1 construction blueprint reading symbols and abbreviations

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CONSTRUCTION BLUEPRINT READING

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

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As a technician on a construction site you will need to be familiar with all of the symbols and abbreviations used on the blueprints as they pertain to your trade.

It’s just as important to know the electrical symbols as it is to know the low voltage symbols, low voltage outlets are typically placed close to electrical outlets.

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You will need to locate the legend page in the set of blueprints you are working with.

The legend defines all of the symbols and abbreviations that the architectural firm is using throughout all of the plans.

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Symbols are defined at the beginning of a set of blueprints, there is typically several pages dedicated to identifying all the symbols used on all of the drawings.

Though most of the symbols are standardized architectural firms will have their own variation of common and not so common symbols.

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The abbreviations used on a set of blueprints will also be located at the front of the drawings and have several pages dedicated to defining all the abbreviations used throughout the drawings.

In some cases the symbol and abbreviation sheets may be located in front of the specific drawings, for example all of the electrical symbols may be on sheet E-1 and E-2 may contain all of the abbreviations.

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Here is an example of an electrical legend, this appears on the same page of the electrical drawings which is typical for small projects.

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Plug outlets are standardized and are depicted the same from drawing to drawing, sometimes there’s a slight variation.PLUG OUTLETS

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ELECTRICAL OUTLETS

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LIGHTS, these too are fairly standard

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Switch symbols are also relatively standard.

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Here are the most commonly used symbols for communications.

PRIMARY SYMBOL USED FOR CAMERA LOCATIONS

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COMMUNICATIONS OUTLETS

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Below are some more electrical outlets, notice that the triangle is used for special purpose outlets, in some cases you have to pay special attention to the letter subscripts that are used with each symbol.

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Here are some more electrical symbols, notice that the switch symbol is a little different here than it was in a previous slide.

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Here are the emergency lights and exit lights symbols as well as the different types of fluorescent light symbols.

All telecom cables must be kept away from fluorescent lights.

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Additional low voltage outlets;

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This is an example of 5 outlets, and a light tied to a switch and all tied to the same circuit. What does the circle with the SD and T stand for?

SMOKE DETECTOR

THERMOSTAT

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In this same example the voice and data locations do not have connecting lines, why? ALL COMMUNICATIONS CABLES ARE HOMERUNS TO A TC

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Symbols used in security alarm and access control are not standardized, however a common practice is to use a box or rectangle with the abbreviation of the device.

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Here are some examples of fire alarm symbols that are commonly used on blue-prints.

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CONSTRUCTION BLUEPRINT READINGCommonly used

plumbing symbols

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You’ve probably noticed that the symbols themselves have abbreviations, in many cases the same symbol or shape is used with a different abbreviation.

In the following slides we’ll take a look at some of the most commonly used abbreviations used on electrical drawings.

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BLUEPRINT ABBREVIATIONS

ADA - AMERICAN DISABILITY ACTAHU- AIR HANDLING UNITAFF- ABOVE FINISHED FLOORAWG- AMERICAN WIRE GUAGECL- CENTER LINEEG- EARTH GROUNDELEV- ELEVATIONEM – EMERGENCYEMT- ELECTRICAL METALLIC TUBING

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MDF- MAIN DISTRIBUTION FRAMEFOB- FACE OF BRICKGD/GND- GROUNDMIC- MICROPHONEM.H.- MANHOLENC- NORMALLY CLOSEDNO- NORMALLY OPENOC- ON CENTERPB- PUSH BUTTON

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PBX- PRIVATE BRANCH EXCHANGERFI - REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONSPK- SPEAKERTYP - TYPICALTELE- TELEPHONERTU - ROOF TOP UNITU- UNDERGROUNDWP- WEATHER PROOF“ - INCHES‘ - FEET

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Anything that has the “ADA” designation is a call out that certain height requirements must be followed.

For low voltage technicians this means all public access devices must be ADA compliant, that means the mounting height is 46” (see the handout on ADAAG, Americans with disabilities act accessibility guidelines; 4.31.3).

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Another common abbreviation that you will see on blueprints is “AFF” (above finished floor).

This is a reference to the mounting height of outlets (voice & data) and other low voltage devices.

Typical mounting heights are 18” AFF on center.

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For a more detailed list of abbreviations used on blueprints refer to the symbols and abbreviation hand out.

Remember that in many cases the low voltage systems are typically superimposed onto the electrical drawings so you will be referencing “E” drawings the majority of the time.