Construction Documents COMMUNICATION OF A DESIGN

Construction Documents Overview  Construction documents are a set of technical documentation that contains all of the information about an architectural project.  They are also known as plan sets, building plans, and blueprints.  They can range from a single sheet to hundreds of pages.

Title Page  Nearly all construction document sets include a title page.  This is sometimes as simple as a title and/or image, or as complex as the one shown here.  The next few slides will delve deeper into the common elements seen on a title page.

General Notes  Many title pages include a section for notes that apply to the entire project. These notes often set forth the requirements that the different parties involved (contractor, engineers, etc.) must adhere to.  General notes describe the standards to which things must be done, and who is responsible for doing them.

Drawing Schedule/ Sheet Index  The Drawing Schedule or Sheet Index is a table of contents of the construction documents. It lists all sheets, in order, with a designated sheet number for each. Project Summary  The Project Summary lists basic information about the project in one place such as total square footage, required parking, whether or not the building is sprinkled, etc.

Site Location/Vicinity Map  Most title pages include a map of the location of the building site. This enables all of the involved parties to easily find the site for work, deliveries, utility hookups, etc.  The scale of the map varies, but usually is zoomed to show the nearest freeway or highway.

Abbreviations  Because abbreviations may vary from region to region or company to company, including an explanation of what abbreviations stand for provides an easy reference to help avoid confusion. Symbols  Just like abbreviations, symbols can vary. Readers who come across an unfamiliar symbol can find its meaning on the title page from this section.

Title Block  Common to ALL pages in a construction document set is the title block.  The title block contains important information that pertains to both the project as a whole, and the specific sheet.

Firm Name and Logo  Usually located at the top of the title block, this identifies the author of the construction document set (usually an architectural firm, but in this case the school the student is attending that assigned the project).

Project Name and Address  Below the firm name and logo is a section that identifies the project by name and shows the address of the building site.  Notice the text is very large. This is because construction document sets are often stored together with many other projects. The large text helps to quickly find a specific project in the stack.

Project Data  Miscellaneous data such as a project number, initials of who created the drawings, date and scale are usually included in the title block.  In this case, scale is shown as “NOT TO SCALE” which usually indicates that this particular copy of the construction documents has been scanned or photocopied, which alters the scale of the drawings.

Revisions  During the course of a project, things are constantly changing. A client may change their mind about the number of bathrooms they want, or a project manager may discover a code requirement that makes a change necessary.  The revision section provides a place to keep track of changes and enables different parties involved in a project to ensure they have the latest version of the construction documents.

Sheet Title and Number  Because construction document sets may be dozens or even hundreds of pages, it is important to be able to find a specific sheet easily.  The sheet title and number are in large text located in the lower right corner to make it easy to flip through a large document set by just turning up the corner.