Do you work in the building industry but struggle to read plan? You’re not alone. You can either plod through your other daily tasks and avoid ever having anything to do with the drawings, or you can impress your manager, coworkers and subcontractors with your understanding of siding materials or hydraulic data.

An understanding of construction drawings can be a boost to your professional development in your workplace, but can also be critical to your project’s success by ensuring that specifications, provisional sum, prime cost values and variations all meet contractual obligations, construction codes and standards requirements. The plans include all the information needed to bid on and build the project.

Plan reading is not only important for those who are on site daily, but also for those who are in office support roles in construction related industries.

A few features of plans that are important to understand include:
• Viewing the title panel to verify the latest amendments to drawings
• Identifying dimensions for project and nominated locations
• Identifying material attributes from specifications
• Identifying environmental controls from the job plans, specifications and environmental plan

Undertaking a Plan Reading course can help you to gain knowledge in the following areas:

• Identifying types of drawings and their purpose
• Locating and identifying key features, symbols and abbreviations on drawings and site plans
• Determining specification requirements and prepare specification documentation using project briefs, working drawings, development approval and other relevant documents
• Assessing the nature and scope of work and adapting standard specifications to specific projects
• Identify all non-structural aspects to the specification including the design, purpose, aesthetics and cost relationships.

Master Builders offers courses to help you upskill and read those plans like a pro. For more information,click here or contact us on (03) 9411 4555.

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