Actually, this is something we've run into a few times now (in fact, just earlier today...). I believe there may now wording in the contract that is sent to the client (before starting work) that we will need electronic versions of drawings (if the project warrants it), or the client will be billed extra for costs incured because of it.
So far, the way it has generally played out: Engineer says we must pay to get drawings. We refuse. We start trying to do the surveying, and realize that the plans do not contain enough information to reproduce - in effect, they are incomplete (BAD) plans. Rather than fix the plans and reissue them to all contractors involved, the engineer relents and sends us the electronics (usually with a disclaimer). This is the way it goes nearly every time. Whenever we've had this problem, we have NEVER gotten a set of plans we can just recreate from the paper set. There is ALWAYS critical information left off and/or improperly labeled. I won't comment on what I think of this, I will just say that we are not too proud to take advantage of it.
In the case today, the guy said company policy was NEVER RELEASE ANY DRAWING. He wouldn't even sell it to us. The job is relatively simple, and the engineer agreed to fix the problems with the plans rather than send us the electronics (which didn't matter to us, because this is a VERY SMALL job), so we let this one drop.
We think the whole practice is pretty scummy. After all, the client who is paying us to do the surveying is the same client who payed for the engineering/architecture. Withholding plans from us and forcing us to redraw them is not only error-prone and unnecessarily wasteful of time and resources, it is a waste of money for the client. So far, it's never reached the point where we had to contact a client and pressure the release of anything, or anything like that. The inherent laziness of the engineer or architect always wins out.
