Building Drawing and Civil Engineering Graphics
What the exam tests
Building drawing and civil engineering graphics tests plan, elevation and section of simple buildings, wall thickness, openings, stairs, foundations, symbols and site conventions. You must relate plan dimensions to actual construction.
Core rules
- A plan is a horizontal section through openings, usually at window-sill level; an elevation shows the outside face; a section cuts through the building to show foundations, floors and roof.
- Wall thickness is drawn to scale on both sides of the room; do not add it only outside. Use standard brick wall thickness such as 230 mm for a one-brick wall.
- Show doors and windows with their swing and sill/head levels. Lintels, plinth and foundation courses must be labelled in section.
- Use correct line weights: cut walls thick, visible edges medium, dimension and centre lines thin. Hatched masonry should have consistent spacing.
- Site plans use north orientation, boundary lines, roads and drainage; symbols must be explained in a legend.
Worked example
A room is 3000 mm × 4000 mm internally, with 230 mm walls all round. Overall plan size = (3000 + 2 × 230) × (4000 + 2 × 230) = 3460 mm × 4460 mm. Draw the inner rectangle first, then offset each wall 230 mm outward. Place a 900 mm door in the 3000 mm wall and a 1200 mm window in the 4000 mm wall, keeping the openings clear of corners. Check that the door swing arc clears the adjacent wall.
Traps
Drawing wall thickness on one side only changes the overall size. Do not omit lintels or sill levels in section. A plan is not a roof plan; openings must be shown. Mixing scales between plan and section, or forgetting the north arrow, loses presentation marks.