huangyhg

signing new copies of old drawing sets
occasionally i need to print out new sets of plans that have been previously issued and sign/seal them (contractor lost originals or other reasons). as the original sets may have been signed months ago, it seems like something is missing if i just sign with today's date. should i add a line under the signature saying when the original seal was or something else to that effect? i certainly don't want to give the impression that i have updated the plans (especially if there has been a code change in the interim). what do other folks do in similar cases?

you should be printing those from the original signed mylars or from scans of the signed mylars and no re-signature should be required. hopefully the mylars were not lost also
we scan in a copy of our stamps and signiture for each project, and attach the .jpg file to the autocadd file of the drawing.
if we need to reprint sheets, we print the autocadd file. if someone else needs to print the file, we make a pdf or dwf file of each drawing and send them the pdf/dwf's to print.
we back date our plans in situations like this. i'm sure someone will have an "ethical objection" to this practice, so fire away.
it's not the printing that is the problem, it's how you sign that is the question. i have been avoiding the backdating because it seems strange to sign something and put an old date on it.
i sign using the current date but mark it as a duplicate.
if the drawing is unchanged and i sealed it in the first place, i just sign it and use the current date on it.
the local jurisdiction should have kept an approved and stampled construction planset for its records. have him get a copy of that from them.
mike mccann
mccann engineering
i would caution against simply having your cadd guy replot the drawing from autocad and re-signing it. if any other engineers are like me, several things can happen to mess this up (all falling into the category of murphy's law):
a) you revised one of the sheets by hand and didn't tell the drafter to add the change to the cadd file
b) when your drafter plots the second time, someone has inadvertantly frozen a (critical) layer
c) when you plot the second time, someone has moved or renamed the xref files and they do not plot at all
d) or the worst of all, your drafter plots the wrong file. he probably grabs the pre-final submittal instead of the approved final one...
best way is to scan your signed plans and replot from pdf.
why just not scan the original set of drawings after they have all been signed off. if client or whoever asks for the drawings again (lost, etc. as you indicated), you just print off the scanned copy and stamp the drawing as "duplicate issue" and then sign off that the scanned copy is "as per original issue." you can date your note - but you will not be changing anything regarding the original drawing issue.
we keep copies of the sealed drawings and just run copies of those. if you don't have a sealed copy i would sign it and seal it with the orginal date. if party a is looking at party b's print they are going to spend an hpour trying to figure out if the drawing was revised. i would simply note on the transmittal that you have signed and sealed the drawings with the orginal issue date. then keep a copy of both.

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