Bespoke joinery company in London. Drawn by us and made by Cochrane Bespoke, our joinery partner.
You drew a detail. It took weeks. It is why the client hired you.
The contractor says it can be built. The contract is signed.
Months later the joinery arrives on site. Does it match the drawing?
The answer is settled long before that day. It is settled at the shop drawing.
What a shop drawing is
A shop drawing describes the item for manufacture. It is not a sketch or a render.
It sets out the dimensions, the construction and the interfaces with the room.
Timber species, veneer and finish are called out. Joints and hardware positions are drawn.
Your design drawing says what the piece should be. The shop drawing says how the workshop will make it.
That translation is where intent is kept or quietly lost.
Review it with samples, not a render
A rendered image flatters. It hides the joint, the edge and the grain direction.
So review shop drawings against the approved design and physical samples.
Natural timber, veneer and stone all vary. Agree the acceptable range before production.
Keep the approved samples. They are the reference when the pieces arrive on site.
The sign-off loop
Confirm at the start who checks and signs off the drawings before production.
On most projects that is the architect or the interior designer.
The workshop submits. You review against your design. You approve or you mark revisions.
Revised drawings come back and the loop repeats. Nothing is cut until the drawing is signed.
This is the cheapest moment to change your mind. A line on paper costs little.
After ordering, a change may mean new drawings, new materials or remade work.
Dimensions come from the site, not the survey
A drawing can be right and the piece can still not fit.
Final dimensions depend on the finished interfaces in the room.
Plaster, skirtings, flooring and door linings all move the numbers.
Agree who measures, and when. Name the finishes that must be complete first.
That measurement hold point belongs in the programme, not in a phone call.
Coordinate the services inside the joinery
Cabinetry often hides lighting, drivers, sockets and smart controls.
Each needs heat to escape, wiring routes and a way to service it later.
So the joinery drawings must be checked against the electrical and lighting designs.
This is the same discipline that keeps a ceiling clean. Why your architect and contractor must work as one team explains why.
What the main contractor owes you
The main contractor runs the loop. It does not replace your judgement.
It should collect drawings from the workshop and issue them on time.
It should hold production until you sign. It should protect finished pieces from later trades.
That standard starts at tender. What a main contractor owes an architect at tender sets out the rest.
How NU runs joinery
Our kitchens, joinery and furniture are made by Cochrane Bespoke.
Drawings, samples and site checks sit inside one programme with the build.
So your detail is reviewed, signed and measured before anything is made.
That is how a detail arrives on site as drawn.
Have a project with joinery that must be built exactly as drawn?Fill out the contact form or call 020 7731 6841 and let’s get you booked in for a free call with Nick.
This is the work we do. Bespoke joinery company in London, or ask for a cost estimate.
Published 27 October 2026. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.
