How To Read Architect S Drawings With Pictures

Topographical information. This will provide the builder with information regarding the topography, or the slopes or flatness, of the site. The demolition plan. This sheet (or sheets) will show the structures or features which will be demolished on the site prior to grading for construction. The items which will not be demolished, such as trees, will be noted in the keynotes. The site utility plans. These sheets will indicate the location of existing underground utilities, so that they can be protected during excavation and construction.

Floor plans consist of various levels of detail depending on the stage of the project. At stage D (planning) drawings may show only the major features of the space. At a tender stage, drawings will be more detailed, illustrating all features of the space at a larger scale to allow a contractor to price the job.

The foundation plan. This sheet will show the size, thickness, and elevation of footings (footers), with notes regarding the placement of reinforcing bars (rebar). It will note locations for anchor bolts or weld plate embeds for structural steel, and other elements. A footing schedule is often shown on the first sheet of structural notes, as well as notes regarding the reinforcing requirements, concrete break strength requirements, and other written statements for structural strengths, and testing requirements. The framing plan. This will indicate the material used for framing the building. This may include wood or metal studs, concrete masonry units, or structural steel. The intermediate structural framing plans. These are used for multistory construction, where each level may require support columns, beams, joists, decking, and other elements.

The plumbing rough-in. This sheet will show the location of pipes which are to be “stubbed up” to connect the plumbing fixtures to water supply, drain/waste, and vent systems. This is rarely incorporated into a residential set of documents, such as for a single family residence. The plumbing floor plan. This sheet will show the location and type of plumbing fixtures, as well as the route pipes will be run (overhead or through walls) for potable water and drain, waste, and vents. These plans are included although most architects (for single family homes) already indicate the location of the plumbing fixtures on their floor plans.

Special pages found in the electrical plan pages may be “riser” details, showing the configuration of power supply wiring, panel schedules, identifying specific breaker amperages and circuits, and notes regarding types and gauges of wires and conduit sizes. Some of this information may or may not be included in single family home documents.

The requirement for a BMP plan originates under the environmental protection department of your local, state, or national governing authority. This may not be required, depending on the Authority Having Jurisdiction for single family homes.

Lay out your building on the site by either the above referenced plan or the measurements given on the site plan. Measure to locations, preferably corners, on one side of the building, and check for any “checkpoints” to verify the accuracy of your layout. If you cannot absolutely establish an exact building line, you may have to suppose the location is correct and continue. This is widely accepted in cases where the site is very large, allowing for tolerance, but on a crowded lot or site, the location must be exact. Establish the elevation you will work from. This may be a height relative to a nearby roadway, or an elevation determined from sea level. Your site plan or architectural floor plan should have a bench mark(a bench mark refers to some item, such as a manhole lid or survey waypoint with a known elevation) elevation or a “height above existing grade” as a starting point. Use your plan to measure the location of each corner of the building, including offsets. Remember what exact element of construction you are using for your layout. You may mark an outside wall line, a foundation line, or a column line, depending on the type of construction and the most practical element for making subsequent measurements. For instance, if you are building a structural steel building with I-beam columns which require setting anchor bolts to secure them, you may begin your building layout with the centerline of these columns, where if you are building a wood-framed residential structure with a monolithic slab floor, the edge of the slab would be your best choice for the initial layout.

Sometimes there may be a single sheet or several sheets of Numbered Drawing Notes that consolidate all or most of the drawing notes for an entire set of drawings. Many Architects organize these numbered notes into a CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) method utilizing 1-16 or even more Divisions that categorize the drawing notes into subsections. For instance: a note “4-127” may refer to a type of Masonry, as Division 4 represents Masonry. A note 8-2243 may refer to a window or door component, because Division 8 is Doors & Windows.

An example would be that the electrical plans, a circuit may have the “home run” “leg” (the wire going from the first junction box in a circuit to the panel box (the power source) highlighted or in darker ink than other circuits, and exposed conduits may be indicated by a solid line, and concealed conduits by a dotted or broken line. Because there are many different line usages indicating different type walls, piping, wiring, and other features, you will have to see individual plan page “key notes” to understand them.

An example would be finding the center line of a bathroom wall to locate the potable water pipe stub up. You may have to add the distance given from the OBL to the living room wall, then the distance to a hallway wall, then across a bedroom, to the bathroom wall in question. This might look like this: (11’ 5) + (5’ 2") + (12’ 4")= 28’ 11.

These documents can cost hundreds of dollars (US) to replace, so try to protect them, and have a flat, wide, protected work surface to unroll and read them on.

Specifications are the architect’s way of indicating the quality standards, materials, model numbers, and other characteristics of projects. Even single family homes often have specifications. Specifications are traditionally arranged in numbered sections, typically Division 1-16, although these numbers have expanded considerably during the last decade. Many Architects number their paragraphs so that they can cross-reference actual verbiage from the specifications onto their drawings using the paragraph numbers, which improves the coordination of the various trades.

“OFCI” or “GFCI” (Owner Furnished, Contractor Installed, or Government Furnished, Contractor Installed) indicate the item is supplied by the customer, but installed by the contractor. Read and understand all abbreviations used in your plans.