Types of Drawings

There are many types of construction drawings. These drawings are all necessary for a building to be built correctly.

The main types of drawings are architectural, engineering, electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical.

Project drawings can be created by a range of people, depending on the project. These include an architect, a building designer, a draftsperson, a builder or even the client.

To keep things simple, the terms ‘designer’ and ‘draftsperson’ will be used most in this guide to indicate the person who draws the plans.

Drawings, especially in the residential sector of the industry, don’t show all the details of the building. For example, the part plan of a house in Figure 1.1 shows the outline of the roof (marked with an arrow) so that the roof carpenter knows that it’s a ‘hip’ roof

However, the plan doesn’t show any details of how the roof framing should be constructed. That’s because there are Australian Standards® that specify how roof framing should be constructed (or how trusses should be made and erected if they are used instead).

Also, it’s assumed that the carpenters constructing the roof framing will be competent tradespeople who know what they’re doing. The written specifications for the job will also state which standard is to be followed for each part of the build.

There are also ‘standard’ ways of doing things, especially in the housing sector. For example, if a metal fascia is specified to be fitted at the gutter line, detailed instructions or drawings aren’t necessary, because there’s a standard way of doing that and the contractor will know how.