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Construction
And Building
Plans
Submission and Working Drawings

- In most cases, the plans of the proposed building

are to be sanctioned or approved by the competent
authority.

- Submission drawings are the drawings prepared for

submission to such department/authority of approval and
they contain all the data and information in relation to the
prevailing bye-laws in that locality.

- Construction work starts after the approval of plan

is obtained from the concerned department/authority.

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Engineering Drawing and Architectural
Drawing

- the only difference between them is the mode of

presentation

- Engineering drawings are prepared with

maximum accuracy, uniform thickness of lines, solid block
type of lettering work, etc.

- Architectural drawings are prepared with

artistic touch and every architect’s office develops its own
method of lettering, line work, etc. Thus, it exhibits views
which are pleasing to the eye.

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Engineering Drawing and Architectural
Drawing

- Submission Drawings in the form of

Engineering Drawings aim to give a clear and legible
ammonia-prints for approval, estimating, etc.

- Submission Drawings take the form of

Architectural Drawings when the project is to be
presented in front of the client or contractor.

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Reading Construction and Building Plans
Reading Construction and Building Plans
Reading Construction and Building Plans
Requirements of a Good Drawing:

i. It should be clear and accurate

ii. It should be complete in the sense that construction

of work can be started from its study and estimates
can be easily prepared, if required.

iii. It should be properly dimensioned and the figures

indicating dimensions should be written with neat
handwritings.

iv. It should contain all the necessary data, notes,

information, etc.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

1) Plan: The floor plan indicates the appearance of

section cut horizontally through the building
somewhere between the floor level and its ceiling.
The plan of a building indicates the thickness of
walls, location of openings, stairs, rooms, etc.
Various symbols and conventions are freely used on
the plan to quickly interpret the details and to save
the space. The plans are fully dimensioned.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

2) Elevation: The view of a building as seen from the

front or sides is known as elevation and it gives an
idea about the appearance of the exterior of the
building. Thus an elevation is a view of the surface
projected in vertical manner from the plan and
combined with floors and roof to develop volume.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

2) Elevation: For submission drawings, the front

elevation will be sufficient. But, for working
drawings, elevations of all the sides may be drawn
to give an idea about the appearance of the building
from all the sides. Sometimes the elevations are
designated from the compass direction. The
elevations are usually not dimensioned.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

3) Section: A section indicates an interior exposed

view of the building in vertical direction when a part
towards the viewer is removed by an imaginary
cutting plane parallel to the length of the building.
Such sections are also known as longitudinal
sections or cross–sections and they describe heights
of floors, interior walls, doors, windows, staircases,
etc.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

3) Section: The section also reveals various structural

details such as foundations of walls or columns,
position of lintels and beams, etc.

For the purpose of convenience, the sections can be

classified in three categories:
i. Typical Section
ii. Particular Section
iii. Through Section

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

i. Typical Section: It is the part of longitudinal

section and it is taken in such a way that reveals
typical details from foundation to roof.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

ii. Particular Section: These sections are drawn to

contain details which cannot be effectively
illustrated on a typical section. For instance, it is
necessary to draw a particular section for an
ornamental door. The working drawings will contain
various particular sections to describe important
elements of construction.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

iii. Through Section: When the section is drawn along

the full line running from one face to the other face
of the plan, it is known as through section and when
a through section is drawn giving sufficient details,
the typical section may be omitted. It also becomes
necessary to adopt the staggered section line or line
with offsets on the plan to reveal all possible details
on the through section.

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Reading Construction and Building Plans
Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

There are some items that which can be expressed in

a better way by description rather than drawing. Hence, in
addition to the three views, the following three details are
usually mentioned on the submission or working drawings:

i. Construction and Technical Details

ii. General Notes
iii. Schedules

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

i. Construction and Technical Details:

Good details are necessary for specialized jobs like
Reinforced Cement Concrete (R.C.C.) items. For big
projects, the work of structural details is entrusted to
specialists and they prepare working drawings showing
the details of reinforcement with respect to placing,
bending, etc. In a similar way, minute construction and
technical details may be prepared for stair, cornices,
ornamental features, etc.
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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

ii. General Notes

The submission or working drawing may also
contain some general notes for the construction aspects
of the building. The general notes are mentioned at
proper place on the drawing. They also include colour
notes, area table, and normal construction details.

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

ii. General Notes

Following is the typical chart showing general notes
on submission drawings:
COLOUR NOTES:
PROPOSED WORK SHOWN THUS
EXISTING WORK SHOWN THUS
. WORK NOT TO BE DONE SHOWN THUS
WORK TO BE REMOVED SHOWN THUS
PLOT BOUNDARY SHOWN THUS
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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

ii. General Notes

Following is the typical chart showing general notes
on submission drawings:
AREA TABLE:
PLOT AREA
BUILT–UP AREA OF G.F.
BUILT–UP AREA OF F.F.
TOTAL BUILT–UP AREA
PERMISSIBLE BUILT–UP AREA
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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

ii. General Notes

Following is the typical chart showing general notes
on submission drawings:
GENERAL:
FOUNDATIONS TO BE TAKEN UPTO HARD
STRATA
DEPTH OF EXCAVATION LESS THAN 1m.
BASEMENT TO BE PROIDED WITH D.P.C.
DRAINAGE LINE TO BE LAID AS PER LONG SEC.
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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

iii. Schedules
A schedule is a statement in a tabular form given on
the drawings and it is provided to avoid unnecessary
crowding of information on the plan itself.
For instance, a schedule showing the sizes of various
types of doors, windows and ventilators may be
prepared and shown at proper place on the submission
drawing.

Reading Construction and Building Plans

Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

iii. Schedules
The other important schedule seen on all the
drawings is the area schedule or area table as
mentioned in the general notes. It generally includes
plot area, built–up area of all the floors and the
permissible built up area on the plot with respect to the
Floor Space Index (F.S.I.)

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Views and Details Necessary for a Drawing

iii. Schedules
In case of the structural drawings, it is customary to
give a reinforcement schedule indicating diameter of
bars, bending diagram, number of bars, etc.

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Composition of Submission Drawing
The submission drawings are usually drawn to the
scale of 1 cm = 1 m and they include the following:

i. Plans of different floors

ii. Elevation
iii. Through section
iv. Site plan
v. Title
vi. Area table
vii. Schedule of doors, windows, and vents
viii. Colour notes
ix. Space for signatures of engineer or architect, owner,
and sanctioning authority.

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Composition of Submission Drawing

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Abbreviations for Architectural and Building
Drawings
For the sake of clarity, the abbreviations are
generally used on drawing. It is necessary to have a
systematic notation of architectural and building terms to
achieve uniformity and for avoiding confusion and
ambiguity.

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Abbreviations for Architectural and Building
Drawings
Following points should be noted:
i. The abbreviations are the same in the singular and
plural.
ii. The lower-case letters are generally recommended for
the purpose of drawings, plans, etc.
iii. The word ditto or its equivalent abbreviations should
not be used on drawings.

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Reading Construction and Building Plans
Site Plan
- the plan showing the boundary plot; and it is to be
studied carefully before attempting the design of the
building. The overall dimensions and shape of site plan are
to be checked and verified from the authorized records and
if necessary, a surveyor may be appointed to fix the
boundary plot on site.

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Site Plan
- the proposed building is adjusted in the site plan by
keeping the necessary side and from margins and from
centre-line of the highway, in case the property is abutting
the highway. It also contains the layout of drainage lines
and the point of nearby public drainage connection. If there
is no facility of public drainage connection, the positions of
septic tank and soak well are shown on the site plan.

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Site Plan
-it also indicates the compound wall, compound
gates, landscape features, etc. It also contains adjoining
streets and their widths, surrounding properties, existing
buildings, portion of the proposed building, etc,. It is drawn
to a much different scale than the building plans, the usual
being 1 cm = 5 m. The north line is invariably shown near
the site plan very accurately so that the orientation of the
building can immediately be known from the study of the
site plan.

Reading Construction and Building Plans

Site Plan

Reading Construction and Building Plans

Layout Plan and Key or Location Plan

(1) Layout Plan: If a big plot of land is to be developed,

a layout plan, showing the internal roads and sub–
plots, widths of approach roads, etc. If one of such sub–
plot is to be developed, it becomes necessary to possess
the approved copy of the entire layout plan. It will assist
in locating the sub–plot under reference and it will
provide information about the adjoining properties on
the sub–plot to be developed.

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Layout Plan and Key or Location Plan
(1) Layout Plan:

Reading Construction and Building Plans

Layout Plan and Key or Location Plan

(2) Key Plan or Location Plan: The term key plan or

location plan is used to mean the plan showing the
important features like major roads, temples,
monumental buildings, etc. surrounding the property
under reference. It thus assists in easily locating the
property to be developed and in most of the
advertisements of commercial centers or residential
blocks, the location plan gets the key position.

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Layout Plan and Key or Location Plan
(2) Key Plan or Location Plan:

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THANK YOU!!!

Reading Construction and Building Plans