| A | B |
|---|
| Architect | qualified, licensed person who creates and designs drawings for a construction project |
| Architect’s Scale | measuring device used for laying out distances, with scales indicating feet, inches, and fractions of inches |
| Architectural Plans | Drawings that show the design of the project |
| Beam | horizontal structural member made of concrete, steel, stone, wood, or other structural material to provide support above a large opening |
| Blueprints | Architectural or working drawings used to represent a structure or system |
| Civil Plans | Drawings that show the location of the building on the site from an aerial view, including contours, trees, construction features, and dimensions |
| CAD | The making of a set of blueprints with the aid of a computer |
| Contour lines | Solid or dashed lines showing the elevation of the earth on a civil drawing |
| Detail drawings | Enlarged views of part of a drawing used to show an area more clearly |
| Dimension line | A line on a drawing with a measurement indicating length |
| Dimensions | Measurements such as length, width, and height shown on a drawing |
| Electrical plans | Engineered drawings that show all electrical supply and distribution |
| Elevation (EL) | Height above sea level, or other defined surface, usually expressed in feet |
| Elevation drawing | Side view of a building or object, showing height and width |
| Engineer | A person who applies scientific principles in design and construction |
| Engineer’s scale | straightedge measuring device uniformly into multiples of 10 divisions per inch so drawings can be made with decimal values |
| Floor plan | drawing that provides an aerial view of the layout of each room |
| Foundation plan | drawing that shows the layout and elevation of the building foundation |
| HVAC | Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning |
| Hidden line | dashed line showing an object obstructed from view by another object |
| Isometric drawing | A three-dimensional drawing of an object. |
| Leader | drafting, the line on which an arrowhead is placed and used to identify a component |
| Legend | description of the symbols and abbreviations used in a set of drawings |
| Mechanical plans | Engineered drawings that show the mechanical systems, such as motors and piping |
| Metric scale | straightedge measuring device divided into centimeters, with each centimeter divided into 10 millimeters |
| Not to scale (NTS) | Describes drawings that show relative positions and sizes |
| Piping& Instrumentation Drawings | Schematic diagrams of a complete piping system |
| Plumbing | general term used for both water supply and all liquid waste disposal |
| Plumbing plans | Engineered drawings that show the layout for the plumbing system |
| Request for information (RFI) | A means of clarifying a discrepancy in the blueprints |
| Roof plan | drawing of the view of the roof from above the building |
| Scale | The ratio between the size of a drawing of an object and the size of the actual object. |
| Schematic | one-line drawing showing the flow of path for electrical circuitry |
| Section drawing | cross-sectional view of a specific location, showing the inside of an object or building |
| Specifications | Precise written presentation of the details of the plan |
| Structural plans | set of engineered drawings used to support the architectural design |
| Symbol | drawing that represents a material or component on a plan |
| Title block | part of a drawing sheet that includes some general information about the project |
