Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

CHAPTER-2

BUILDING DRAWINGS

2.1 Introduction

Construction drawings are prepared so that designers can communicate their requirements to the
contractor in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner. They are also used to prepare bill of
quantities and as part of contract document.

Building construction drawings shouldn’t be unnecessarily congested or complicated. And

written descriptions should be as brief as possible. In addition, building drawings should be well
dimensioned and should be drawn to scale

Construction drawings can be prepared by hand assisted by various templates or computer

software programs (Ex. AutoCAD).

The use of computer programs in building drawing:

▪ Enables users to produce any type of drawings quickly, precisely, and efficiently

▪ Enables editing, adding or deleting texts to drawings

▪ Enables printing to required sizes and color

▪ It can easily be communicated via networks and e-mails and integrated with other
programs

▪ Enables to reduce contract time and eases communication between parties in

construction.

▪ Minimizes the need for storage space

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 Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

2.1.1 Drawing Equipment

In order to produce construction drawings manually, items like drawing board, drawing paper, drawing
pencil, ruler, ink, eraser, various time saving devices such as templates, protractor, T- square, setsquares, etc.
are required.

Drawing board Set squares

French curves T-square

Fig. 2.1 Drawing Equipments

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

2.1.2 Standard size of drawing papers

Generally it is advisable to use international standard-size papers in drawings to facilitate filling

of drawings.

Table 2.1 Standard size of drawing papers

Format A Format B Format C

Symbol Size [mm] Symbol Size [mm] Symbol Size[mm]
A0 841x1189 B0 1000x1414 C0 917x1297
A1 594x841 B1 707x1000 C1 648x917
A2 420x594 B2 500x707 C2 458x648
A3 297x420 B3 353x500 C3 324x458
A4 210x297 B4 250x353 C4 229x324
A5 148x210 B5 176x250 C5 162x229
A6 105x148 B6 125x176 C6 114x162
A7 74x105 B7 88x125 C7 81x114
A8 52x74 B8 62x88 C8 57x81

2.2 Drawings for building construction

Drawings for building construction shall include:

I. Site plan
II. Sketch drawings
III. Working drawings
IV. Detailed drawings
V. Construction drawings and
VI. Installation drawings

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

I. Site Plan
A site is a parcel of land which is made up of one, two or more plots. A site plan is a drawing
showing various properties in terms of their owners, locations, elevations, states of development
and features such as roads, utility supply lines, etc.

Components of a site plan

▪ Survey beacons: these are concrete pillars located at principal corners of the site and at
every change in the direction of boundaries. They define the boundary and area of the site.

▪ Elevations: these are the different heights on the surface of the site in relation to a standard
reference point known as the bench mark (BM). Locations which have equal elevations are
joined together using contour lines. These lines help to define the topography of the land
within a site.

▪ Site orientation: these refer to a system of defining the site in terms of its direction to the
north, south, east and west. Orientation is important in planning the building area to make
into consideration such factors as the direction of rain, wind and sun within the site.

▪ Physical features: these are permanent objects or features existing within the site or
adjoining sites which are used for referencing or identification of the site. Ex. Existing
buildings, trees, roads, fences, etc.

▪ Access road: these shows the means of reaching the site.

▪ Utilities: A site plan shows utility supply lines such as for water, electricity and gas.

The scales used in a site plan drawing depend on size of the site. For small sites: Scales of 1:100,
1:200, and For large sites: Scales of 1:500, 1:1000, 1:2500
What should a site plan convey?
➢ A site plan is a broader architectural drawing that provides an overview of an entire property or site.
➢ It shows the layout of the buildings, landscape features, parking areas driveways, walkways, utilities,
and other site elements.
➢ A site plan is used to illustrate the relationship between different structures and features on the
property and to understand the overall site design and organization.
➢ It shows the Northing direction

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

Fig 2.2 Example of Site plan drawing

II. Sketch drawings

Sketch drawings are preliminary drawings prepared for showing the general arrangements of
buildings. They are often drawn free hand in pencils. They comprise plans of the most important
storey, one or more elevations and a cross-section of the building.

Fig. 2.3 Example of Sketch drawing

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

III. Detailed drawings

They are prepared to the extent necessary and depending on the complexity of the building. They
can be prepared to a scale of 1:1, 1:5, 1:10, or 1:20. They usually show specific details, such as
in stair cases, gutter to down pipe connections, wall to foundation connection, metal and wood
joineries, etc.

Fig. 2.4 Example of Detail drawing

IV. Construction drawings

They are prepared mainly for the foundation work, for construction in steel, concrete, roofing
and wood works. They provide important information for the resident engineer and foremen in
the execution of their day-to-day activities.

V. Installation drawings

Installation drawings comprise of drawings for water and drainage pipes, electrical installation as
well as mechanical installation. For residential building a scale of 1:50 is normally preferred.

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

Fig. 2.5 Example of Installation drawing

VI. Working drawings

They are prepared in greater detail with all dimensions given to avoid the need for taking
measurements from scale. They comprise of all plans and elevations as well as an adequate
number of cross-sections. The materials to be used for the various parts of the building should be
indicated in different symbols. They are the most important components of building drawings
since they provide detail information on the internal as well as the external view of a building.
They are usually prepared using a scale of 1:50.

a. Floor plan drawings: The floor plan is a drawing of the outline and partitions of a building
that would be seen when the building was cut horizontally about 1.2m above the floor level.
It provides more specific information about the design of the building than any other plan. It
is used as the base for the projection of other drawings. The major steps in floor plan
drawings preparation are:
▪ Laying center line of walls,
▪ Marking window and door openings,
▪ Marking wall thickness,
▪ Locating furniture positions,
▪ Indicating material type,

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

▪ Adding measurements and other details.

Fig. 2.6 Example of Floor plan drawing

b. Elevation drawings: Elevation drawings are orthographic drawings of the exterior of a

building. They are prepared to show the design materials, dimensions, and final appearance
of the exterior of a building. Elevation drawings are projected from the floor plan of an
architectural drawing. The major steps in projecting elevations are:

➢ Projecting vertical lines

➢ Projecting horizontal lines
➢ Locating roof lines
➢ Adding elevation symbols
➢ Providing elevation dimensions
➢ Description of material used and finishing type

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

Fig. 2.7 Example of Elevation drawing

c. Sectional drawings: Sectional drawings reveal the internal construction of an object.

Architectural section drawings are prepared for the entire structure (full sections) or for a
specific part(s) of a building (detail sections). The cutting plane is an imaginary plane,
which passes through the building and divides it into sections. These sections can be
Longitudinal section, Transverse section or Offset section. Removed sections are
frequently drawn for areas such as footings, window sill, cornice, gutter line and ridge
sections.

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

Fig. 2.8 Example of Sectional drawing

▪ Hatchings, Symbols and Notations

• Hatchings
The main objective is to differentiate between the materials being used thus enabling rapid
recognition and location. They must be used consistently throughout the whole set of drawings.
In large areas it is not always necessary to hatch the whole area.

Fig. 2.9 Hatchings in Building construction drawings

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Building Construction Lecture Note JiT, JU

2.4.1 Symbols and Notations

These are graphical representations and should wherever possible be drawn to scale. They must
be consistent for the whole set of drawings and clearly drawn.

Fig. 2.9 Symbols in Building construction drawings

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