A drawing register template for construction projects
A free drawing register in Excel — one sheet for the current state of every drawing, one for every revision ever issued — and a drawing transmittal to send with each set, plus how to make sure the site only ever builds from the current revision.
By Space Team·Updated
What a drawing register is
A drawing register is the list of every drawing on a project and the revision of each that is currently in force: its number, title, discipline, current revision, status and who issued it. Behind it sits a history of every revision ever issued, with the date and the reason.
It exists to answer one question without anyone having to phone: which revision should the site be building from? Work built from a superseded drawing is one of the most expensive mistakes on a project, because it is usually found only after it has been built.
A drawing transmittal is the record of one issue: which drawings, at which revisions, went to whom, for what purpose, on what date. The register tells you what is current; the transmittals prove who was told.
What to include
The template has two sheets. The register has one row per drawing and shows where each one stands today. The revision history has one row per issue and never loses a line.
- Drawing number
- The project's unique number for the sheet, such as A-602-E-104. Keep the numbering scheme the same across disciplines.
- Title
- What the sheet shows: "Kitchen Electrical Layout".
- Discipline
- Architectural, structural, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, interiors.
- Location
- The part of the building it covers — tower, floor, flat or room — so the site can find every sheet for the place they are working in.
- Current revision and date
- The revision in force and the date it was issued. Only one revision of a drawing is ever current.
- Status
- What the drawing may be used for: for approval, for tender, GFC (good for construction) or as-built.
- Issued by and issued to
- Who issued the current revision, and which parties received it.
- Transmittal number
- The transmittal it went out with, so you can show who was sent which revision, and when.
- Reason for latest revision
- One line on what changed and why. "Revised" is not a reason; "counter points shifted after shaft approval" is.
- Revisions issued
- Counted automatically from the revision history sheet.
Revision numbers and drawing status
Projects number revisions in different ways, and any of them works as long as everyone on the project uses the same one. Common conventions on Indian projects:
- R0, R1, R2 — the first issue is R0, and every reissue adds one.
- Rev A, B, C — letters, sometimes kept for preliminary issues and switched to numbers once a drawing is released for construction.
- P1, P2 for preliminary issues and C1, C2 for construction issues, so the prefix itself says whether a sheet can be built from.
Status says what a drawing may be used for. The four you will see most often are For approval, For tender, GFC (good for construction) and As-built. Only a GFC drawing should be used to build. A drawing marked for approval or for tender that reaches site is a mistake waiting to happen.
The one rule that matters: every drawing has exactly one current revision, and every revision has a date and a reason. Everything else in the register exists to make that rule easy to keep.
A filled-in example
Three sheets from a residential project: the general arrangement for one flat, and the kitchen's electrical and plumbing layouts. Below the register is the electrical layout's revision history — five issues in under four weeks, each with its reason.
| Drawing no. | Title | Discipline | Location | Rev. | Status | Issued by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-602-GA-010 | Residence General Arrangement | Architectural | Floor 06 · Residence 602 | V6 | GFC | Architect |
| A-602-E-104 | Kitchen Electrical Layout | Electrical | Residence 602 · Kitchen 602.04 | V9 | GFC | Electrical Consultant |
| A-602-P-202 | Kitchen Plumbing Layout | Plumbing | Residence 602 · Kitchen 602.04 | V4 | GFC | MEP Consultant |
| Rev. | Date | Reason | Issued by | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| V9 | 15 Sep 2026 | Counter points reissued after the shaft shift was approved. | Electrical Consultant | Current |
| V8 | 08 Sep 2026 | Pendant and counter points revised. | Electrical Consultant | Superseded |
| V7 | 03 Sep 2026 | Counter layout coordinated. | Electrical Consultant | Superseded |
| V6 | 28 Aug 2026 | Appliance points revised. | Electrical Consultant | Superseded |
| V5 | 21 Aug 2026 | Initial kitchen electrical coordination. | Electrical Consultant | Superseded |
Keeping the site on the current revision
A register only helps if what is on site matches it. On Indian projects, where drawings travel as prints, PDFs on WhatsApp and files named "Final-v2-latest", these habits do most of the work:
- Issue every set with a transmittal and get it acknowledged. The transmittal template has a block for the receiving party to sign or reply to.
- Withdraw superseded prints from site, or stamp them SUPERSEDED. An old print on the site office wall will be used.
- Never rely on file names. "Final", "Latest" and "Updated" mean nothing a week later. The register and the revision on the title block are the only authority.
- Quote the drawing and revision in every RFI and every set of minutes. Our RFI and MoM templates both have a column for it.
- Give the register one owner. On most projects that is the architect's office or the PMC's document controller. A register everyone edits is a register nobody trusts.
Common mistakes
- Two revisions of the same drawing both treated as current.
- No reason recorded, so nobody can say later why a revision was issued.
- Superseded prints left on site.
- Drawings for tender or approval used to build.
- Drawings sent on WhatsApp with no record of who received which revision.
- A register kept up to date for the first month and never again.
From a register spreadsheet to drawings that keep themselves current
A spreadsheet register is only as current as the last person who updated it. In Space, the register is the drawings themselves.
- Upload a new revision once. Space marks it current and keeps every earlier revision, marked superseded, for reference.
- Each revision carries a note on what changed and who issued it.
- A drawing belongs to the part of the building it covers, so opening a room shows the sheets for that room.
- A task carries the drawing it works from, and a revision can show the query that caused it.
- DWG and DXF files open on a phone or in a browser, without CAD software.
- Access can be granted per file or per folder.
Questions
- What is a drawing register?
- A list of every drawing on a project with the revision currently in force, its status and who issued it, backed by a history of every revision issued.
- What does GFC mean on a drawing?
- GFC stands for Good for Construction: the drawing has been released to be built from. Drawings issued for approval or for tender should not be used for construction.
- What is the difference between a drawing register and a transmittal?
- The register says which revision of each drawing is current. A transmittal records one issue — which drawings and revisions were sent to whom, when and for what purpose.
- Who maintains the drawing register?
- Usually the architect's office or the PMC's document controller. What matters is that there is one owner and that it is updated every time a drawing is issued.
- How should drawing revisions be numbered?
- Any consistent scheme works — R0, R1, R2; Rev A, B, C; or P- and C- prefixes for preliminary and construction issues. Agree it at the start of the project and use it on every discipline's drawings.
Drawings
Upload a revision once. Everyone sees which drawing is current, and every earlier version stays on record.