Guides › Project types · Updated September 10, 2026

SD, DD, CD: construction document phases and what gets printed at each one

Every project produces a sequence of drawing sets. Each has a different audience, a different level of detail, and different printing needs. Here’s the lifecycle from a print shop’s chair.

1. Schematic Design (SD)

What it is: early concepts — site diagrams, massing, rough plans, a few elevations. Enough to get owner buy-in and rough cost.

Who reads it: the owner, maybe a cost estimator.

Printing: small counts, often color, sometimes ARCH C or ledger. A presentation set on 24# bright white or coated stock looks the part. 2–4 copies.

2. Design Development (DD)

What it is: plans, sections, elevations at real scale; systems selected; materials and major dimensions fixed. Roughly 50–70% of final content.

Who reads it: owner, consultants (structural, MEP, civil) coordinating their work, a cost estimator for a real budget.

Printing: full-size ARCH D, B&W, a few copies for coordination. Half-size sets are common for owner review. 4–8 copies.

3. Construction Documents (CD)

What it is: the complete, coordinated set — every plan, section, detail, schedule, and specification needed to permit, bid, and build. 100%.

Who reads it: everyone. This is the set that gets printed in volume.

Printing: ARCH D (or E), 20# bond, B&W. The CD set is the source for the next three sets.

4. Permit set

What it is: the CD set (or the jurisdiction’s required subset) submitted for plan review.

Who reads it: the building department.

Printing: typically 2–3 hard copies plus PDF; 20# bond; folded if the office wants it; sealed by the design professional. Full permit-set guide →

5. Bid set

What it is: the CD set marked “ISSUED FOR BID,” plus the project manual, distributed to bidders.

Who reads it: GCs and subs pricing the work.

Printing: one set per bidder plus owner/architect/spares — often 10–20 sets. 20# bond, B&W. Half-size supplements for non-scaling trades. Full bid-set guide →

6. Addenda and bulletins

What it is: revised or added sheets issued during bidding (addenda) or construction (bulletins / ASIs).

Printing: just the affected sheets, distributed to every holder of the set. Numbered and logged.

7. Conformed set

What it is: the CD set with all addenda incorporated, issued at contract award.

Printing: a handful of full sets for the GC, owner, architect, and major subs. Often 24# bond because these live through construction.

8. Construction / field set

What it is: the working drawings on the jobsite — the conformed set, marked up daily.

Printing: 24# bright white, full size. Reprinted as sheets get destroyed. Usually 2–4 sets in the trailer plus sheets for individual trades. This is where durability matters.

9. Shop drawings and submittals

What it is: fabricator drawings (steel, millwork, curtain wall) submitted for the architect’s review. Not the architect’s drawings — the sub’s.

Printing: varies wildly by trade; often ARCH D or ledger, small counts, sometimes color. Submittal packages are letter/ledger, bound.

10. As-built / record drawings

What it is: the drawings updated at completion to show what was actually built.

Printing: 1–2 archival sets. 24# bond minimum; mylar or vellum for long-term institutional records. Also a PDF for the owner.

Print budget across a project

Rough sheet counts for a 30-sheet commercial CD set:

Phase	Sets	Sheets	Notes
SD	3	~30	Color, presentation
DD	6	~180	Mixed full/half
Permit	3	90	+ PDF
Bid	14	420	+ project manuals
Conformed	5	150	24#
Field (over project)	4 + reprints	~200	24#
Addenda / bulletins	—	~60	Sheets only
As-built	2	60	24# / mylar
Total		~1,190 sheets

At $2.00/sheet B&W with volume discounts, that’s roughly $2,000–$2,400 in drawings over the life of a mid-sized commercial project — versus $7,000+ at big-box counter rates. Cost guide →

Frequently asked questions

What does CD mean in construction drawings?

CD = Construction Documents — the complete, coordinated set of drawings and specifications used to permit, bid, and build the project. It's the phase after Design Development (DD) and before construction.

What's the difference between a CD set and a permit set?

A permit set is the CD set (or the required subset) submitted to the building department. Same drawings, specific copy count and stamping rules. Often 'CD set' and 'permit set' are the same PDF printed for different audiences.

What are as-built drawings?

The drawings updated at the end of construction to reflect what was actually built — field changes, relocated utilities, substitutions. Usually printed as one or two archival sets on 24# bond, sometimes on mylar for long-term records.

What is a conformed set?

The CD set with all addenda and bid-phase changes incorporated into the drawings, issued at contract award so the construction team works from one clean set instead of a base set plus a stack of addenda.

Related guides

• Permit set printing requirements — How many copies, what size, what paper, wet stamp vs digital seal, folding, and jurisdiction quirks for permit sets in NJ, NY, and PA — plus a pre-submission checklist.
• Bid set printing & distribution — A practical guide to printing and distributing bid sets: set counts, what goes in, paper choice, addenda, multi-address shipping, and how to budget a 12-sub distribution.
• Blueprint sheet sizes (ARCH / ANSI / ISO) — Every architectural and engineering sheet size — ARCH A–E, ANSI A–E, ISO A-series, 30x42 — in inches and mm, plus which to use for permit, bid, and civil sets.