Installation drawings
Installation drawings are developed from co-ordinated detail drawings and present the information needed by trades to install part of the works. This may be particularly important for complex installations such as plant rooms, data centres, ventilation systems, underfloor heating, and so on.
They may be prepared by the consultant team, or may be prepared by contractors, sub-contractors or suppliers and submitted for approval.
They may comprise plans, sections and elevations, but increasingly building information modelling (BIM) is being used to create detailed 3 dimensional representations of buildings and their components which may include installation information.
Installation drawings may include information about:
- Precise positioning.
- Supports and fixings.
- Information from manufacturers shop drawings.
- Space allowances for installation.
- Builders work in connection, such as; cutting and sealing holes, chasing block and brickwork for conduits or pipes, lifting and replacing floors, constructing plinths and so on.
- Plant or equipment requirements.
- Requirements for service connections.
- Requirement to leave access space for operation and maintenance.
- Other maintenance access requirements such as access panels, decking, platforms, ladders and handrails.
It is important that the information presented is carefully co-ordinated so that clashes are avoided.
Installation drawings may include specification information, or this may be provided in a separate specification, but information should not be duplicated as this can become contradictory and may cause confusion.
Design Framework for Building Services 5th Edition (BG 6/2018), written by David Churcher, John Sands & Martin Ronceray, and published by BSRIA in June 2018 suggests that installation drawings are:
|
Drawings based on the Technical Design drawings or coordinated working drawings with the primary purpose of defining that information needed by the tradesmen on site to install the works. The main features of installation drawings should be as per coordinated working drawings, plus:
|
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- As-built drawings and record drawings.
- Assembly drawing.
- Concept drawing.
- Design drawings.
- Detail drawing.
- Elevations.
- Engineering drawing.
- General arrangement drawing.
- Projections.
- Scale drawing.
- Section drawing.
- Shop drawing.
- Technical drawing.
- Types of drawing.
- Working drawing.
- Component drawings
Featured articles and news
Difficult Sites: Architecture Against the Odds
Free exhibition at the RIBA Architecture Gallery until 31 May.
Designing Buildings reaches 20,000 articles
We take a look back at some of the stranger contributions.
Lessons learned from other industries.
The Buildings of the Malting Industry. Book review.
Conserving places with climate resilience in mind.
Combating burnout.
The 5 elements of seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke.
Shading for housing, a design guide
A look back at embedding a new culture of shading.
The Architectural Technology Awards
The AT Awards 2025 are open for entries!
ECA Blueprint for Electrification
The 'mosaic of interconnected challenges' and how to deliver the UK’s Transition to Clean Power.
Grenfell Tower Principal Contractor Award notice
Tower repair and maintenance contractor announced as demolition contractor.
Passivhaus social homes benefit from heat pump service
Sixteen new homes designed and built to achieve Passivhaus constructed in Dumfries & Galloway.
CABE Publishes Results of 2025 Building Control Survey
Concern over lack of understanding of how roles have changed since the introduction of the BSA 2022.
British Architectural Sculpture 1851-1951
A rich heritage of decorative and figurative sculpture. Book review.
A programme to tackle the lack of diversity.