Types Of Drawings And Documents Used In Construction
Construction is the act of building or executing a large project or structure such as a building, road, etc. on land.
In other words, construction which is taken from the Latin word
constructio – from ‘com’ which means to come together, and
struere which means to ‘pile up’ and old French
construction, in a more general term refers to the processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure and industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design, and continues until the asset is built and ready for use; construction also covers repairs and maintenance work, any works to expand, extend and improve the asset, and its eventual demolition, dismantling or decommissioning.
In this post, I will be discussing the types of drawings and documents used in the construction industry.
So what are the documents used in construction?
Firstly, let’s talk about the types of drawings used in construction.
While drawings were formally done using pencils, crayons, pens, etc., modern drawings are done using complex software, program and applications.
This shift in drawing approach extends also to the construction industry and civil engineering in general.
Architects, builders and engineers no longer need to rely on drawing boards, tee squares, protractors, compasses, and other drawing instruments to produce the ‘perfect’ construction drawings.
While there are many drawing and draughting programs available today, the engineer is advised to master at least one of them so as to be at par with the tides of the contemporary. This will also make his/her work easier and faster.
Below are types of drawings used in construction:
Location Drawings
Location Drawings show the property inspected and the locations of buildings or other visible improvements affecting the property. Location Drawings are produced to provide some assurance that improvements or other changes affecting the land are located on the property.
A location drawing is the most basic form of a land survey. The surveyor produces a drawing that shows your property lines and illustrates the structures on your property. It is pertinent to note that a location drawing is quite different from a boundary survey. A boundary line survey is more accurate than a location drawing.
While a location drawing is not based on markers at the property, a boundary survey is done by a crew of surveyors who mark the actual property corners, and lines are determined where they actually are, not by the recorded plot, but checked against it.
In a nutshell, a location drawing could also be referred to as a general arrangement drawing. Location drawings are made to showcase the composition of the entire project. If the project has several parts and buildings to be constructed, a location drawing will include details of them all.
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| Sample of a location plan | source: google image |
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| A typical boundary survey | source: google image |
Site Plans
Site plans are used to locate the site, buildings, and define site levels. They also indicate services to buildings and identify important parts of sites like roads, footpaths and boundaries.
Site plans also give setting out dimensions for the site and for buildings as a whole.
Suitable scale for site plan should not be less that 1:2500
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| A typical site plan | source: mysiteplan |
Floor Plans
They are used for identifying and setting out building parts like doors, windows, floors, rooms, etc. Suitable scale for this type of drawing should not be less than 1:100
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| Sample of a floor plan | source: jhmrad |
Elevations
Elevations are used for showing exterior appearance of all faces, and showing doors and windows.
An elevation is a view of a building seen from one side, a flat representation of one façade. This is the most common view used to describe the external appearance of a building. … Architects also use the word elevation as a synonym for façade, so the “north elevation” is the north-facing wall of the building.
The term ‘elevation’ refers to an orthographic projection of the exterior (or sometimes the interior) faces of a building, that is a two-dimensional drawing of the building’s façades. As buildings are rarely simple rectangular shapes in plan, an elevation drawing is a first angle projection that shows all parts of the building as seen from a particular direction with the perspective flattened. Elevations are generally produced for four directional views (north, south, east & west).
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| Elevation drawings | source: designingbuilding |
Sections
Sections are used to provide vertical views through the building to show construction method employed for the building. A section is an imaginary vertical cut through the building to show the building volume and material types used for the building. Suitable scale for section drawings should not be less than 1:50.
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| A building section | source: shutterstock |
Assembly Drawings
Assembly drawings are used to show how items are assembled or fit together to form elements. In a nutshell, an assembly drawing is a presentation of a structure or product with its components connected together, in their relative working positions while in use. Assembly drawings may also contain instructions, reference numbers, references to shop/detail drawings and lists of the component parts. Assembly drawings are type of engineering drawings very common in mechanical drawings.
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| Assembly drawing | source: google image |
Suitable scale for assembly drawings range from 1:20 to 1:5.
Component Drawings
These types of drawings help to supply data for components that should be supplied by a manufacturer, or for showing components that are not completely captured by assembly drawings.
Component drawings provide detailed information about the individual units. They may include information such as component dimensions, construction, tolerances, and so on. They may include references to the relevant parts of the specification providing information about materials and the minimum acceptable quality.
Suitable scale for these types of drawings range between 1:100 tp 1:1.
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| Component drawing | source: favpng |
Other types of drawings used in construction are those supplied by civil engineers known as structural drawings. There are different structural drawing types which shows more details about the structure.
Structural drawings generally show layouts, details & sizes of various building components.
Other types of construction drawings include HVAC drawings, electrical and plumbing drawings, firefighter drawings and miscellaneous drawings.
Construction Documents – Documents Used in Construction
The following are common types of documents used in construction:
Architects Drawings
These are small scale plans and elevations showing general arrangement and layout, or drawings to larger scales giving specific data and details. Architects’ drawings may include plans, elevations, sections, detail drawings, etc.
Engineers Drawings
They are small drawings giving specific details, or drawings to larger scales giving specific data or details. Engineers’ drawings include structural drawings such as foundation layout, foundation details, floor layout and details, beam layout, beam details, and layouts and details for various floors and other structural members.
Schedules
This entails a collation of different similar objects referenced to drawings. Examples include window schedule, door schedule, etc.
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| door schedule | source: pinterest |
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| Door and window schedule | source: cadbull |
Project Schedule
A project schedule is a graphic representation of all activities required to bring the project to completion. E.g. Gantt charts, Network diagrams, CPM.
Specification
This is a written document which sets out detail requirements for materials and workmanship for a construction project.
Contract Document
This document sets out the precise conditions and terms of the contract. A contract document is a pro forma document which could also be specifically prepared.
Bill of Quantities/Contract Bills
It is a written document prepared in accordance with the standard method of measurement. A contract bill or bill of quantity enables estimator to prepare tender sum for the project.
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