Types of Views

Here are the various types of views you will see in a typical plan set.

#1

Plan View

Anytime you see a page being referred to as a "plan", you know that it will be a two dimensional bird's eye view of a level (or storey).

Plan views allow us to see how rooms are laid out and where things are in relation to each other.

We can provide horizontal dimensions that show the overall building size, room sizes, and locations of key features.

Plan views are also a great place for plenty of notations describing the components of the building.

The image at left is a 3D image of what a floor plan is looking at.

3D Section

3D Section Combined with 2D Section

2D Section From a Plan

3D Section

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#2

Sections

A section (or cross-section) is a vertical slice through the building. Like a slice of bread, it allows you to see what is inside the building, and within the structures that make up the building itself.

Sections allow us to provide visual information on otherwise hidden components. For example, we can show which direction floor joists run, how one roof meets another, or how a deck is connected to a building.

Sections are also a great place to define vertical heights of things like how high a beam is placed above a floor, or how tall a wall is, for example.

#3

Elevations

An elevation view is typically used to show what the building looks like from the outside. It helps us to see: the alignment of exterior elements such as windows and doors, or how the textures of the siding and roofing work together.

Elevations give us a good sense of the overall mass of the building.

Elevations can also be used for interior views as well. For example, a complicated bank of kitchen cabinets might be shown in a "kitchen elevation" to detail the size of doors and drawers. Or perhaps can be used to describe interior trim details.

#4

Details

Details are zoomed-in, close-up views of areas that require a great deal of attention in order to execute properly. Whether it's for aesthetic reasons, like trim, or energy efficiency reasons like air-sealing, these views help the builder greatly by allowing them to really see how the hidden parts all come together.

For example, this rim joist detail, where the foundation wall, main floor and main floor walls come together is a notoriously tricky spot to build correctly. By showing how the structure comes together along with how all the various air barriers and vapour barriers tie in, the builder now has the ability to plan the assembly sequence. They can anticipate at which stage each part needs to be installed to ensure it is structurally sound and energy efficient.

Without a good detail, you are leaving a great deal up to chance.

#5

Schedules

A schedule is a chart or list of repetitive items. The most common are window and door schedules, which will list the sizes and types.

These could be located anywhere within the plans depending on what they are listing.