers compare the two. Getting the measured base wrong is how proposed work collides with a wall that was never where the old plans said it was.
At a glance
Side by side
| Measured (as-built) drawings | Design drawings | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | The building as it stands | The work being proposed |
| Source | On-site measurement | Design intent |
| Question answered | What is there? | What will be built? |
| Sits under | Design, permits, leases, records | Permit review and construction |
| Fails when | Dimensions were assumed, not measured | The measured base underneath was wrong |
Questions
Common questions
What scales are measured drawings issued at?
Typically 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch to the foot for plans, chosen with the drawing's purpose - and measured on site to tolerances appropriate to the output scale, so the drawing is as precise as its scale can honestly show.
What does 'existing conditions' mean on an architect's drawing list?
It is the architect's term for measured drawings of the building as found - the base sheets their design work sits on. If a drawing list asks for existing conditions, an on-site measured survey producing dimensioned plans, and elevations or sections where listed, is what answers it.
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What this applies to
Last reviewed: 2026-08-21 · Asheville, NC
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“MeasuredPlan gave us a clear starting point for our renovation. The site visit was professional, communication was easy, and the final measured plans were simple to share with our contractor and design team.”