Construction details
In very general terms, details convey accurate information of a very specific nature. Details can be superfluous if a general overview is required, but are essential to gain a fuller, more precise understanding.
In construction, details provide a complete description of a specific part of an object such as a building, bridge, tunnel, machine, component and so on. Details tend to be communicated on large-scale drawings that show comprehensive information about parts that may be described in less detail on general arrangement drawings.
For more information see: Detail drawing.
Suppliers may provide standard details for the components they provide, and clients or design companies may have standard details that can be adopted across different projects. The approved documents include details that describe common ways of satisfying the buildings regulations, and a series of Accredited Construction Details (ACDs) have been developed to help achieve the performance standards required by Part L of the Building Regulations.
For more information see: Accredited Construction Details.
Detailed design is the process of taking on and developing a concept design, to make it dimensionally correct and co-ordinated, describing all the main components of the building and how they fit together.
For more information see: Detail design.
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