1. TACTICAL DIAGRAMMING Why it works

2. Three components of Tactical Diagramming
Science
Planning and building codes
Terrain Analysis
Skill
Building practices and tactical diagramming practice
Art
Personal intuition, imagination and ingenuity
A technique—not a tactic!
Procedures for performing specific tasks or functions

3. Building Officials and Code Administrators Southern Building Code
Building Codes
Three "national" building codes
Originally instituted for fire prevention and escape
Model codes rather than regulatory but usually adopted locally as requirements
Local zoning ordinances
Building Officials and Code Administrators
Uniform Building Code
Southern Building Code

4. Building Codes National Building Code of Canada
Adopted in 1941
Originally instituted for fire prevention and escape
Model code rather than regulatory but usually adopted locally as requirements
Local zoning ordinances

5. Reverse Engineering
Mentally disassembling a house to visualize the interior
Knowledge of building code requirements helpful but not essential
Familiarization with building practices is largely already available
Personal experiences and observations
Especially useful for police and military
All buildings are built for a purpose and many are altered to suit particular uses

6. Building Practices Driven by economic and aesthetic factors
Size and shape of house and organization of rooms
Expense of installation and cost of materials
Cultural conventions
Enables mass produced goods and components
Examples include window coverings, hardware, cabinets, furniture, plumbing fixtures, and so forth
Some have been incorporated into local ordinances
Just as influential as regulations
Tend to be universal rather than regional
Curtains at 80” for standardization
Hot water is always on the left as a convention
Stairways use a 7-11 rule, 7” rise to 11” tread ratio for comfortable ascending

7. Building Principles Four elements that must be controlled
Fire, Wind, Water, Gravity
Use of building will strongly influence construction
Buildings are hollow
Limitations on span by materials and expense
Nearly all residences in America are "stick framing"
Interior walls are used for intermediate support
Bearing walls are more predictable than partitions

8. Coup d'oiel French—"The vision behind the eye"
English translation—perceptive insight
An ability to "see" on the other side of the hill or inside a house
Part art and part science

9. Helpful Hints Work from large to small
Start with orientation
Next go to building outline
Diagram floor plan last
Work from confidence to ambiguity
Sketch in as many features that can be reliably placed and sized first
Compare
What you know or believe to what you see
Be suspicious—explain incongruities
Don't be afraid of "I don't know!"

10. Residential Trivia Size of house ~2,450 square feet (median)
Typical three-bedroom in Southwest USA is about 1,400 sq. ft.
80% built since 1920
About 2/3 will have an attached garage or carport
Almost half will have a separate dining room
More than 2/3 are occupied by the owner
More than 3/4 are single-family structures
Approximately 90 million homes in USA
Each has more in common with the others than differences

11. Frequently Asked Questions
Why focus on residences?
Most common target for warrants
Public buildings provide far easier access to gain info
How long does it take?
Varies with amount of desired detail and complexity of building
Generally, figure minutes for most applications
How accurate can a diagram be?
Depending on resource photos, as close as six inches for a room and a foot for a building
Features can be precise!
Many features, like doors and windows, can be estimated within one inch

12. Useful Tools ¼ʺ graph paper Mechanical pencil with HB lead
Good scale for nearly all diagrams
Mechanical pencil with HB lead
Soft lead with dark lines but easily erased
Compass or dividers
Easy and accurate transfers of scale
Gum eraser, especially pen style
Computer software
By far, the easiest and simplest method for diagramming
Some are automatically defaulted for sizes and codes
Provide instant 3D versions, including walk-throughs
Sketchup—free version from Google
Chief Architect—Better Homes and Gardens
Punch Pro—Punch Software, less than $100
Also useful is a magnifying glass for examining photos and/or an LCD projectile or computer for examining digital photos close up

13. Useful Books Look for illustrations as well as narrative
Comprehensive overview is better than detailed information
You don’t need to read them, you’ll use them for reference and precision

14. Tactical Diagramming Book
Used as text for this course
Written from a tactical perspective rather than a builder’s
Heavily illustrated with examples, graphics, photographs, etc.
Focused entirely on tactical diagramming

15. Questions?