Question:
Well, let me throw out a favorite commercial fire alarm question. You're going to install a fire alarm system in an existing commercial building. There are no blueprints. There are no floor plans of any kind. But you're going to need a floor plan to submit to your AHJ. You're no draftsman. Drawing a large rectangle on a sheet of paper is about all you can handle. What do you do now, other than looking for another line of work?

Answer: 1) Contact your AHJ and discuss your options on what they will accept. Will they approve a detailed Riser diagram complete with all devices as to be installed by floor or wing. Labels such as rooms and device labels included. On smaller jobs or jobs where the owner will not supply drawings or CAD we have successfully done this before. 2) Contract the job out to someone else. There are plenty of firms out there willing to take on the task for you. Contract them to survey and draw the building layout for you. My company will often contract out other people to do our work. We contract electricians to do our wire and conduit when we contract to the GC and not the electrical. We have gotten independent pipefitters to do our sprinkler systems when load was more then we had men. 3) You may have to learn CAD or drafting. Most commercial jobs "require" complete design layouts for submitted and as-builts when the job is done. Many people have gotten into hot water over jobs when the owner wants his as-bulits at the end of the job and the person doesn't have accurate drawings of what they put in.