Professional development

Reading Architectural Plans: How to Read Architectural Drawings

It takes work to learn how to read architectural plans. These plans consist of many drawings, all of which are necessary and possess a certain value despite the potential difficulty in understanding them. If you're new to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry and just starting to learn how to use architectural plans, there's a lot for you to unpack.


You'll need to learn everything from the meaning of the various symbols, annotations, and dimensions to how to accurately scale all drawings, among other topics. It is a lot of information to process and can make you feel lost, overwhelmed, and confused.


To help you better understand architectural drawings and what they entail, we've created this comprehensive guide on how to read architectural drawings. Using this guide, you can gain the confidence to correctly interpret architectural plans and feel self-assured in your AEC career.

What Are Architectural Plans?

Before you can learn how to read architectural drawings, it's important to understand what architectural plans are. These plans lay out a building's design, with information about the various specifications for each component. Architectural plans can include details about calculations and materials, along with other information to help with construction.

Types of Architectural Plans

There are several types of architectural plans that people use in the AEC industry, including:


- Floor Plans: These plans illustrate a room's layout. Building designs have separate floor plans for multiple floors and rooms. These plans can also provide guidance during the construction process.
- Site Plans: Site plans detail the location where a new building will undergo construction. These plans might include drawings of buildings along with other complementary construction projects in the vicinity.
**- Elevations: **These drawings indicate the height of a building and how this will affect the property. Architects can determine how to properly size specific building components, such as windows, based on the building's height.
**- Landscapes: **Landscape drawings illustrate the area surrounding a construction project, including features such as public fixtures, parks, streetlights, and more. They're critical for visualising the project before completion.
- Cross-Sections: Many floor plans offer an overhead look at an entire construction project. But cross-sections entail cutting vertical planes to see projects from a side view. These sections show how different elevations and other components affect the layout for each level when floor plans might not provide enough insight.
**- Detail Drawings: **These drawings feature small sections of a larger construction to show details in greater depth, such as individual components and how they work with each other.

The Role of Architectural Plans in the AEC Industry

Architectural plans of all types help everyone involved in a construction project learn the ins and outs of it. Reading architectural plans is key to ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding the project and that it goes smoothly from concept to completion.

Why Is Correctly Reading Architectural Plans Important?

Reading architectural plans properly will help prevent potential issues from arising at any point during a construction project. Architects, engineers, and construction workers will understand the project's requirements and how to efficiently and correctly complete it.

What Are Architectural Drawings?

Architectural drawings are illustrations of certain structures. Architects typically draft these drawings when designing a structure or building. Construction workers can consult architectural drawings for guidance throughout a construction project to ensure proper placement of fixtures and use of materials.

What Are the Different Components of Architectural Drawings?

When reading architectural drawings, you'll come across several key components that these drawings must include, such as:


  • The overall scope of work
  • Elevations
  • Floor plans
  • Fixtures and materials
  • Area calculations
  • Code analysis
  • Demo plans, if needed

**How Many Architectural Drawing Formats Are *There?* **

There are multiple types of architectural drawing formats. Knowing how to read architectural drawings could require you to learn about the following formats:


  • Structural drawings
  • Shop drawings
  • HVAC drawings
  • Engineering drawings
  • Plumbing and electrical drawings

Technical drawings

How to Read Architectural Drawings

When learning how to read architectural drawings, there are several items you'll need to understand as you review floor plans and other drafts.

Understanding Scales and Dimensions

Architectural drawings should include details about dimensions, including the widths and heights of fixtures like windows and doors, as well as the length of walls. Architectural plans also feature a scale. For example, an inch on the page could equal a length of five meters in the actual construction. Keep in mind that the scale may differ depending on the professional behind the drawings; while engineers tend to go by inch-per-foot/meter, architects often work with fractions.

Understanding Floor and Site Plans

Floor plans consist of multiple sheets to help you understand the details included in each drawing. For instance, a cover sheet will include details such as the name of the project and the architect behind it, along with dates and other information. An index of plan sheets will then list the specific plans included, such as wall sections, floor plans, and elevations. You can then read each plan, including floor and site plans that illustrate the project.

Interpreting the Elevations

You'll also need to read the elevations in architectural plans, which include exterior views of the property detailing the height of doors and windows, the slopes of roofing, and materials used for walls, along with other components.

Interpreting the Final Product From the Drawings

Based on the details included in the architectural drawings, you should get a good sense of what the project will entail. What will the end product look like? How will it affect the surrounding property? The answers to these and other questions should be clear with detailed and accurate drawings.

Reach Out to HP to Meet Your Architectural Drawing Needs

With a better understanding of how to read architectural drawings, you may want to look for the perfect solutions to help draft these drawings and architectural plans. For example, you might want to locate the perfect large-format printer or plotter and a reliable business desktop for these projects. If you need high-quality designs and prints for these materials, turn to HP.


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