Many investors omit the descriptive part of the project, treating it as a boring technical attachment. Meanwhile, it is there that the key information about how the building is to be realized, what it will be made of and why certain design solutions are adopted. The descriptive part is not just a formal requirement, but a tool that organizes the entire design idea and connects it with the provisions of construction law.
In the project documentation, the descriptive part appears next to the drawing part and complements it, providing a verbal description of all the relevant elements of the investment. It contains information about the purpose of the building, its functional layout, basic parameters (e.g. area, volume, height), construction and installation solutions, selection of materials and compliance with technical regulations. It concerns both the entire building and individual industries - architectural, construction, sanitary, electrical and others. An example fragment of the descriptive part may read: “A single-family, detached, one-storey residential building with a utilitarian attic, designed using traditional brick technology. Reinforced concrete foundations, external walls made of silicate blocks, dense ribbed ceiling of Teriva type. Gable roof, covered with ceramic tiles.” Such sentences sound dry, but it is they who determine the compliance of the project with the law and are analyzed by the office when issuing a building permit. The descriptive part is also a source of knowledge for the construction manager and contractors. It helps to understand the intentions of the designer, explains the adopted technical solutions and makes it possible to carry out the work correctly. The investor, even if he does not analyze every sentence, should know what this part of the documentation contains and why it is not worth ignoring it.
For single-family houses, the descriptive part of the project is not very extensive, but, nevertheless, it performs an important function. There is information about the ventilation system, heating method, type of sanitary installation, heating systems, external compartments or thermal parameters of materials. These are data that can affect not only the course of construction, but also the subsequent use of the building. It is worth remembering that the descriptive part must be consistent with the drawings and the rest of the design documentation. What is drawn should be described, justified and in accordance with the norms. Inconsistencies between the description and the drawing may delay the obtaining of the permit or become the cause of errors in execution.
