Part I · The job · Chapter 3
Who is in the room
Architect, designer, contractor, estimator, project manager, drafter, machinist, bench hand, finisher, installer: what each wants from a millwork set, what each can check, and who signs.
11 min read
A millwork set has one author and a dozen readers. Each reader opens it looking for something different, and each can check only part of it. Learn who they are, what they want, and what they can actually catch. Then you will know which sheet to draw for whom, and whose silence means nothing.
Two chains, one set
Your drawings travel in two directions. Up the approval chain: to the general contractor, then the architect or designer, sometimes the owner. Down the build chain: to the machines, the bench, the finish room and the install crew. The approval chain signs the set. The build chain uses it.
The documents in hand show the split. The Woodwork Institute's sample cover sheet has boxes for an ARCHITECT STAMP, a GENERAL CONTRACTOR STAMP and a W.I. LABEL, and contact blocks for the fabricator, the contractor and the architect. Its title block names a construction manager and an architect, a drafter ("drawn by") and a checker ("reviewed by"). The residential set has "drawn by" and "checked by".
No sheet in either set has a box for the machinist, the bench hand or the installer. They never sign. They are also the people most likely to find your mistakes.
The approval chain
The architect
Wants: the design intent, carried through. Proportion, layout, finish, orientation, and agreement with the specification.
Can check: whether your set matches the design. A201 limits the architect's review to "the limited purpose of checking for conformance with information given and the design concept expressed in the Contract Documents." It adds that the review "is not conducted for the purpose of determining the accuracy and completeness of other details such as dimensions and quantities."
Owns: the code. AWI 100 puts "compliance with building codes and local regulation" on the design professional, "not the manufacturer/supplier and/or installer." The Woodwork Institute sample goes further on anchorage: "It is the responsibility of the architect/engineer to direct and provide specific detailed requirements for anchoring of cabinets to walls/floors/ceilings."
Owes you: a timely review and a finish sample. AWI 100 says the design professional should "promptly review, clarify, comment on or correct, and return submittals in such sequence as to cause no delay", and "shall provide a sample of the desired finish (suggested minimum of 127 mm [5”] x 203 mm [8”])".
Reads: plans and elevations. An outsourcing vendor's guide to millwork detailing says the same from the other side: the architect "is more concerned about the layout and arrangement of joinery".
The interior designer
On some jobs the design professional is an interior designer, not an architect. AWI's submittal standard uses one term, "design professional", for both. The role in the chain is the same. The reach is not always the same.
AWI 100 says reviewers "should be familiar with Product fabrication and have an understanding or working knowledge of the referenced standard as well as the design concept." Note the word: should. The standard hopes for it. It cannot require it. A drafter on r/Millwork, a year and a half into the job, put the gap bluntly:
Very true point about the interior designers as well, they really have no clue what they're asking me to draw/build for them, lol. It's important to not skip over the details in all the custom work we've been doing.
The thread's original poster, r/Millwork, "Millwork drafting"
That is one drafter's experience, not a survey. The useful part is the second sentence. When the reviewer cannot judge construction, the detail on your sheet is the only place the construction gets decided. Draw it.
The general contractor or construction manager
Wants: a submittal that goes through first time, on schedule, and fits the trades around it.
Can check: coordination. A201 §3.12.5 has the contractor "review for compliance with the Contract Documents, approve, and submit" your drawings to the architect. The federal clause makes the contractor "coordinate all such drawings, and review them for accuracy, completeness, and compliance" and show its approval on them; drawings sent without it "may be returned for resubmission."
Owns: the other trades and the dimensions they must hold. AWI 100 §3.3: "The work of all other trades and assurance that the hold-to/guaranteed dimensions remain enforced is that of the general contractor, not of the manufacturer/supplier and/or installer." The contractor also communicates "design and field changes to all parties so that, if dimensions are changed, each subcontractor can be held responsible for their work."
What their stamp means: AWI 100 treats a contractor review marked "Reviewed", "Reviewed for General Conformance" or "No Exceptions Taken" as "Approved" or "Approved as Noted". A contractor's review stamp moves your set along. It is not a technical check of your joinery.
The owner
Wants: what was paid for, and a record of it. A201 §3.11 hands the approved shop drawings to the owner at completion "as a record of the Work as constructed."
Owns: owner-supplied items. The residential set marks the television "BY OWNER", and a printer/fax cabinet section reads "PRINTER/FAX BY OWNER VERIFY FITMENT". Any item the owner buys and you build around is a dimension you do not control. Mark it, and ask for the model.
Inside the shop, before the floor
The estimator
Wants: the job built as priced. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes cost estimators as people who "assess the time, money, materials, and labor required" and "read blueprints and technical documents in order to prepare estimates." In a millwork shop that estimate is made from the architect's documents, before your set exists.
Can check: whether your set still matches the price. A material, grade or hardware change on your sheet that the estimate did not carry is money. Show the estimator every such change before it goes out.
The project manager
Wants: dates. Submittal out, approval back, release to the floor, delivery, install.
Can check: status and sequence. Federal projects make the paper version explicit: the contractor keeps a submittal register, annotated "monthly with actual submission and approval dates" (UFGS 01 33 00). A201 asks for submittals "in such sequence as to cause no delay in the Work". Whoever keeps that register in your shop decides which set you draw first. Ask them what the register says before you ask what to draw.
The drafter
You. BLS describes drafters as people who "use software to convert the designs of engineers and architects into technical drawings." A British joinery textbook gives a different version of the job: the setter out, "an experienced bench joiner whose job is the setting out of joinery products". The British definition assumes the drafter came from the bench. That is the point of it.
You are the only person who reads both chains. You take the architect's intent, the specification, the estimate, the schedule and the site, and turn them into instructions the floor can cut from.
The build chain
The machinist
BLS describes woodworking machine setters, operators and tenders as workers who "use band saws, circular saws, hack saws, or other equipment to cut wood" and use "drill presses, lathes, sanders, and other types of woodworking equipment." The same BLS page says woodworkers must "read detailed architectural drawings, schematics, shop drawings, and blueprints" and operate computer numerical control (CNC) machines.
Wants: part sizes, material and thickness, edge treatment, grain direction, machining. The vendor guide lists what the floor needs from a set: sectional views, "machine cuts, edge banding", bills of materials, nesting, "individual part drawings with exploded isometric views", tooling profiles and tolerances.
Can check: whether each part can be cut as drawn, and whether the parts add up. A machinist notices a part that cannot be held, a profile that needs a cutter the shop lacks, or a panel that will not fit the sheet.
The bench hand
BLS: cabinetmakers and bench carpenters "cut, shape, and assemble parts for wood products" and often "design and create sets of customized cabinets, sometimes seeing a project all the way through to installation."
Wants: the assembly. Joinery, sequence, which face is exposed, where the hardware goes, and what arrives on the bench already machined.
Can check: whether it goes together. The bench finds the joint that cannot be clamped, the hinge that hits a shelf, the drawer that cannot open past the next one.
The finisher
AWI 100 names the finisher separately. A set's cover must list contact details for the "finisher firm", and finish samples must carry a label naming "the finisher, finish technology name and number, and steps used." On some jobs finishing is not yours at all: the Woodwork Institute sample's general notes say "painting/finishing by others".
Wants: which faces are exposed, semi-exposed and concealed, the finish system, the sheen, and the approved sample to match. The residential set's single general note, on every sheet, is for this reader and the client: "finishes to be reviewed and approved before fabrication."
The installer
AWI's installation standard says the installer "shall confirm the presence of wood blocking or metal strapping as indicated in contract documents" and, if it is missing, "shall seek written directives." It also says: "It is not the responsibility of the installer to scribe or fit to walls, ceilings, floors, or openings whose plumb, level, flat, straight, or square values exceed tolerances specified in contract documents."
Wants: where each piece goes, what it fixes to, how it is scribed, and what arrives assembled. The Woodwork Institute sample's elevations carry notes written for this reader: "4" high toekick may increase w/ shimming depending on job site floor conditions" and "shim to 34" max A.F.F." AWI 100 lists the installation firm as its own contact "if other than manufacturer/supplier".
Can check: the building. The installer is the first person to hold your set against the real wall.
The other trades
Plumbers, electricians, stone fabricators, drywall crews, appliance suppliers. The documents mark them on every sheet: "plumbing/fixtures by others", "electrical/fixtures by others", "all blocking for cabinet anchorage is by others" (Woodwork Institute sample); "stone top plumbing and appliances by builder" (residential set). AWI 100 says shop drawings "may also serve as a guide for other trades." Draw their interfaces so they can use it: cut-outs, blocking heights, service locations.
The whole room on one page
| Reader | Reads first | Can catch | Signs? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architect | Plans, elevations | Design intent, finish, code issues | Yes: architect stamp |
| Interior designer | Elevations, finishes | Design intent | Yes, as design professional |
| General contractor | Plans, interfaces | Coordination with other trades | Yes: contractor stamp |
| Owner | Elevations | What was bought | May review (AWI 100 §3.2) |
| Estimator | Material and hardware lists | Changes that cost money | No |
| Project manager | Cover, index, revision block | Status and sequence | No |
| Drafting checker | Everything | Drafting errors | Yes: "reviewed by", "checked by" |
| Machinist | Sections, part and material lists | Parts that cannot be cut or do not add up | No |
| Bench hand | Sections, details | Assemblies that do not go together | No |
| Finisher | Finish schedule, samples | Missing or conflicting finish information | No |
| Installer | Plans, attachment and scribe details | Anything that does not fit the building | No |
Read the last two columns together. Every reader who signs checks the look or the paperwork. Every reader who can prove your construction wrong does not sign.
Who can tell you the set is wrong
The answer is the shop floor. Nobody hands it a stamp, so nobody asks it. The drafter who started the r/Millwork thread came back, a year and a half into the job, with what worked:
I've definitely improved a lot and have done what you said and talked to the guys on the shop floor about the construction and what details are important to show on my drawings. It's been a massive help.
The thread's original poster, r/Millwork, "Millwork drafting"
Another voice, from r/woodworking: a professional woodworker in "custom stairs, architectural millwork, and cabinetry" whose company wants them to become the stair drafting specialist, "as I'd be the only who can build and draw them as well." One person's workplace. It shows what a shop values: the drafter who can build.
How to use the room
- Draw each sheet for its reader. Elevations for the design professional. Sections and details for the floor. Attachment and scribe details for the installer. The vendor guide warns that detailing everything for everyone makes clutter, and that standard items such as screw type and length can come off the drawing.
- Treat approval as a design check. The contract says it is. Get the construction check somewhere else.
- Walk the set to the floor before it goes out. Ask a machinist about parts and a bench hand about assembly. Ask what they would have to guess.
- Ask the installer about the building. What blocking exists, which walls are out, what the access route is.
- Name the others. Every "by others" label tells a trade where its scope starts. A missing label leaves a gap nobody owns.
Sources
- American Institute of Architects, A201-2017 General Conditions, §§3.11, 3.12.5 and 4.2.7 (owner-issued sample copy). Limits of the architect's review, contractor's review and submission, record copy to the owner. Primary.
- Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.236-21(e), acquisition.gov. Contractor coordination and approval of shop drawings. Primary.
- Architectural Woodwork Institute, AWI 100 – Submittals, §§3.2.1, 3.2.3, 3.2.5.2, 3.3 and 3.4, awinet.org, read 21 September 2026. Contacts for installer and finisher, reviewer familiarity, contractor stamps, contractor responsibility for other trades, design professional's code, review and finish-sample duties. Primary.
- Architectural Woodwork Institute, ANSI/AWI 0620 – Finish Carpentry/Installation, §3.1, awinet.org (archived page, 2018 edition as served). Installer's blocking check and scribing limits. Primary.
- US Unified Facilities Guide Specifications, UFGS 01 33 00 Submittal Procedures (August 2026), wbdg.org. The submittal register and its monthly annotation. Primary.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Drafters; Woodworkers; Cost Estimators (bls.gov/ooh, pay data May 2025). Role descriptions quoted. Primary.
- Woodwork Institute, Sample Shop Drawings. Stamp boxes, title block fields, anchorage note, general notes on work by others, toe-kick and shim notes. Document.
- A residential millwork submittal, 16 sheets. "Drawn by / checked by", "BY OWNER", "VERIFY FITMENT", "BY BUILDER", the finishes note. Not reproduced: live job. Document.
- Pearson, Level 2 NVQ/SVQ Diploma Carpentry and Joinery, 3rd edition, Unit 2034. Definition of the setter out. Document (published textbook).
- Ripudaman Singh, "Essential Details You Should Look For in Millwork Drawings", hitechdigital.com, 2 July 2024, an outsourcing vendor's blog. What the architect and the floor each want; the clutter warning. Claimed.
- r/Millwork, "Millwork drafting", the original poster's follow-up comments; r/woodworking, "How did you learn to draft?", a professional woodworker's comment. Reported.