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GUIDE TO SCALING OFF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

When receiving our completed drawings it is handy to get measurements from them for many reasons, such as ordering that kitchen to see if the units fit or to see the bathroom space required. Discount Plans drawings are unique as we only display the essential dimensions annotated on the plans and elevations for ease of use for the Planner's purposes to confirm the proposed size such as depth, height and width of the proposed extension in mind. Dimensions clutter the drawings and we draught in a way to keep the drawings as clean as possible so all can read clearly. 

THE TOOL NEEDED FOR SCALING OFF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS IS CALLED A SCALE RULE

Discount Plans drawings have a unique draughting standard that stands out from the rest, cluttering drawings with unnecessary dimensions only gets in the way of the most important information needed for the builders to read off. After engineering input, the floor plans can get quite detailed with beam and column referencing etc. so to keep the drawings as clean as possible we leave off all the unnecessary dimensions such as recesses, openings and room sizes as they can be taken off by means of measuring from the drawings. The tool to measure off drawings is called a scale rule. A scale rule is basically a technical ruler for anyone wanting to take measurements off the drawings. A scale rule has different scalings printed along the flat surfaces to correspond to the scale of the drawing. 

scale rule 1:1 or 1:100.JPG

SCALE 1:1 - Mainly used for 1:1 detailing, rarely used
SCALE 1:100 - Mainly Used for Exisiting Plans / Elevations

scale rule 1_5 or 1_50.JPG

SCALE 1:5 - Mainly used for enlarged detailing
SCALE 1:50 - Mainly Used for Proposed Plans / Elevations

scale rule 1_200 or 1_20.JPG

SCALE 1:20 - Mainly used enlarged detailing
SCALE 1:200 - Mainly Used for Block plans

It's surprising how many people do not know what a scale rule is or has ever seen one. Planning case officers use them in the officer to gather the information they need. Builders use them all of the time to take off from the drawings. taking off is a terminology meaning reading the measurements from the scale rule from the drawings - taking off from plans/drawings. Scale rules can be purchased from any good stationery shop or by ordering online. First, the most important mistake that can happen is scaling off drawings that are out of scale. this can happen when printing the drawing/s off. All drawings if printed off on A4, A3 or A1 size needs to be printed to 1:1 scale not scale to fit as some printers are set to. 1:1 means that the drawings are printed to the correct scales to which the drawing has been drawn to. Printing scaled to fit will slightly adjust the drawing to fit on the page either reducing or enlarging the drawing making the drawing/s incorrect when placing the scale rule on top of it.  

HOW TO CHECK THAT MY DRAWINGS ARE PRINTED OFF TO SCALE 

ARCHITECTS DRAWINGS SCALE BAR.JPG

The Scale Bar

The Scale bar is an indication of the measurement distance in relation to the scale of the drawing similar to what you see on maps. The Scale Bar in this instance is 1:50 which is the same scale as the drawing itself.

Go by the 1:50 reading scale on the scale rule and tally the rule to the 1:50 scale bar on the drawings, if the readings are not constant then this means that the drawings have been printed off not to scale. This as mentioned above can happen quite easily by the printer settings being set to scaled to fit. disregard the drawing/s and print them off again making sure the printer settings is set to 1:1 or Actual scale as per annotation below.

1:50 architects drawings.JPG
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SCALE RULE READINGS EXPLAINED on a 1:50 EXAMPLE

Each set distance marker indicates if viewing at 1:50 scaling is equal to 100mm so two markers are equal to a total distance of 200mm and so on till you go further down the rule. 1000mm (10 markers) is equal to 1 meter

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100mm

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200mm

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1000mm

SCALE BAR READINGS EXPLAINED on a 1:50 EXAMPLE

Each set distance marker indicates if viewing at 1:50 scaling is equal to 1000mm so two markers are equal to a total distance of 2000mm and so on till you go further down the rule.

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EXAMPLE OF AN OUT OF SCALE DRAWING PRINTED SCALED TO FIT

From comparing the Scale Bar on the drawing to the Scale Rule the measurements are off by a large margin 

incorrect scale bar.JPG

EXAMPLE OF A SCALED DRAWING PRINTED AT 1:1 or ACTURAL SIZE

Comparing the Scale Bar on the drawing to the Scale Rule the measurements are bang on 

correct scale bar.JPG

NOW YOU ARE READY FOR SCALING ANY PART OF THE DRAWING

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2320mm - as Shown

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300mm - as Shown

Image by Daniel McCullough
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CONTACT OUR TEAM TODAY FOR A QUOTE

I hope you understood this article and find it useful for your proposals we just want you to get the right results and not to make a mistake in doing the build the wrong way around as this could affect the sale to the next purchaser. Regards John. D.

CALL OUR TEAM ON
07838135957

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