CHAPTER 1 PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, AND COLOR CODING

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Interpret basic plans, drawings, and specifications in construction operations. Recognize crew leader responsibilities and safety color-coding standards.

In the day-to-day work as a Utilitiesman, you will be installing, assembling, inspecting, and troubleshooting many types of utility systems. To do these jobs properly, you must read and interpret plans and drawings. You may also have to read specifications that contain additional information on the details of construction and installation. Plans and specifications help you in doing the job correctly and safely.

After studying this topic, you should be able to read and interpret simple drawings and sketches as well as using the specifications to help you with more complex plans. Additionally, you should be able to draw simple shop drawings and specify the hazards associated with each color code for piping and compressed gas containers.

PLANS

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the arrangement of a set of project blueprints and types of plans and drawings.

You will be working with several types of plans and drawings. These may range from simple shop drawings and sketches, made perhaps by your immediate supervisor, to construction blueprints created by engineers. For the most part you will be working with plans created by architects and engineers. In Seabee construction, a complete set of plans for a project consists of civil, architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical plans, or drawings. You will be spending the majority of your time with mechanical drawings, but you will need all of these plans together to obtain a full picture of your part of that project and how to accomplish it.

CIVIL PLANS

Civil plans, or site plans, encompass a variety of drawings and. information. They furnish essential data, such as land contours, roads, utilities, trees, structures, site preparation and development, and significant physical features, on or near the construction site (fig. 1-1)

ARCHITECTURAL PLANS

Architectural plans show the architectural design and composition of a building. They include floor plans, exterior elevation plans, and door and window schedules (fig. 1-2).

STRUCTURAL PLANS

Structural plans show the support of the building or structure, including walls, columns, beams, foundation, roof, and deck slab. They also show their relationship to each other (figs. 1-3 and 1-4).

a href="http://armyengineer.tpub.com/en01136/Electrical-Plans-154.htm">ELECTRICAL PLANS

Electrical plans contain the electrical distribution system plans, interior wiring drawings, and electrical component schedules for a building, or structure. They show wiring circuits, light switches, receptacles, light fixtures, and equipment (fig. 1-5).

a href="http://engineeringtraining.tpub.com/14069/css/Mechanical-Plan-293.htm">MECHANICAL PLANS

Mechanical plans include layouts and details for systems of plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration (fig. 1-6). These systems vary, depending on whether they are for a permanent installation with the most modern fixtures and equipment or for a temporary installation where less complex equipment is used. Whatever the job, you