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Design & documentation · Nationwide
Good design starts with knowing what is actually there. True North organizes available property records, documents accessible conditions and coordinates the investigations needed to establish useful backgrounds for your proposed work.
For owners, tenants, designers and contractors planning a remodel, addition, equipment change, property conversion or development. Available plans are a starting point; their age, accuracy, permissions and limits matter.
Request a project reviewWe identify the record, its source, the project decision it informs and any interpretation that belongs with a qualified professional.
Compare supplied deeds, legal descriptions, boundary and topographic surveys, recorded plats, easements and right-of-way information. Identify title exceptions, restrictions, building lines, elevations and development conditions affecting the proposed work. Legal interpretation goes to the appropriate attorney; boundaries and certified survey findings stay with the surveyor.
Collect private appearance standards, design criteria, submission dates, prior decisions, construction procedures and access restrictions. Identify landlord requirements for roof work, structural limits and utility responsibilities before the team relies on an assumption.
Research available permit numbers, scope, status, expiration, inspection and closeout records. Recover approved drawings and compare them with owner or contractor copies. Reconstruct prior applications and submission receipts, including withdrawn or incomplete work, certificates, violations, deadlines and unresolved requirements.
Identify the age, assumptions and limits of prior engineering studies. Confirm permission to reproduce, modify, distribute or submit drawings owned by others. An old approval or report does not establish that every condition is unchanged.
Available drawings and maintenance records help identify what may be retained and what needs further investigation.
Review room arrangements, openings, levels, assemblies and area information alongside foundations, framing, loads and connections. Coordinate mechanical equipment, outside air, exhaust and controls; electrical service, panels, lighting and loads; and water, waste, vent, gas and storm piping records with the responsible disciplines.
Review civil grading, drainage, paving, utilities and off-site interfaces. Pool records may include structure, hydraulics, equipment, barriers and decks. Landscape and irrigation records identify planting, protected trees, water source, backflow, zones and controls. Fire-system records include sprinklers, alarms, suppression, fire lines and acceptance information.
Identify recorded envelope assemblies, system efficiencies and modeled conditions. Use equipment service history to flag replacements, recurring problems and assumptions needing specialist investigation before reuse.
The agreed field scope sets the areas, measurement needs, access restrictions and limitations. Observations are not certification of hidden conditions.
Record accessible room dimensions, offsets, diagonal checks, walls, columns, openings and circulation. Document ceiling heights, grids, soffits and visible system locations; exterior elevations, façades and roof edges; and accessible roof equipment, penetrations and drainage. Identify visible structural members, supports, openings or distress for professional assessment.
Measure door widths, heights, swings, thresholds, hardware and clearances; window openings, sill and head heights; stairs, landings, risers, treads, headroom, guards and handrails; and ramps, slopes, landings and edge conditions. Record the agreed accessible routes, fixtures, counters and other clearance-dependent conditions.
Record visible meters, panels, disconnects, backflow assemblies, plumbing fixtures and safely accessible labels. Mechanical and electrical inventories capture model information, ratings, locations, apparent connections and service access for qualified evaluation. Note floor, wall, ceiling and wet-area finishes and their observed condition.
Document parking stalls, access aisles, signs, circulation, fire access, gates, hydrants and obstructions. Record visible drainage, swales, inlets, outfalls, ponding and retaining features, along with vegetation and tree concerns. Flag apparent encroachments and neighboring grade or access relationships for survey or legal evaluation; field observation does not establish a boundary.
Measure agreed equipment delivery routes, turns, doors, staging areas and vertical clearances. Record fences, gates, contractor access and occupied-area restrictions. Organize dated photographs by location and issue, then distinguish the available plans, observed conditions and proposed arrangement in the drawing record.
When ordinary records and accessible measurements are insufficient, define the question before commissioning additional work.
Coordinate boundary, ALTA/NSPS land title, topographic, elevation, easement and right-of-way survey scopes with the licensed surveyor. During construction, form, foundation, staking and as-built survey products may address location, elevations, tolerances or certified completion information. The surveyor determines the professional product and its limitations.
Coordinate laser scanning, point clouds, photogrammetry or authorized drone documentation around coverage, control information, accuracy and the intended drawing or model output. Capture technology does not remove the need for qualified interpretation or verification.
Coordinate subsurface utility engineering, private locating, selected utility potholing and ground-penetrating radar with qualified providers. Record investigation limits and follow-up needs before relying on marked or interpreted information. Exposure work needs appropriate authorization and construction interfaces.
Coordinate geotechnical borings, sampling, laboratory work and recommendations with proposed loads and development plans. Selective openings require approved access, protection, specialist observation and repair. Material tests and hazardous-material investigations are separately defined before design or construction relies on unverified conditions.
The deliverable should make both known information and remaining uncertainty easy to identify.
The agreed handoff can include measured drawing backgrounds, a property-record index, dated photographs and clearly labeled unknowns. We distinguish information observed in the field from information copied from records, identify access or measurement limits and assign the remaining investigation decisions.
Share available plans and approvals, authorize access and identify occupied or restricted areas. Area, travel and access arrangements, record quality, required accuracy and specialist investigations affect fee and timing. Surveys, testing and professional reports have their own scopes and costs.
Before you begin
No. Measured building drawings record the agreed accessible conditions. Property boundaries, legal descriptions and certified survey products require the appropriate survey scope and responsible surveyor.
An assumption can be recorded as provisional, but it should not be presented as verified. The design team identifies what needs records, testing, locating or an authorized opening before dependent work proceeds.
An existing record set may reflect earlier instructions or contractor information rather than a new field verification. We identify the source, date and limits, then compare it with accessible conditions where included in the engagement.
No. Tell us what records are available and which areas can be accessed. We can scope records research, measurements and specialist investigations around the proposed work.
New design and permit drawings are separate deliverables unless included in the proposal. Existing-condition documentation establishes the background on which that work can proceed.
Your next step
Start with what you know. We’ll help define the path ahead.