As we discussed earlier, a house plan is simply a set of construction drawings or blueprints that are made for people involved on the design and build process of a house or a building. Those documents are usually made by an architect for civil engineers, structural engineers, plumbers, contractors, builders. and owners.
On those blueprint all aspects of design are defined; construction specifications such as dimensions, materials, layouts, installation methods and techniques are detailed.
Usually you will find on the drawing set detailed information about spaces and room. open floor-plans, and references. These construction drawings usually consist of lines and symbols.
The information provided in this series set of blueprints drawings are:
Those plans contain information about exact the location of a home on the property and its surrounding. It is an overview of the whole construction site. It shows the house and its boundaries in a lot.
Site plans are made counseling the building code and that depends on the country where the house will be built. For example, in Canada: the National Building Code of Canada is the body that is responsible about making the set of rules called the Building Code. In the Canadian version of the building code, Part 9 is the section that deals with Housing and Small Buildings.
The house drawing must define and show in details the location of things such as utility services, setback requirements, easements, location of driveways and walkways.
So, the blueprint of the floor plan is an overhead view of the completed house after it has been designed by an architect or a designer.
We must use parallel lines that, for instance, scale the width of walls and windows. Dimensions must be drawn between the walls to specify room sizes and wall lengths.
In the floor plans, we will also indicate all spaces such as rooms, doors and windows. Also, any built-in elements, such as plumbing fixtures and cabinets, water heaters and furnaces, etc must be indicated. We then have to add a lot of notes to specify finishes, construction methods, or symbols for electrical items.
Elevations represent the faces of houses. Architectural Elevations are the vertical distance between reference points.They are drawn to scale as a non-perspective view of the house designs. Usually elevation plans are taken of the front, rear and both side elevations. Details in the elevations include ridge heights, exterior finishes, roof pitches, the positioning of the final fall of the land and many other details.
A section is a cut through the design. The position of these cut through is marked on the floor plan. Sections are important as they describe how the building will be constructed. Also,they are made to shaw in details the internal finishes such as ceiling height, ceiling type (flat or vault), and window and door dimensions.
In general the set of architectural drawings include:
The following lines and symbols are used in buildings plans to explain the relationship between objects:
Dimension lines:they are solid lines with a mark at either end; where spaces between the two marks equals the distance noted next to the line.
Partial height wall: low wall that are not connected to the ceiling.
Thin solid lines: architects use these these lines for built-in structures such as cabinets and plumbing fixtures.
Thin dotted lines: we architects use those dotted lines to indicate overhead features. For example we can use dotted then lines to indicate wall cabinets in a kitchen.
We have many different kinds of doors that we use, and we must indicate clearly in the map what kind of a door we are using. Doors types include: door swing, Bifold doors, Passage(hinged) doors, and Sliding glass door.
They are also many different kinds of windows and each space in a house has a specific window that is designed for that specific space.
There are also signs that are used in the map to indicate toilets, bathtub, shower, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, kitchen range, refrigerator, washer/dryer, tree, shrub.
Spaces and Rooms:
Depending on the size and type of house, the house plan of any house should include some of the following features:
Outdoor spaces such as Patios and a roofless inner courtyards, and terrace.
Bonus rooms such as studies, libraries, home cinemas, and many other internal spaces.