Types of Design and Construction Drawings: A Detailed Guide

In the construction process, it is important to have a building plan in place before getting started with the construction work. The idea is to have a well-appointed framework and roadmap to ensure every aspect of the project is brought together to follow a systematic execution process. This includes creating a consolidated structure of events with sequential workflow with clearly defined practicing standards, statutory compliances, value objectives, and key deliverables intrinsic to the project's success.In this practice, just curating technical details does not work and nor does the aggregation of input references to detail out the project workflow. To make it upfront clear and specific, construction drawings play a major role.

What are Construction Drawings?

What basically are construction drawings and how many types of construction drawings are there?Construction drawings are a graphical representation of the major components of construction and their role in the project. These drawings generally present a detailed overview of how a project will be built, how the operations will be laid out, how the construction lineup needs to be planned, how different elements in the layout look like, and what will be the line of operation to execute the project.These drawings belong to different functional and service categories and have different purposes and requirements to cater to. Let's find out what are they created for and where they belong in this elongated guide furnishing different types of design and construction drawings:

Types of Design and Construction Drawings

Design and construction drawings are largely categorized into five broad categories. This includes mainly the segmentation based on functions and trades that can be categorized as follows:

• Architectural Drawings
• Structural Drawings
• HVAC and Firefighting Drawings
• MEP Drawings
• Miscellaneous Drawings

Architectural Drawings

Architectural construction drawings are the technical drawings that are created to depict the architectural outlines and projections of the building before the construction work starts. It is typically a sketch or a schematic diagram of the building structure to illustrate and communicate the ideas and concepts of design to the project stakeholders.Here are the different types of architectural drawings used in construction:

Site Plan Drawings

A site plan drawing for a construction project provides an aerial view of the site. This drawing typically includes the primary building along with the adjoining landscape that feature an inclusive architectural representation of the site.

Floor Plan Drawings

These drawings feature an expansively focused version of the construction layout and floor patterns. This includes technical and measurement details and sketch work of the floor plan for a housing, commercial, or community construction project.

Elevation Drawings

These are the technical drawings of a building that represents the rising level of the construction. These building drawings help in knowing the position and direction of the sun and the wind with respect to the elevation of the building.

Cross-section Drawings

Cross-section drawings provide a vertical sectional view of the project to allow construction engineers and other operators to take a distinct view of the project from above to see through the otherwise invisible and hidden components of the construction.

Landscape Drawings

This type of construction drawing aims at providing an aerial view of the entire expanse of the building along with the adjoining environmental traits, terrain properties, and other landscape features. These may include the outer fencing, trees, streetlights, and common pathways.

Working Drawing Plan

These detailed drawings are created by designers for contractors to help them with knowing the scope of the project. This helps in doing the prior material planning and aids in fabrication work before the work on the site starts.

Section Drawings

The section drawings are created to slice and dice the structure into various sections and structural elements. With the help of these building design drawings construction professionals are able to identify the primary structures in relation to other surrounding structures of a construction.

Also Read: Explore Our "Engineering and Design Services"

As-built Drawings

As-built drawings establish a clear comparison between the original building plan and the final construction. These drawings are mainly created to depict the actual construction pattern and design and record deviations (if there are any) from the original plan.

Excavation Drawings

An excavation drawing is created to depict the length, breadth, and height of the building excavation. It mainly talks about the extent to which the excavation will be done and discusses about the process of excavation and the key factors of operation and execution.

Single Line Drawings

These build drawings depict the structure of a building in the form of single lines as per the room configuration. These drawings aim at showing the room sizes, building walkthroughs, and vent positions in a properly labeled layout plan.

Penetration Drawings

Penetration drawings focus on dimensionally sleeve/cores and shaft penetration across the floors mentioning the size of openings and the dimensions that are covered by the components of structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems.

Shop Drawings

Shop drawings are essentially the construction guides that lay the roadmap on how a component should be manufactured, installed, and fitted. These drawings are mostly prepared by contractors and sub-contractors and sometimes by suppliers and manufacturers.

Location Drawings

Location drawings or general arrangement drawings are created to showcase the entire project's composition across the plan of construction. It aims at covering all the details of a large project capturing multiple buildings, site elevations, projections, road plans, pass ways, green areas, and service sections.

Structural Drawings

Structural drawing is a type of technical drawing that acts as an essential map for construction projects. These drawings include the directional plans and details of how the structure will be built. Structural drawings include the foundation, roof, and floor plan of the building along with position and placement of various structural elements in the building structure. Listed below are the different structural drawings used in the process of construction.Here are the different types of structural drawings used in construction:

Concept Drawings

Concept drawings are one of the first and fundamental deliverables that belong to the structural drawing works. As these are drawn in the initial project phase, these are not very detailed and represent the building site plan through rough sketch works to give a broader overview of the building to its stakeholders.

Column Layout

Column layout provides a holistic design and pattern of the columns used in the structure. These layouts provide a floor-wise plan and furnish the details of the size and distance between every column of the building.

Block Plan

Block plan represents the outer expanse of the area that surrounds the building under construction. A block plan may include everything in the proximity of the constructed building, which may include elements like roads, plantations, boundary, and other estate and terrain elements.

Roof Beam and Shuttering Layout

A roof beam is typically a triangular structure situated on the top of the building to support the roof structure. The main purpose of the roof beam is to strengthen the building structure. Roof beam and shuttering layout provides detailed information on the beam components and other supporting elements.

Component Drawings

Component drawings are primarily the technical drawings used in construction to provide details on the markings of the structural components and different sub-parts. These drawings provide a comprehensive view and detailed insights on various components involved in the plan of construction.

Assembly Drawings

In a construction project, different building components go together in a shared space or section to form a structure. Assembly drawings are drawn to depict the connection and relative existence between different components of the structure. These include different types of details and references to depict a comprehensive and consolidated view.

Design Drawings

A building design drawing is like a concept drawing that is created to fetch new conversions and put them together to offer a consolidated graphical depiction that proposes the design intent to the project stakeholders.

Engineering Drawings

In any building project, engineered objects or building components often need to be installed. Engineering drawings provide essential guidance for the construction or placement of these structures. These drawings serve as a collaborative tool, helping contractors and engineers work together effectively to achieve the desired outcome.

MEP Drawings

MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) drawings are one of the most important parts of the BIM construction process. MEP comprises an array of functional drawings and technical documents that provide a comprehensive account of the key components, relative trade placement and the overall production workflow that shows how MEP systems are designed and appointed in a building facility. Each of these drawings serve a specific purpose to corroborate and communicate information to provide critical decisive insights to project stakeholders leading to smooth and efficient project operations at scale.Here are the different types of MEP drawings used in construction:

Mechanical Drawings

For any construction project to be executed successfully, it needs to have a fool-proof plan to curate designs for mechanical components like HVACs. Mechanical drawings mostly act as a guiding map for accurately identifying and establishing the geometric features of machines and components. These drawings make the mechanical design process a lot smoother and easier while adding certainty to the overall project outturn.

Electrical Drawings

Electrical drawings visually depict an in-depth account of the electrical system in a construction project. It provides a detailed graphical representation of electrical components, connections, and conduits including fixtures, outlets, switches, lights, and other electrical equipment. Electrical drawing services aim at providing pillar support to electricians to define and plan the electrical resources and workflows across the system. This works in coordination with other MEPF trades to find the right balance in electrical load capacity, wiring, and distribution while ensuring the best safety measures.

Plumbing Drawings

Plumbing drawings are the technical drawings that represent a detailed framework of plumbing components within a building facility. These drawings mostly include a complete plan for the design of the entire plumbing system marking the location, size, and flow of the plumbing components like sanitary pipes, water pipes, water outlets, and water drainage systems.

HVAC and Firefighting Drawings

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) and Firefighting shop drawings are an extensive diagrammatic portrayal of how the heating, cooling, and fire protection systems will be co-designed, fabricated, and placed in a building. These drawings provide a detailed overview of where the mechanical duct or electrical wires will be placed, how they will be routed, and how various components like duct fire dampers, VAV boxes, volume control dampers, will be integrated and put in a functional accord going with an optimally designed and clash-coordinated workflow.Here are the different types of HVAC and Firefighting drawings used in construction:

HVAC Drawings

HVAC drawings are technical construction drawings that show the information about the heating and cooling systems of the building. The key purpose of the Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system drawing is to provide a construction design plan that makes sure there is enough ventilation, filtration, and comfort maintained inside the building while keeping the designs clash-free.

Firefighting Drawings

Firefighting is one of the important aspects of a building and it needs to be dealt with a high degree of attentiveness and precision. Preparing a building construction drawing for firefighting helps construction engineers ensure stringent fire protection measures in a building by drawing patterns of the placement of fire hoses, safety alarms, water outlets, extinguishing points, etc.

Miscellaneous Drawings

There are different building drawings and models other than the mainstream ones that are required in construction design processes in the construction industry to add to the visual perspectives and comprehension and enable more synchronous collaboration and time-efficient execution of the construction works. Here are the different types of buildings drawing that are used in construction other than the primary or elementary construction drawings:

Detail Drawings

These are essentially the drawings that represent the geometric structure that is to be built. These types of construction drawing designs may include geometric detailing for any type or complexity of construction like a small building, a large public facility, or even a tunnel. These drawings pay attention to minute and specific information about the building plan to showcase the finest and most intricate details of the project.

Production Drawings

With the help of production drawings supervisors and workers get the insights and information about the construction process. These drawings include information about the building components, materials, assembly, tools, dimensions, and other construction resources that form an intrinsic part of the project.

Perspective Drawings

In a perspective drawing the spatial aspects of a building facility are depicted to show its three-dimensional structural volume. These drawings present realistic images of the under-construction building to portray the building's future reference point of the covered space.

Fabrication Drawings

Fabrication drawings provide detailed information on dimensions, materials, tolerances, and other specifications necessary for constructing or fabricating a product. This information is typically presented in a graphical format, using symbols, notes, and labels to convey essential fabrication details.

Scale Drawings

Scale drawings are drawn to represent larger size objects on the construction drawings as they may not be otherwise viewable and comprehendible in their original size. In that reference, every part of the building has a scale assigned to it. For instance, if a location plan scale is in 1:1000 ratio, a site plan scale may have 1:200, and a floor plan scale may have 1:100 of scaling ratio.

Survey Drawings

Survey drawings document the existing conditions of a site, including topography, boundaries, structures, and utilities. These precise measurements form the foundation for design and planning and are used in the initial construction phase, ensuring accuracy and alignment with site-specific factors in architectural projects.

Presentation Drawings

Presentation drawings represent high-quality illustrations that visually communicate architectural design concepts. They include plans, elevations, sections, and perspectives, often rendered to showcase materiality, lighting, and spatial relationships. These drawings are essential for client presentations, providing a clear and aesthetically appealing vision of the final project before construction begins.

Submission Drawings

Submission drawings are created to fulfill the requirements of the by-laws imposed by the governing statutory body. These drawings typically include index plan, detail drawings, elevation drawings, and other sectional plans.

FAQs for Building Construction Drawings

How do architectural drawings differ from engineering drawings?

Architectural drawings emphasize the aesthetics, layout, and space planning of a building by providing details on things like elevations, floor plans and sections. Engineering drawings on the other hand focus more on the technical side which involves aspects such as structural integrity, electrical systems and plumbing. Both drawing types are essential in transforming a building's design into a practical and safe structure.

Why are Working Drawings important for a construction site?

Working drawings are detailed plans that guide the on-site construction process. These include dimensions, materials as well as installation specifications so that every part of the building is constructed according to design specifications. These facilitate coordination among various teams such as architects, engineers or contractors enabling faster building processes.

What types of drawings are essential in a construction project?

A construction project typically requires various types of drawings, such as architectural drawings, structural drawings, electrical drawings, plumbing layouts, and finishing drawings. Each type serves a specific purpose, from outlining the design and layout to detailing complex systems like heating, ventilation, and fire protection. Together they ensure all aspects of the building have been accurately constructed and are working together in seamless coordination for optimally designed building facilities.

What is the role of As-Built Drawings in construction?

As-Built Drawings being the updated versions of the original construction drawings indicate any changes occurring during the indicated process of construction. They also show what have been the actual dimensions as well as materials that comprise these elements and their actual locations within the entire building; hence, they are important reminders about maintaining future reconstruction work or checking upon them. The importance of these drawings has more than just preserving one's thoughts on paper, at least it can be referred to when it comes to why a house-maintaining should be done right.

What are Piping Spool Drawings, and why are they used?

Piping spool drawings are detailed representations of pipe sections used in a construction project. These drawings show exact dimensions, materials, and connections for each pipe segment so that they can be accurately fabricated and installed. This engineering drawing type is highly crucial for complicated heating and ventilation systems so as to prevent expensive mistakes as well as delays in construction.

How does Computer-Aided Design (CAD) enhance building construction drawings?

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) facilitates architects and engineers in the design process by producing highly accurate, thorough drawings with speed and efficiency. Architects and engineers use CAD tools to envisage complex systems, make easy changes, and obtain precise measurements. This technology improves the quality and precision of building plans thus eliminating mistakes, boosting communication among various stakeholders which lead to more efficient project outputs.

How do you read a structural drawing?

To read a structural drawing, start by identifying the key components like columns, beams, slabs, and foundations. Pay attention to symbols, notations, and dimensions, which indicate material specifications, load-bearing capacities, and construction methods. Understanding these elements is crucial for ensuring that the building's structural integrity aligns with the design and safety requirements. Always cross-reference with other drawings for a comprehensive view.

What is the significance of Fire Protection Drawings in a construction project?

Fire protection drawings detail the design and layout of systems that prevent or control fires in a building, such as sprinklers, alarms, and fire-resistant materials. Fire protection drawings specify how a building must be arranged and protected against fires by providing important information for safeguarding lives. This way, they help reduce incidence of fires within constructions thereby reducing risk and eliminating accidental threats.

Wrapping up

With this extensive guide we have tried to cover a detailed list of information on building construction drawings that support the construction process with critical data-intensive diagrammatic representation of a building plan.As we wrap up this exploration, may the newfound knowledge serve as a valuable resource for anyone venturing into the dynamic field of construction. Our dedicated team, well-versed in cutting-edge software such as Revit, Navisworks, Trimble, AutoCAD, and more, ensures precision and excellence in every detail.Ready to transform your vision into reality? Partner with Pinnacle Infotech for top-notch BIM solutions powered by flawless construction drawings, delivering accuracy and innovation in every blueprint.