Architectural Flashing Supply
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Basic blueprint reading · Lesson 2 of 4

Basic blueprint reading: materials, standards and design constraints

The standards behind a drawing set, how written scales and the architect's scale work, where flashing sits in the project manual, what owners ask shop drawings to show, and the limits an AFS print must fit.

You will be able to: Name the standards behind a drawing set, read the scale a drawing states, find the project-manual section that governs flashing, and fit a printed profile inside the limits AFS can make.

11 min · 10 slides · 9 questions

All lessons in this module
Slide 1 of 10

The drawing standard behind a set

The Uniform Drawing System has eight modules: Drawing Set Organization, Sheet Organization, Schedules, Drafting Conventions, Terms & Abbreviations, Symbols, Notations and Code Conventions.

CSI publishes the Uniform Drawing System as part of the NCS.

Your set may not follow it exactly; read its legend and sheet index.

Sources

Videos for this lesson

What this video shows: How to read and use an architect's scale on residential construction documents, from a construction-education channel. Checked against the video's description.

Video: Learn how to read a scale - Architects Scale - Part 1 of 2 - Construction Plan Reading Series by TEACH Construction Community Education, on YouTube. Chosen from the video's published description.

Glossary

Scale
The ratio of the size of a drawn view to the size of the object. It is written on the drawing unless the drawing is not to scale, when it is marked NTS.
NTS
Not to scale: a drawing marked NTS is not drawn to a ratio, so only its written dimensions can be read.
Architect's scale
A ruler marked in inches to the foot, such as 1/4 in = 1 ft; each edge carries two scales running in opposite directions, and the number at an end is the inches that stand for one foot.
Graphic bar scale
A ruler drawn on the sheet itself. A study guide explains that it resizes with a reduced or enlarged print, so it stays true when a written ratio would not.
MasterFormat Division 07
Thermal and Moisture Protection, the division of CSI's MasterFormat 2020 Edition in which projects specify flashing and trim, under whichever section title the project manual uses.
Keyed detail
A detail on the shop drawings that is tied by a key or callout to the place on the plans or elevations where it applies; owner specs ask shop drawings to include keyed details.