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Design and Construction Document Phases: What Gets Printed at Each

By Eli Gewirtzman, Owner · Last checked Oct 25, 2026

Short answer: most building projects move through five phases, the same five named in the AIA’s standard owner–architect agreement (B101): schematic design (SD), design development (DD), construction documents (CD), procurement (bidding), and construction. Each phase ends with a set of drawings that people review on paper: rough review sets early on, then permit sets, bid sets, the build set for the job site, and record drawings at the end. Owners and building departments decide how many copies and what size, so check the project manual or the permit office before you print.

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The five phases at a glance

Phase	What gets drawn (AIA’s description)	What usually gets printed	Who gets paper
1. Schematic design (SD)	Study drawings: often a site plan, floor plans, sections, an elevation, renderings; overall dimensions and a first cost estimate	Review sets for the owner meeting; a few color sheets for renderings and site overlays	Owner, design team
2. Design development (DD)	Plans, sections and elevations with full dimensions; door and window details; structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing laid out; outline specs	Review sets for owner sign-off and consultant coordination	Owner, consultants, estimator
3. Construction documents (CD)	Everything needed to price, permit and build: full details and specifications	Permit sets; check sets at milestones	Building department, owner, contractor
4. Procurement / bidding	The CD set issued for bid, plus addenda	Bid sets, one per bidder, and addenda sheets	General contractors, subs
5. Construction	Issued-for-construction drawings, revisions, submittals	Job-site sets, revised sheets, shop drawing reviews; record drawings at closeout	Superintendent, trades, inspector, owner

The AIA notes these deliverables are common examples, not requirements; the contract spells out what’s delivered.

Phase 1: Schematic design

The architect works out the program, the basic layout and the zoning limits. Drawings are few and loose: a site plan, floor plans, a section or two, an elevation, maybe renderings. Paper here is for meetings. Print black and white for plans ($1.95 a sheet at any size) and color only for renderings and site overlays ($3.75). See color plan printing.

Phase 2: Design development

The design gets fixed: full dimensions, window and door details, and the structural and MEP layouts. Owners often review DD on paper. A university example: Texas State’s design guidelines ask the architect for nine full-size sets and two half-size sets of drawings at the DD submittal, which they place at about 35–40% of the design and construction-document process.

Phase 3: Construction documents

The CD set carries everything needed to price, permit and build. Two print jobs come out of it:

Permit sets for the building department. Counts vary by town; see how many plan copies a permit needs and permit set printing.
Milestone check sets for the owner. UNC Chapel Hill’s design guidelines, for example, ask for a minimum of seven complete sets at schematic design and five at design development and at construction documents, and say any set over 15 sheets comes in as hard copies.

Phase 4: Procurement (bidding)

The CD set goes out for pricing as the bid set, usually one set per bidder, with addenda sheets as questions come in. Print addenda as single sheets instead of reprinting the whole set. See bid set printing and what a bid set is.

Phase 5: Construction

The field builds from the issued-for-construction set. The trailer, the superintendent and each trade that needs paper get a copy, and changed sheets get swapped as revisions come out. For how to tell the IFC set from the permit and bid sets by the title-block label, see what “issued for construction” means. At closeout, record drawings show what was actually built. See as-built and closeout printing and printing revised sheets.

Full size or half size?

Owners may request full-size sets for the field and half-size sets for desk review. At 50% in both dimensions, 36×48 becomes 18×24; 24×36 becomes 12×18, which we do not print. See half-size vs full-size plan sets. We print ANSI C (17×22) and ANSI D (22×34), as well as the listed ARCH sizes, but not ANSI E (34×44). Confirm a supported sheet size before ordering; questions can go to support@printmyplans.com.

What each phase’s prints cost here

Example	Sheets	Printing (before shipping)
SD review: 8 B&W sheets + 2 color renderings, 3 copies	30	$69.30
DD review: 40-sheet set, 5 copies, B&W	200	$390.00
Permit: 3 copies of a 25-sheet set, B&W	75	$146.25
Bid: 6 bidders × 30 sheets, B&W	180	$351.00
Construction: 1 job-site set of 30 sheets + 5 revised sheets	35	$68.25

$1.95 per sheet in black and white and $3.75 in color at every size from 17×22 to 36×48, on 20 lb bond, with no minimum. Upload a PDF; orders placed by 3 PM ET on business days ship the same day to all 50 states and can arrive as soon as the next day. There’s no pickup; every order ships.

Frequently asked questions

What are the phases of construction documents?

The five standard phases are schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement (bidding) and construction, as listed in the AIA’s B101 owner–architect agreement.

What’s the difference between design development and construction documents?

Design development fixes the design: dimensions, materials, window and door details and system layouts. Construction documents add everything a contractor needs to price, permit and build it.

What drawings are in a schematic design set?

Usually a site plan, floor plans, a section or two, an elevation and sometimes renderings, with overall dimensions. The contract decides the exact list.

How many sets are printed at each phase?

The owner and the building department decide. One university’s guidelines, for example, ask for seven sets at schematic design and five at design development and construction documents. Check your project manual.

Is the CD set the same as the IFC set?

Not always. The CD set is issued for permit and bid; the issued-for-construction set includes changes made after permit comments and addenda. Build from the IFC set.

Can you print half-size review sets?

We print 18×24, which is half of a 36×48 sheet. We don’t print 12×18 or 11×17.