Types of building plans: How to design, advantages

Building plans provide a visual picture of a structure’s final appearance. They are employed by contractors and builders to erect a variety of buildings. The preparation of project budgets and cost estimates both benefit from the usage of building plans.

The building plan is used by contractors and builders to provide their clients with the design and obtain their approval. The conclusion of many sets of plans, such as a site plan, floor plan, elevation plan (both exterior and interior), landscape plan, and more, is a building plan.

See also: Here’s why estimation and costing are important before house construction

 

Building plan: Types 

Building plans are created when an owner or developer approaches an architect with a proposal for a new structure. Depending on the complexity and level of detail of the project, an architect will issue several types of drawings to facilitate simple comprehension and a smooth construction process.

Known about: List of most common building materials used in construction.

Site plan

Source: Pinterest

 

A site plan is a precise design that depicts the whole layout of a structure, whether it be a house or an apartment. It displays the site’s borders, access points, and if surrounding structures are important to the design, any relevant nearby structures.

The site plan for a building project must also indicate all the connections for the various utilities, such as drainage and sewage lines, water supply, electrical and communication cables, outdoor lighting, etc.

The limits on historical sites in the municipal development rules, as well as these drawings, should be followed. It serves as a binding legal agreement to get government agency approval for the building. For this, a licensed expert such as an architect, engineer, landscape architect, or land surveyor must create the site plan.

 

Floor plan

Source: Pinterest

 

A plan is a top perspective of a structure or other thing. The floor plan is the most basic architectural diagram; it is a perspective from above that depicts the layout of spaces in a structure, much like a map, but it shows the layout at a certain level of a building.

A floor plan view is characterised as a vertical orthographic projection of a building’s exterior onto a horizontal plane. This displays the walls, windows, and doors, as well as other elements like stairs, fixtures, and even furniture.

 

Elevation

An orthographic projection sketch of the house’s one side is called an elevation drawing. An elevation drawing’s functions include providing vertical height measurements and depicting the final aspect of a certain side of the home. It is primarily classified into two sorts.

 

External elevation

The outer depiction of a structure is called the exterior elevation. It includes information on the kind of finish, the height of the floor, and any projections.

Drawings in 2D or 3D can represent exterior elevations. Measurements are frequently used in 2D designs to highlight the connection between outside features like doors and lighting. Additionally, 2D elevations can have callouts for various brick, stone, and paint types so you can see precisely where each one should be placed.

A rendering is often a concept drawing that you present to the person building your project to give them an idea of how you want the exterior to look.

 

Internal elevation 

Source: Pinterest

 

The aim of internal elevations is quite similar to that of outer elevations. When building a space like a kitchen or a bathroom, which requires visualising built-in parts, elevations are quite helpful.

Interior elevations, which display your furniture in your space, are often done in 3D. The quality of life and mental tranquillity are significantly impacted by inner elevation. Nowadays, internal elevation receives far more attention than outside elevation. The paint colour, lighting fixtures, furniture styles, and floor patterns are all shown on the interior elevation.

 

Landscape plan

Source: Pinterest

 

A beautiful green garden next to a great house or building increases the structure’s charm or visual appeal. These days, hiring a landscape architect to enhance the appearance of homes is popular.

The building plans are placed out for bid when they have been finalised. Contractors and subcontractors analyse the blueprints and offer their pricing to do the job during the bidding phase. The lowest bidder often receives the project; however, this is not always the case. When awarding a project, owners may also consider relationships, experience, and timetable.

 

Cross section plan

A cross section, in geometrical terms, refers to a horizontal projection of a building onto a vertical plane by cutting through the building. It is a vertical section of a building that displays the dimensions and thickness of all its components, along with the sill height, lintel height, floor height, and other intricate details of the structure. This helps in understanding the internal composition of the building and the relationships between its various elements.

 

Structural plan

A structural plan is a comprehensive representation of a building’s structural elements. It includes information on the location, size, and arrangement of reinforcements, as well as load-bearing components of the building. This plan is crucial in ensuring the building’s strength and durability.

Terrace plan

This is an external raised flat area that is either designed like a garden or is as a roof terrace or flat terrace. These can be attached or detached with the building. They differ from balconies as the latter are small spaces that are attached to the room. You can design a terrace such that it has multiple access points. While designing the terrace, make provisions for water tank. Also, the barrier wall plays an important role and is part of the building. It’s advisable that a terrace wall is at a good height so that the building is sturdy and accidents are prevented.

How to make a building plan?

After learning the significance of a building plan’s symbols and key advantages, let us explain the steps you may use to draft a building plan.

Step 1: Make the scale

Make sure you always record the appropriate scale while producing the building floor plan for your current project. Typically, individuals use conventional rulers to scale the space. To produce the graph of the building area, you should always use an architect’s scale.

Step 2: Produce the strategy

Once you’ve established the beginning point, add the external lines to make the building layout. Make sure to include information on the roads, trees, and outside patios in addition to the general layout of the building itself. It will make it simpler for the builder to comprehend your needs.

Step 3: Add details

If you are drawing out the construction design for yourself, you might include some fundamental details to make it easier for the architect to comprehend. For instance, be careful to include the correct property address, the scale size, your information, and “N” for North in the appropriate location.

Step 4: Create a detailed sketch

After completing the general design of the building property, it is time to draw some of the most significant characteristics, such as the building’s width, depth, and height.

Step 5: Labelling

You rely on your labels since you are utilising a broad method to create the construction plan. Don’t forget to label everything that has to do with the building construction plan.

 

Building plan: Components

If you use certain straightforward techniques, you can quickly browse a construction design even if you lack the necessary technical skills to interpret it. You must first learn some of the most crucial architectural plan components, such as walls, windows, doors, stairs, ceiling heights, and fittings, in order to begin comprehending the building design.

• Walls: Sets of parallel lines on either side of a space in a building floor plan represent inner or external walls, depending on the area.

 

• Windows: In the realm of architecture, windows are denoted by a wall break with a thin solid line indicating the width of the window.

 

• Doors: You can see that doors are depicted on the building construction plans as the breaches in the walls, with each door being identified by a little line at a right angle to the wall.

 

• Stairs: Stairs are typically depicted in construction designs as a series of rectangles with an arrow indicating whether they go up or down.

Toilets, sinks, showers, bathtubs, light fixtures, and stoves are all examples of fixtures that may be found in construction plans. In addition, some of the fittings may be chosen as furniture for interior decoration.

 

Building plan: Advantages

There are various advantages to drafting a building plan, just as with any other design. Building blueprints, first and foremost, assist you in visualising the entire structure before you even begin construction. This method helps to avoid wasting time, materials, and the labour-intensive efforts of the entire construction crew.

A building construction plan also has other significant advantages, such as the following:

• Describes the project’s goal: It would be exceedingly tedious to begin working on the construction project before even having the appropriate plan. The project will be correctly understood by all parties concerned if the building construction plan is followed.
• Work according to schedule: A building plan can assist you in creating a timetable to make sure that all jobs are done on time, allowing you to estimate the project deadline. A building floor plan makes it simple to establish the project’s major checkpoints and get everyone on the same page.
• Recognise the expense: You will have a better idea of how much money you will need to spend when designing and building the house once you have the building plan in your possession. Additionally, the construction plan for your project will guarantee that your builder will stay within the budget.
• Avoid issues: Having a building floor plan can help you steer clear of any issues that might cause unneeded harm to the structure during construction.
• Easy maintenance: It would be nice to show your engineer the construction design if you ever needed to maintain your building. They will learn more about your choice of fittings, the height of the roof from the ground level, and other things as a result.

 

FAQs

What characterises the ideal building plan?

Every component or part in the building plan must always have a distinct title, and the complete layout should be depicted at the appropriate size.

What does a building plan contain?

From building to building, different components are incorporated into a construction design. However, the foundation plan, floor layout, roof plan, elevation, and electrical plan are some of the most typical elements.

Are building plans subject to any limitations?

It won't give the right measurements for furniture if it's not done precisely and to scale. If it is ineffective, it could even lead to expensive blunders.