What are joinery drawings and who prepares them?
Joinery drawings are the detailed plans, elevations and sections for a home's built-in cabinetry, such as the kitchen, vanities, wardrobes and shelving. The designer or architect prepares the design drawings that set the layout, materials and finishes. The joiner then usually prepares shop drawings showing how each piece will be made. The contract sets whether the designer reviews them first.
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What do joinery drawings show?
Joinery is the built-in timber and board work in a home, from the kitchen island to the study shelves and the vanity in each bathroom. Joinery drawings describe each piece closely enough for a joiner to price it and make it. Elevations show the layout of the cabinetry, while a section or detail drawing explains the more complex parts, as the Kitchen and Bathroom Designers Institute (KBDi) notes in its drafting guidance.
The drawings record overall sizes and the materials for carcasses, doors and benchtops, along with how each unit divides into drawers, doors and open shelves. Hardware that matters to the design is identified, often with a note that refers to a hardware schedule. Services such as plumbing are usually documented separately. KBDi adds that the designer's service locations are indicative until the licensed trade coordinates them. Standards Australia publishes AS 4386 for cabinetry in the built environment, including kitchens and built-in furniture.
Who prepares joinery drawings?
Two sets of drawings are usually involved, prepared by different people for different purposes. The first are the design drawings, prepared by the architect or interior designer. They set out the design intent, form part of the documents you sign the building contract on and are what the joinery is priced against.
The second are shop drawings, prepared by the joiner or cabinetmaker. NATSPEC, the national specification system, defines a shop drawing as a drawing the contract requires the builder to submit for review against the design intent. Their content is the contractor's responsibility and they do not form part of the contract set. NATSPEC lists joinery among the trades that commonly call for shop drawings, while noting that simple joinery may not need the designer's review at all.
When are shop drawings finalised?
Built walls can finish slightly off their drawn positions, so ask the joiner when they will check site dimensions before the shop drawings are finalised. KBDi describes shop drawings as the information needed to make and assemble the cabinetry, including component dimensions, construction methods, hardware and machining. Where the contract calls for a review, it is your designer's chance to confirm that the joiner's version still matches what was designed.
Samples often travel with them. NATSPEC recommends that samples of materials such as stone are large enough to show their natural range and that approved samples are tagged and photographed. A change made after materials have been ordered may add cost, so talk to your builder before altering an agreed selection. Under NSW home building contract rules, any agreement to vary the plans or specifications must be in writing and signed by you and the builder.
When should joinery be designed?
Joinery works best when it is designed with the architecture rather than after it. Window positions, ceiling heights, wall thicknesses and the services in the walls all affect what the cabinetry can do. Our guide to interiors designed in from the start explains why making those decisions early gives a better result and earlier cost certainty.
For your own project, ask your designer when the joinery design drawings will be complete. Ask too who will prepare the shop drawings and how long the review step will take.
How joinery is drawn and built at SHORE
At SHORE Design + Build our interior designers resolve the joinery and finishes alongside the architecture from the first concept. Light is planned into ceilings, joinery and niches and set out with the electrical rough-in rather than after it, so nothing has to be fitted around the cabinetry later.
Our own carpenters and finishing trades then build and install what was drawn, carrying the joinery, stone and finishes through to handover. Explore our approach to interior design in the Eastern Suburbs or see how the whole home comes together through design and build in Sydney.
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