Chapter 44

Commercial Construction Projects

Introduction• Major differences regarding commercial

drafting – Team effort

• Within the office• Consulting firms (designer and drafters)

– Wider variety of materials• Emphasis on environmentally friendly materials

Office Practice• As ability and quality improves, so will the

variety of projects – Tools include:

• Sweet Network• MasterFormat• Simpson Strong-Tie catalog

Office Practice (cont’d.)• Prime differences between commercial and

residential drafting – Working with engineer’s calculations

• Provided for entire structure• Details everything• Specific area and stress• Most start at highest level and work down

Drawing Organization• Drawing origination

– Usually starts with residential drawings• Commercial projects are arranged in seven groups

• Drawing set page designators– Drawings can be numbered in successive

order using a designator

• Drawing placement– Details are planned prior to drawings

Site Drawings• Basis for all other site-related drawings

– Property layout and size – Outline of the structure – North arrow– Ground and finish floor elevations– Setbacks– Parking and access information– Information about utilities

Architectural Drawings• Describe size and shape of a structure

– Floor plans and enlarged floor plan– Elevations– Wall sections– Roof plan– Reflected ceiling plan– Interior elevations and details– Finish schedules

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Floor plans

– Shows location of materials

• Floor plan symbols– North arrow– Grid markers– Section markers– Detail markers– Elevation symbols

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Schedules

– Door schedules and symbols– Window schedules and symbols– Interior finish symbols– Finish symbols and schedules– Symbols to clarify materials– Wall construction symbols

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Roof plans

– Show shape, roofing materials, direction of slope, and drainage method of each surface

• Low-sloped roofs• High-sloped roofs• Roof materials (e.g., single-ply, built-up, seamed

metal, and corrugated metal)

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Roof plans (cont’d.)

– Common components• Changes in roof shape• Roof openings• Roof drainage• Gutters• Drains, overflow drains, and scuppers

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Exterior elevations

– Show structure exterior as projected from floor plan

• Heights from floor to ceiling and floor to wall• Floor to ceiling for multilevel structures• Floor to rails at balconies or above-ground decks• Window height and size• Height and width of exterior finishes• Roof pitches

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Sections show:

– Vertical relationships of materials represented on each plan view and exterior elevations

– Materials used to construct walls, floors, ceilings, and roof components and vertical relationships

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Types of sections

– Full sections• Longitudinal or transverse

– Wall sections

• Other considerations– Material representation– Dimensions– Drawing symbols and notations

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Enlarged floor plans

– Used for components that must be displayed at a larger scale to provide detailed information

• Interior elevations– Show shape and finishes of features built into

a wall

• Reflected ceiling plans– Shows ceiling of a specific level of a structure

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Vertical circulation drawings

– Ramps– Stairs

• Material • Sections

– Elevator drawings– Escalator drawings

Architectural Drawings (cont’d.)• Exterior details

– Details may related to any architectural sheet• Exterior joints and intersections of various materials

• Interior details– Details may related to any architectural sheet

• Door and finish details

Structural Drawings• Construct skeleton of the structure

– Framing plans• Wood and timber• Structural steel• Precast concrete

– Structural elevations• Structural steel• Poured concrete• Tilt-up concrete

Structural Drawings (cont’d.)• Construct skeleton of the structure (cont’d.)

– Structural sections• Show material intersections

– Structural details• Provide information to make required connections

– Foundation plans• Plan view floor system construction• Specifies size and location of concrete pours

Electrical Drawings• Provide information about:

– Locations of:• Outlets• Switches• Light fixtures

– Other related information

Fixture Drawings• Used for structures containing a large

number of specialty cabinet or trim drawings– Fixture drawings will be in their own section

• Will be in successive order (starting with F-1)

– Include details covering interior trim and specialized equipment, as well as cabinets

Mechanical Drawings• Show movement of air throughout the

structure– Location of heating and cooling equipment – Duct runs

Plumbing Drawings• Show how fresh water and wastewater will

be routed throughout the structure– Plumbing drawings, schedules, and details are

successively arranged (starting with page P-1)