How much is too much

I am in an arguement with management at the moment. When I started here there was nothing in the way of building drawings. The last place I worked had everything, mechanical, electrical, steam. in drawing form. we could sit in the office and decide the best place for a new installeation. Am I out of my mind to ask for the same thing here. I have already laid out the basic building and machine placement. I did this when they asked for a line setup and a safe area plan. I am getting slack for asking for a couple of days to finish the electrical, fire system, and air setup of the plant. If you were me would you push the issue to make your life easier or wait until it is needed and then fill it in???

I run into the same at my job. What I tend to do is make my life and work easier for me while at the same time productive for the company. I have spent many breaks and my own time off doing the same as you, and then when asked for them in time of need it is not a crisis on my part.

Its a matter of selling value.
If they don't have these things, and never had them, then they would not value them. In that case, you will have to show them why these things are good and how letting you have a few days to complete them is a good idea.

From my point of view, having these drawings is necessary and spending time on them is a good idea.

I agree that!

Do it for yourself before doing it for them. Certainly you'll gain experience and these drawings may let you know important info about the place that you can use lately when needed and nobody else will know it except you. This will be an advantage for you. Go ahead

Do I understand that the building was constructed without any drawings? Initially there had to be some basic ones for the contracter to work off of.

Building layouts with equipment is a necessity if you ever need to make changes. Our 50+ year building had all the initial bluelines converted to 2D CAD in the '80s by a contractor and since then I have "raised walls and pipes" on a 3D drawing where appropriate. The process is not complete, but it's getting better each time a new project is done in a specific area. I managed to get it done by adding a little cushion in each project's estimate so that these "upgrades" could be made. (A trick I learned from Scotty on Star Trek, always over estimate the time and then Kirk praises you as a mirical worker when you finish "early".)

Was it worth it? We are now surveying the facility to calculate Arc Flash and it sure make makes it easy to identify boxes, conduit runs, etc. so that wire lengths can be estimated.

Make sure that you institute change a control system so they stay up to date once the are on the master drawing.