Plans are a set of drawings or two-dimensional

diagram A diagram is a symbolic Depiction, representation of information using Visualization (graphics), visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on Cave painting, walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Age o ...

s used to describe a place or object, or to communicate

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

or fabrication instructions. Usually plans are drawn or printed on paper, but they can take the form of a digital file. Plans are used in a range of fields:

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their Enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering uti ...

. The term "plan" may casually be used to refer to a single view, sheet, or drawing in a set of plans. More specifically a plan view is an

orthographic projection Orthographic projection (also orthogonal projection and analemma) is a means of representing Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional objects in Plane (mathematics), two dimensions. Orthographic projection is a form of parallel projection in ...

looking down on the object, such as in a floor plan.

Overview

Plans are often for

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ...

purposes such as

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, or planning. Their purpose in these disciplines is to accurately and unambiguously capture all the geometric features of a site, building, product or component. Plans can also be for presentation or orientation purposes, and are often less detailed versions of the former. The end goal of plans is either to portray an existing place or object, or to convey enough information to allow a builder or manufacturer to realize a design. The process of producing plans, and the skill of producing them, is often referred to as

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essential for communicating ideas in industry and engineering. ...

. A working drawing is a type of technical drawing, which is part of the documentation needed to build an

product or

. Typically in architecture these could include civil drawings,

architectural drawing An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to deve ...

s, structural drawings, mechanical drawings, electrical drawings, and plumbing drawings. In engineering, these drawings show all necessary data to manufacture a given object, such as

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coo ...

s and

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

Plan features

Format

Plans are often prepared in a "set". The set includes all the information required for the purpose of the set, and may exclude views or projections which are unnecessary. A set of plans can be on standard office-sized paper or on large sheets. It can be stapled, folded or rolled as required. A set of plans can also take the form of a digital file in a proprietary format such as DWG or an exchange file format such as DXF or PDF. Plans are often referred to as "

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

s" or " bluelines". However, the terms are rapidly becoming an anachronism, since these copying methods have mostly been superseded by reproduction processes that yield black or multicolour lines on white paper, or by electronic representations of information.

Scale

Plans are usually "scale drawings", meaning that the plans are drawn at a specific

ratio In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...

relative to the actual size of the place or object. Various scales may be used for different drawings in a set. For example, a floor plan may be drawn at 1:48 (or 1/4"=1'-0") whereas a detailed view may be drawn at 1:24 (or 1/2"=1'-0"). Site plans are often drawn at 1" = 20' (1:240) or 1" = 30' (1:360). In the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

the ratios commonly are 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200, 1:500, 1:1000, 1:2000 and 1:5000

Views and projections

Because plans represent three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional plane, the use of views or projections is crucial to the legibility of plans. Each projection is achieved by assuming a vantage point from which to see the place or object, and a type of projection. These projection types are: * Parallel projection **

Orthographic projection Orthographic projection (also orthogonal projection and analemma) is a means of representing Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional objects in Plane (mathematics), two dimensions. Orthographic projection is a form of parallel projection in ...

*** Multiview projection, including: ****Plan view or floor plan view ****Elevation, usually a side view of an exterior **** Section, a view of the interior at a particular cutting plane *** Axonometric projection, including: **** Isometric projection **** Dimetric projection **** Trimetric projection ** Oblique projection, and * Perspective projection, including: **One-point perspective **Two-point perspective **Three-point perspective

Planning approach

There is no universal standard for sheet order, however the following describes a common approach: * General Information : The first sheets in a set may include notes, assembly descriptions, a rendering of the project, or simply the project title. * Site : Site plans, including a key plan, appear before other plans and on smaller projects may be on the first sheet. A project could require a landscape plan, although this can be integrated with the site plan if the drawing remains clear. * Specific plans : Floor plans, starting with the lowest floor and ending with the roof plan usually appear near the beginning of the set. Further, for example, reflected Ceiling Plans (RCP)s showing ceiling layouts appear after the floor plans. *

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

s : Starting with the principal, or front elevation, all the building elevations appear after the plans. Smaller residential projects may display the elevations before the plans. Elevation details may appear on the same sheets as the building elevations. * Sections: Building sections that describe views cut through the entire building appear next, followed by wall sections, then detail sections. * Details: Details may appear on any of the previous sheets, or may be collected to appear on detail sheets. These details may include construction details that show how the components of the building fit together. These details may also include millwork drawings or other interior details. * Schedules: Many aspects of a building must be listed as schedules on larger projects. These include schedules for windows, doors, wall or floor finishes, hardware, landscaping elements, rooms, and areas. Where additional systems are complex and require many details for installation, specialized additional plan drawings may be used, such as: * Structural: While smaller projects may only show structural information on the plans and sections, larger projects have separate sheets describing the structure of the building. * Mechanical: Mechanical drawings show plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, or fire protection systems. *

Electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

:Electrical plan drawings may include equipment and cable tray layout, lighting and power, grounding, telephone, local area network, special communications or signal systems, or a reflected lighting plan.

References

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