Drawing the set
Grids
The use of shadow grids has been around for a long
time, particularly among the manufacturers of building
systems, where components tend to be modular and
junctions simple and standardised. They are applicable
to traditional building as well however, whenever a
modular discipline exists, and when used with discretion
can speed up the production of drawings and reduce the
need for elaborate dimensioning.
The superimposition of grids presents no problem with
CAD, as they can be assigned their own unique layering
that can be turned on and off at will.When drawn manually grids may be combined with the
use of pre-printed sheets. A half-tone is usually adopted
for the printing of the grid itself, appearing on the
finished print in a fainter line than those used for the rest
of the drawing. In practical terms, the use of grids is
limited to general arrangement plans and they are of the
greatest benefit in projects where rationalisation of the
design has restricted the size and position of the
elements. In 4.18for example, where the use of a grid of
6 mm squares has allowed each square to represent
a 300 mm module at a scale of 1:50, the placing of
the 100 mm partition has been limited to one of three
conditions. It is either centred on a grid line, centred on
a line midway between grid lines or has one face
coinciding with a grid line. Similarly, the door frame, with
a coordinating dimension of 900 mm, is always situated
so that it occupies three entire grids.No dimensions are needed to locate such elements if
the discipline for positioning them is established from
the outset and is known to everyone using the
drawings.A word of warning however. It is not realistic to expect
the man on site to set out a wall by counting grids and
doing his own calculations. Dimensions should always
be added to the grid for key setting-out positions, overall
lengths and controlling dimensions.Title panels
The title panel should be at the bottom right hand corner
of the sheet, so that when the drawing is folded properly,
the title and number are always clearly visible. A
possible exception to this is when A2, A3 and A4 sheets
are being used, where the title panel might be reduced
in height and spread across the full paper width to
provide a more useable drawing area.4.16 The controlling dimension