How To Read Truss Shop Drawing Dimensions

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The first requirement in constructing a building projection is to empathize architectural drawings, which are likewise called blueprints, or plans. If y'all want to know how to read these drawings and understand exactly what they mean, just follow these steps.

1. 1

   Read the cover sheet. This will contain the project name, the architect'southward name, address, and contact information, the project location, and the date. This page is very similar to the cover of a book. Many cover sheets will also include a cartoon of the finished product, showing you what the house will look like later it is constructed and landscaped.^[1]

2. 2

   Read the programme index. These pages will include an index of plan sheets, and sometimes their contents. It also will include an abbreviation primal, a scale bar with the plan scale indicated, and occasionally design notes.

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3. 3

   Read the location plan. This will have an area map, with an enlarged location map, ordinarily giving enough data to locate the project site from nearby towns or highways. This sail is not found in all sets of plans.

4. four

   Read the site plans. These pages ordinarily are numbered starting with a "C", such as Sheet "C 001", "C 002," and and then on. The site plans will comprise several sheets which prove the following information:

   • Topographical information. This will provide the builder with information regarding the topography, or the slopes or flatness, of the site.
   • The demolition plan. This sail (or sheets) will prove the structures or features which will exist demolished on the site prior to grading for structure. The items which will non exist demolished, such equally 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 structure.

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1. 1

   Know that you should never calibration a drawing. If yous cannot locate anything on the drawing with the dimensions given, get more dimensions from the Architect.

2. two

   Understand the architectural sheets. These sheets will usually be numbered "A", such every bit "A 001", or A1-10, A2-X, A3-X and then along. These sheets will describe and give measurements for the floor plans, elevations, building sections, wall sections and other oriented views of the building design. These sheets are broken up into many parts that brand upwards the structure document that you will demand to sympathise. The parts you'll demand to know are described in the steps below.

3. 3

   Read the floor plans. These sheets will show the location of the walls of the building, and place components like doors, windows, bathrooms, and other elements. In that location will be dimensions noted as distances between, or from centre to center of walls, width of openings for windows and doors, and changes in floor elevations, if the floor is multilevel.

   • Floor plans consist of various levels of detail depending on the stage of the projection. At stage D (planning) drawings may show only the major features of the infinite.
   • At a tender stage, drawings will be more detailed, illustrating all features of the space at a larger scale to let a contractor to toll the chore.

4. 4

   Read the ceiling plans. Here, the architect will show the types, heights, and other feature of ceilings in different locations in the building. Ceiling plans may or may not be depicted for residential pattern projects.

5. 5

   Read the roof framing plan. These pages volition betoken the layout for joists, rafters, trusses, bar joists, or other roof framing members, too every bit decking and roofing details.

6. 6

   Read the terminate schedule. This is unremarkably a tabular array list the unlike finishes in each individual room. It should list paint colors for each wall, floor type and color, ceiling top, type, and color, wall base of operations, and other notes and details for constructing the finish in areas listed.

7. 7

   Read the door/window schedule. This table will have a list of doors, describing the opening, "manus" of doors, window data (often keyed off of the flooring plan, case, window or door blazon "A", "B", etc.). It may also include installation details (cuts) for flashings, attachment methods, and hardware specifications. At that place may also be a separate schedule for window and door finishes (although not all projects practise). A window instance would be "Factory finish, aluminum", a door might be "Oak, natural finish".

8. 8

   Read the remaining details. This may include bathroom fixture layouts, casework (cabinets), closet accessories, and other elements not specifically noted on other sheets. Such as, but not express to: physical details, door and window details, covering & flashing details, wall details, door details, deck to wall details and others. Every project is unlike and may or may non include what other projects have. The Level Of Detail (LOD) is determined by each Architect for each projection. The growing trend is for Architects to accept more, rather than less detail, because the Contractors then take less guesswork and can more easily sympathize what to include and what to price. Some builders may or may non have comments virtually the LOD, only that has no relevance to what the licensed Architect who is designing the project feels is necessary to properly explain the design.

9. 9

   Read the elevations. These are views from the outside, indicating the material used in outside walls, (brick, stucco, vinyl, etc), the location of windows and doors from a side view, the roof slopes, and other elements visible from the outside.

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1. one

   Read the structural plans. The structural plans usually are numbered first with "S", as in "South 001" These plans include reinforcement, foundations, slab thicknesses, and framing materials (lumber, physical pilasters, structural steel, concrete block, etc). Here are the different aspects of the structural plans that you will need to read:

   • The foundation programme. This sail will bear witness 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 equally 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 forest or metal studs, concrete masonry units, or structural steel.
   • The intermediate structural framing plans. These are used for multistory structure, where each level may crave back up columns, beams, joists, decking, and other elements.

2. 2

   Read the plumbing plan. Plumbing cartoon pages are numbered beginning with "P". These sheets will show the location and blazon of plumbing incorporated in the building. Annotation: often, dwelling house design documents exercise non include plumbing plans. Here are the parts of the plumbing programme that you will need to read:

   • The plumbing crude-in. This sail volition show the location of pipes which are to be "stubbed up" to connect the plumbing fixtures to water supply, bleed/waste matter, 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 canvass volition show the location and type of plumbing fixtures, as well as the route pipes volition be run (overhead or through walls) for potable water and bleed, 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.

3. 3

   Read mechanical drawings. Mechanical pages are numbered outset with "M". This sheet or sheets volition show the location of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and ac) equipment, duct work, and refrigerant piping, also as control wiring. This is rarely indicated for single family homes.

4. 4

   Read the electrical plan. The electrical drawings are numbered beginning with "E". This sheet (sheets) shows the location of the electric circuits, console boxes, and fixtures throughout the building, as well every bit switchgears, subpanels, and transformers, if incorporated in the building.

   • 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 dwelling house documents.

5. v

   Read the environmental plans. These are as well known every bit BMP (Best Management Practices) drawings. This sail will point protected areas of the site, erosion control plans, and methods for preventing environmental damage during construction. There may be details in the BMP drawings showing tree protection techniques, silt debate installation requirements, and temporary tempest water drainage measures.

   • 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.

6. 6

   Know that all plumbing, electrical, and mechanical drawings are diagrams. Dimensions are rarely given and it is the responsibility of the builder to coordinate the placement of the utility then equally to arrange with the building code and the Architectural drawings. Be sure plumbing is located so that it matches upwardly with the desired location of fitting. Aforementioned goes for electric wiring for power outlets and calorie-free fixtures.

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1. one

   Acquire how to lay out a building footprint from architectural plans. To exercise this, you will take to locate the element of construction you are reviewing to implement a portion of your work. If you lot are laying out the location of the building, you volition first look at the site plan for location of existing buildings, structures, or holding lines so you take a reference point to begin measuring to your building footprint. Some plans but give a coordinate filigree position using northings and eastings, and y'all will demand a "total station" surveyor's transit to locate these points. Here is what you'll need to do to lay out a edifice footprint from the plans:

   • Lay out your building on the site by either the above referenced program or the measurements given on the site plan. Measure to locations, preferably corners, on 1 side of the building, and check for any "checkpoints" to verify the accuracy of your layout. If y'all cannot absolutely plant an verbal building line, y'all may have to suppose the location is correct and proceed. This is widely accepted in cases where the site is very large, assuasive for tolerance, only on a crowded lot or site, the location must be exact.
   • Establish the top you volition work from. This may exist a summit relative to a nearby roadway, or an tiptop adamant from body of water level. Your site program or architectural floor plan should have a bench marker(a bench marker refers to some item, such every bit a manhole lid or survey waypoint with a known elevation) elevation or a "top above existing grade" as a starting indicate.
   • Use your program to measure the location of each corner of the building, including offsets. Remember what exact element of construction you are using for your layout. Y'all may mark an exterior wall line, a foundation line, or a column line, depending on the blazon of construction and the most practical element for making subsequent measurements.
     • For instance, if you lot 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 y'all are edifice a wood-framed residential structure with a monolithic slab floor, the edge of the slab would be your best selection for the initial layout.

2. 2

   Reference the description of various sheets to find an chemical element of construction you lot are going to use in the work you volition perform. Plumbers use the Builder'southward floor program to locate walls and then the pipes they stub up will be curtained within the wall cavity when the building is synthetic, and then utilise their plumbing flooring programme to find out what types and sizes of pipes are required to service a particular fixture.

3. three

   Utilize the dimension scale where measurements are non provided. As a dominion, architectural plans are drawn to a "scale". An case would be, one inch (two.5 cm) equals x anxiety (iii m) (1"=10'), and then measuring betwixt to walls on the program sheet ways for each inch, the distance is 10 anxiety (three.0 k). A calibration rule will make this much easier, but exist careful to match the rule scale to the plan's scale. Architects ofttimes utilise a scale of fractions, such as a 1/32 scale, engineers unremarkably employ an inch per foot scale. Some plans or details are not to calibration, and should exist marked "(NTS)".

4. 4

   Read all the notes on a page. Often a particular element has special considerations which are more easily described verbally than drawn, and notes are a tool the architect will use to illustrate them. You may see a tabular array of notes on the side of a sail, with numbers identifying the annotation location on the plan (a number with a circle, square, or triangle effectually it) and a respective numbered statement describing the situation on the side of the sheet.

   • Sometimes in that location may be a single sheet or several sheets of Numbered Cartoon Notes that consolidate all or most of the cartoon notes for an unabridged prepare of drawings. Many Architects organize these numbered notes into a CSI (Structure Specifications Institute) method utilizing i-sixteen or even more than Divisions that categorize the drawing notes into subsections.
   • For instance: a note "4-127" may refer to a type of Masonry, as Division four represents Masonry. A notation viii-2243 may refer to a window or door component, considering Sectionalisation viii is Doors & Windows.

5. 5

   Learn to recognize the unlike types of lines the architects and engineers may utilise. You should have a specific keynote tabular array for section of plans, and this volition provide information on the abbreviations, symbols, and specific lines used in each section of the plans.

   • An example would exist that the electrical plans, a circuit may have the "domicile 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 exist indicated by a solid line, and concealed conduits by a dotted or broken line.
   • Because in that location are many dissimilar line usages indicating dissimilar blazon walls, pipage, wiring, and other features, you volition take to see private plan page "central notes" to understand them.

6. 6

   Use a Builder'southward Estimator to add dimensions when determining distances on your plans. These are calculators which add feet and inches, fractions, or metric measurements. Frequently, an architect volition not requite a measurement to a specific plan item, from a baseline such as the "'OBL" (outside building line), so you will need to be able to add the distances each feature which has a measurement provided, to get the total altitude.

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

7. seven

   Use CAD (Figurer Assisted Design) building plans. If you lot have a set of architectural plans in an electronic grade, as on a CD, y'all will need a version of the original "cad" program which created it to open the files. "AutoCAD" is a popular, but very expensive, professional design programme, and the designer will commonly include a "Viewer" on the disc which you can install on your computer to view files, so that actual plan pages appear on your screen, simply without the full program, you cannot dispense blueprint components or change the drawings. However, near Architectural firms know how to relieve their CAD and other computerized files every bit a PDF, which they will commonly electronic mail to you and you will be able to open and view (although non modify, every bit the Architects are responsible for the integrity of their piece of work).

8. 8

   Larn how to handle architect's plans. These sets of documents are often very large sheets, about 24" X 36", and full structure sets may include dozens, or hundreds of pages. They are either bound or stapled on the left edge, and allowing them to be torn from the bindings, ripped autonomously past mishandling, laid out in the sun to fade the ink, or left in the rain tin brand them difficult to use.

   • These documents tin can cost hundreds of dollars (U.s.) to supersede, so try to protect them, and have a flat, wide, protected work surface to unroll and read them on.

9. 9

   Read the specifications. Specifications are unremarkably printed and kept in a binder, and they list descriptions of methods and materials used in the projection, as well as testing methods, quality command information, geotechnical data, and other information useful in building the project. However, some Architects do include the specifications on the drawing sheets (to insure that the specs volition not exist misplaced).

   • Specifications are the architect'due south way of indicating the quality standards, materials, model numbers, and other characteristics of projects. Even single family homes often take specifications. Specifications are traditionally arranged in numbered sections, typically Sectionalization one-16, although these numbers have expanded considerably during the last decade.
   • Many Architects number their paragraphs and then 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.

10. 10

    Look for notes and symbols referring to "alternate bid items", "Owner Optional Upgrades" and "addenda." These may indicate portions of work which are incorporated in the Architect's drawings, but not necessarily in the builder'southward contract to construct, supply, or install. "NIC" is an abridgement for Not In Contract, which means a certain item will be put in a certain place by the possessor afterwards the project is finished.

    • "OFCI" or "GFCI" (Possessor Furnished, Contractor Installed, or Government Furnished, Contractor Installed) betoken the item is supplied by the customer, simply installed by the contractor. Read and understand all abbreviations used in your plans.

11. 11

    Revisions.Architects may issue addenda, which are changes fabricated to the documents afterward they have been released for behest. Many Architects locate a blank section, ofttimes in the lower correct corner of their sheets, just higher up the sheet number, reserved for a list of Revisions. Revisions are often numbered and enclosed inside a triangle, octagon, circle or other consistent symbol. To the correct of each revision number will be the date of the revision, then to the correct of that, a cursory description of the revision. Then on the drawing area of the sail, that numbered symbol will appear in the surface area where the revision was made, often along with a "revision cloud", which is normally depicted with a lumpy series of arcs resembled a drawing cloud, encircling the area in which the revisions where made. This allows everyone to understand exactly what has changed. Too, the Architect will commonly issue an email summarizing the revisions contained in each annex, sent simultaneously to the Owner and registered bidders. Information technology is and so upwards to the various bidders to convey this data modify to their subcontractors and textile providers.

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Add New Question

• Question

  In a commercial projection, what items are typically chosen out for shop drawings?

  

  These indicate feature's design and dimensions, and usually include Plan views, Elevations views, Sections views, Orthographic views and Axonometric views.

• Question

  What is an existing pole?

  

  An existing pole is a pole which is already in place on building site. That ways a new pole is not required and builders may need to work around this pole when planning and on the construction site. For example, if an existing building is only beingness refurbished then information technology is likely there will be an existing pole.

• Question

  Where am I most likely to observe the ceiling height on most architectural drawing sets?

  

  Ceiling height can commonly be found in an interior elevation drawing or a section cartoon. You may besides detect ceiling summit in a detail cartoon. If yous are dealing with acoustic ceiling tile for example, a particular or elevation drawing volition give y'all the height at which the perimeter track will be installed.

• Question

  What exercise you call the box on the right side of a drawing with the info in it?

  

  The "title cake" or "information block." This volition feature things like the date the drawings were created, the proper noun of the project, the drawing page number (A101, E101, etc.), the architect'southward visitor logo, etc.

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• Exist careful your set of drawings are "original size," since many sets of plans are provided in "full" and "half" size sets, you volition are able to scale distances with full size drawings without needing to calculate the scale via drafting rulers.

• If the drawings are truthful half size, you will need to split up your readings from your ruler by two. Notation: well-nigh half size drawings do not state they are half size or other. Basically to consider annihilation a one-half size drawing, it will unremarkably be less then a 24x18 (Arch C) sized canvas. Keep in mind, sometimes a half size canvas is called a half size even when its plotted from a 30x44 to a 11x17 size ready, rendering it no longer a true half size.

• Wait at business firm plan books or online to get an thought of the lines, measurements, and basic appearance of plans.

• Use a "triangle" type architect'due south or engineer's dominion for scaling distances on plans. These are shaped and then that they offer a flush contact with the plan page so exact positioning of the dominion is possible, decreasing the possibility of error.

• When doing actual construction from architect's plans, go along one assault-site to record changes with a reddish ink pen or pencil. These are called "redline drawings". When a job has been fully constructed, redlines are usually provided back to the drafter. These drawings are chosen "Record Drawings" (RDs) or "As-Builts". These are the site survey redlines which are different from the original prepare of drawings (aka corrections).

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• Be sure to obtain all necessary building permits before any structure piece of work is started. Building inspectors can stop work on whatsoever projection that requires a permit and does not have ane posted. Fines are too issued.

• When in uncertainty of a measurement or other description contained in the plans, consult the builder who drew them, rather than taking a chance on an error that tin can be hard to correct at a afterward date.

• Be aware that plumbing, electrical, and mechanical plans practise not always allow for each merchandise to take sufficient room in individual locations, so care should be taken to coordinate installation of the components of each trade to avoid conflict.

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Things You'll Need

• A "Plan Table"
• Architect's triangle calibration
• Engineer'due south triangle scale
• Highlighters are useful in marking programme notes for reference
• Architect's calculator

Near This Article

Article Summary 10

To read an architect's drawings, start past looking at the program index, which should include a key for reading whatever abbreviations used as well as a scale bar so you know the size of the structures in the drawings. And then, use the info in the index to assistance you examine the floor plans and other drawings. Pay attention to any notes written on the drawing since sometimes information technology's easier for architects to describe something rather than depict it. To larn well-nigh the different types of drawings yous may encounter, keep reading!

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