Types of Architectural Drawings Explained

US housing authorities issued around 1.5 million building permits in June 2024 alone. This statistic may make getting a permit or building a home sound easy, but it can be tricky. Most housing boards require you to have architectural drawings to receive your permit.

But they have good reasons to do so. Architectural drawings are your best tools for laying out your home and planning your renovation project.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the three main categories of architectural drawings and what you can expect to see when looking at plan drawings, section drawings, elevation drawings, and more.

As the name suggests, architectural drawings are drawings of a building's architectural details. Traditionally, these are done in ink on paper, but modern technology has made digital architectural drawings common. These drawings use pre-set conventions, including units of measure, different scales, annotations, and cross-references.

Architectural drawings can be incredibly useful for designing buildings and houses, planning out renovation projects, and helping during the construction process.

The three main categories of architectural drawings are plan drawings, section drawings, and elevation drawings. Let’s take a look at the different types of drawings you’ll see within each of these categories.

Plan drawings give a bird's-eye view of a property. They illustrate the features inside a building, letting the viewer know where rooms and furniture will go inside. They also provide information on the size of each room, though most people do not draw plan drawings in perspective.

Here are some of the different types of plan drawings you might come across. 

A roof plan is an architectural drawing that gives you a top-down perspective of a building’s roof. Roof plans are essential and help ensure your roof is built correctly and works with the rest of your building’s structure.

Some major components of roof plans are:

•  Roofline  : The roof plan will display the roof's overall shape, including any overhangs or eaves.

• Slope and pitch: The roof’s slope and pitch are usually displayed with arrows showing the slope's direction and how steep the incline is.

• Materials: A roof plan will list the roofing materials used in the roof construction, like shingles or tiles.

• Openings: If your roof includes any skylights, chimneys, or vents, those will be displayed on the roof plan.

• Structural elements: A roof plan must include the location of any rafters, trusses, or beams that support the roof.

• Drainage: You’ll see the location of any gutters, downspouts, and drainage systems that will help manage water runoff on your roof.

A reflected ceiling plan (RCP) is a type of architectural drawing that shows all the features on a room's ceiling as if the ceiling were reflected onto the floor. They’re mainly used in construction and interior design.

RCPs display the placement of:

• Lighting: This includes things like light fixtures, ceiling lights, recessed lights, and chandeliers.

• Ceiling layout: If your ceiling has tiles or panels, the RCP will show how they should be laid out.

• HVAC: The RCP will display locations of heating and cooling system components like vents, air returns, and air conditioning systems.

• Electrical elements: Any ceiling-mounted electrical components, such as speakers or smoke detectors, will be displayed on reflected ceiling plans. 

A site plan is an architectural drawing that shows the entire construction site, including the surrounding landscape, utilities, and roads. Some people draw site plans above the building as though they are showing a roof plan. Others make drawings like first-floor plans, showing how the exterior affects the interior.

Site plans can include the following elements:

• Property boundaries: Your site plan will include the outline of the property, including its dimensions.

• Buildings and structures: You’ll see any buildings and structures on your property.

• Landscaping: The site plan may include details of landscaping elements like trees, gardens, or lawns.

• Utilities: A site plan will clearly identify the location of any utility lines for water, sewer, gas, or electricity. This will help workers dig safely during construction.

• Access points: This includes any driveways, walkways, or entrances to your property.

• Scale: Your site plan should clearly identify the scale of the drawing.

Learn more about different types of site plans here: Which Site Plan Is Best for You? 

A plan callout gives you a detailed view of a specific area of an architectural drawing. Plan callouts are great for conveying information about smaller details in a plan to reduce the risk of mistakes during construction.

The main components of plan callouts are:

• The highlighted area: A portion of the main drawing is “pulled out,” often a circle, rectangle, or cloud shape, to indicate the area is being enlarged.

• Detailed views: These are more detailed drawings of the highlighted area with more specific information, dimensions, notes, and annotations.

• Additional information: This includes detailed information about construction methods, materials, finishes, or any other information crucial for constructing the things in the callout.

Plan drawings often have a quarter-inch scale, where one-quarter inch of a line represents one foot of the property. A plan callout has a larger scale, usually a half-inch scale, making details easier to see. 

Plan details are also known as detail drawings or construction details. They are highly detailed illustrations that give in-depth information about the assembly, materials, dimensions, and construction methods for specific parts of a building.

Detail drawings include:

• Components: These show the individual components of an assembly and how they fit together. 

• Dimensions: Plan details will include measurements and dimensions to guide construction.

• Annotations: Notes, labels, and other annotations help explain materials, construction techniques, and any other special instructions.

• Cross-sections: Plan details often include cross-sectional views of assemblies to help you understand how they work.

• Materials and finishes: This will include any details about the wood, metal, concrete, and other materials used for construction.

• Construction methods: These are instructions about assembling or installing components, including the order of the construction steps and the tools and equipment you will need. 

As the name suggests, section drawings illustrate sections or parts of buildings. Section views look at structures as though they have been cut along an imaginary plane, letting you see internal features that aren’t visible in standard plan drawings.

Section views are essential for architects, engineers, and builders. They communicate complex information about a project's design and construction.

Here are some of the types of section drawings you might see. 

A full section drawing, also known as a section drawing, is an architectural drawing that shows a vertical cut through the entire length or width of a building or structure. This cut provides a view of the internal components, construction details, and relationships between different parts of the structure. 

Half-section drawings only reveal half of the internal components of a structure while also displaying the exterior. In construction, half-section drawings will show the outside walls of a building and what’s on the other side of those walls. They help you understand how internal and external elements of the construction relate to each other.

Offset sectional drawings show features that are not in a straight line but need to be displayed in a single-section view. The “cutting plane” line in an offset section drawing is bent or offset to pass through these features. This gives you a comprehensive view of the important internal components.

A removed section, sometimes called an exploded section, pulls out a part of the drawing to view in greater detail, separate from the main drawing. This helps you look at some aspects in more detail without disrupting the rest of the architectural drawing.

Revolved sections show small sections of an object or room. The artist draws the element as if they are rotating it 90 degrees, helping you see it better. This can help you see what problems could occur if the object shifts, which can be helpful for maintenance and future repairs.

Learn more about section drawings in our post about six types of section views .

Elevation drawings are architectural drawings that display the exterior views of a building from different sides. Elevation drawings help you understand the appearance, proportions, and design details of a building’s facades.

The main elements of elevation drawings include:

• Exterior views: show the arrangement of doors, windows, materials, and other facade elements.

• Architectural features: Elevation drawings detail the placement and style of doors and windows, materials used for cladding a building, and architectural details like moldings and trims.

• Dimensions and scale: An elevation drawing will include the dimensions of a building and the scale of the drawing.

Most drawings show the sides of structures at a 1:100 scale, though you can find elevations with other scales.

You may also find elevation drawings of the inside of specific rooms like kitchens. They can help you visualize things like the location of cabinets and appliances to help with design and installation. Elevation drawings can be very helpful for renovations and interior design of spaces like offices, and you can use them alongside site plans. 

Now that you know how useful and informative different types of architectural drawings are for the construction process. If you need help putting together architectural drawings for your project, My Site Plan can help. We can help you create a simple or detailed site plan to help you prepare for your project or submit for permits. Ready to get started? Take a look at our site plan options!