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Construction Document Sheet Numbers and

Sheet Order
Many architecture offices have their own standards with regard to the order of sheets in a construction
document set and most architects are quite opinionated about whether the Structural drawings belong before
or after the Architectural drawings. However, American clients are starting to demand that architects follow
the United States National CAD Standard. The information below is adapted from and meets the US National
CAD Standard.
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Components of the Sheet Number Architectural Abbreviations

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There are three components that make up sheet numbers in a set of
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construction documents. The first two letters, the discipline
designators
designators, identify the construction discipline that the sheet covers - Sheet Metal Gauge and Thickness
architectural sheets, plumbing sheets, structural sheets, etc. The third
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digit, the sheet type
type, is a number that represents the type of drawings
that are on the sheet - plans, sections, details, schedules, etc. The final Electrical Plan Symbols - Security
two digits, the sequence numbers
numbers, are numbers that simply place the
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sheets in order.

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Each component is explained in more detail below.
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Discipline Designators HVAC Plan Symbols

The discipline designator helps to identify the type of work that is included
on the sheets. Since sheets are distributed to the different sub-contractors
in the field, it is helpful for the drawings to be organized by discipline.
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Therefore, the plumbing contractor can easily take a set of "P" drawings,
which has all of the plumbing drawings (plans, schedules, details, etc), and they will not have to sift through Refrigerants Used in Buildings and HVAC
the unrelated electrical or structural drawings. Equipment

The discipline designator can be a single letter or a double-letter. Very large or complex projects will want to The Best Mobile Apps for Architects
make use of the double-letter designations to help sub-divide each discipline further. For instance, on a
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complex hospital job with hundreds of sheets, it may be helpful to separate the electrical lighting drawings
from the electrical power drawings. On a small residential project with a few dozen sheets, it is probably easy How To Pass The LEED v4 Green Associ
to have the lighting and power on the same sheet or sequential sheets. Exam

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The following table indicates the primary (single) letter designations that may be used and the order that the
disciplines should take. In this case, a hyphen shall be inserted in place of the secondary discipline designator
so that the format remains. The second letter designators can be found in the US National CAD Standards.
 DESIGNATOR NAME ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION

Cover Sheet

G General Sheet list, symbols, code summary, etc.

H Hazardous Materials Abatement, handling, etc.

V Survey / Mapping

B Geotechnical

C Civil

L Landscape

S Structural

A Architectural

I Interiors

Q Equipment

F Fire Protection

P Plumbing

D Process

M Mechanical

E Electrical

W Distributed Energy

T Telecommunications

R Resource Existing conditions / buildings

X Other Disciplines

Z Contractor / Shop Drawings

O Operations

Sheet Types
The Sheet Types designator takes the drawings of a single discipline and
organizes them. Drawings are always organized from most general to most
specific or specialized. Since plans are most helpful to see the overall design
of the project, they come first. Elevations and sections are a bit more
specific and come next followed by details and schedules, which are the most specific type of drawings.

DESIGNATOR NAME

0 General: Symbol legend, abbreviations, general notes

1 Plans

2 Elevations

3 Sections

4 Large Scale Drawings: plans, elevations, sections (NOT details)

5 Details

6 Schedules and Diagrams

7 User Defined

8 User Defined

9 3D drawings: isometric, perspective, photos

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Sequence Numbers

The final component of the sheet number is the two-digit sequence number, which is between 01 and 99. The
sequence numbers do not have to be sequential so that space may be left within the set for future additions.

Example Sheet Numbers

NUMBER SHEET DESCRIPTION

AD107 Architectural Demolition Floor Plan, seventh sheet

A-204 Architectural Elevations, fourth sheet

I-316 Interior Section, sixteenth sheet

QH601 Hospital Equipment Schedule, first sheet

FA601 Fire Alarm Diagrams, third sheet

P-102 Plumbing Floor Plan, second sheet

MH402 Large Scale HVAC Drawings, second sheet

MP501 HVAC Piping Details, first sheet

EP110 Electrical Power Plan, tenth sheet

EL103 Electrical Lighting Plan, third sheet

T-505 Telecommunications Details, fifth sheet

RA102 Architectural Existing Building Plan, second sheet

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