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Essential guides for building designers E R
NBS Shortcut 62
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Plotting a Hatch
British drawing conventions

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Whats the correct way to demarcate the use of blockwork or insulated blockwork
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on a drawing? How do you differentiate between a cross-section of softwood

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and hardwood; between sawn and planed timber faces? This Shortcut goes back
into the annals of drawing conventions to identify some of the standard material
hatching that should be in common use.

Bizarrely, there is no British
Standard and effectively no
guidance nor recommendation
determining the correct methods
for hatching a construction drawing.
The original BS 1192-3: 1987 used to
BS EN ISO 7518: 1999, product types, such as electrical
Construction drawings. Simplified symbols, (BS 7845, Guide to the use
representation of demolition and of BS 3939 and BS EN 60617.
rebuilding, and; Graphical symbols for diagrams).
BS EN ISO 11091: 1999, These tend to be related to products

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Construction drawings. and have not been written with a

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be the bible for construction drawing Landscape drawing practice consideration of how appropriate
practice but was withdrawn in 1999
and replaced by three separate
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The current BS 1192: 2007 is
astoundingly boring and bears no
they may be for general construction
use.
standards, none of which continued

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the basic conventions. is effectively a data management Excellence in the Built Environment

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Each of the replacements have standard and there is no ISO or CEN reveals that the most recent
become targeted at specialised standard intended to fill the drawing symbol standard is Singapore
areas of construction, these are: conventions void created by the Standard CP 83-2 : 2000. This is
BS EN ISO 3766: 1999, shelving of the original BSI largely based on BS1192-3 with
Construction drawings. Simplified document. There are other BSI some updated content from
representation of concrete standards with graphic American Standards and may be
reinforcement; representations of particular appropriate as a base for a

Shortcut 62 | April 08 | RIBA Enterprises 1

Plotting a Hatch
British drawing conventions

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commonly used materials and

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conventions contained on these

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for the industry. We welcome
readers to send standardised
hatching and graphic symbols for
additional materials, actions,
fixtures and fittings those not
shown here from which we can
continue to build up a Shortcut
library of good practice graphics.
It all used to be so much easier in

I O N the old days. R. Fraser Reekies

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Draughtsmanship was first

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every two or three years until 1965)

I N E and contained a range of basic

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drawing convention information. It

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replacement of BS1192-3. There is a
current initiative under ISO TC10 (at
the instigation of Sweden) to develop
a new symbols standard that can
reflect both 2D and 3D practice.1
To all intents and purposes then, an
overarching materials convention
has disappeared. This Shortcut
seeks to reinstate the
standardisation practice for
was written mainly for the student,
particularly the beginner concerned
as Reekie was with the teaching of
the basics of various drawing
techniques and tools of the trade.
He stressed that the student should
be in no hurry to impart a personal

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 Plotting a Hatch
British drawing conventions

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style to his work and that the
book was intended merely to set
some of the groundrules. As he said,
he had deliberately besprinkled the
text with qualifying words such as
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usually, generally and in most the basics had been mastered.
cases so as not to encumber the This Shortcut should be seen in
draughtsman with too many the same light, except maybe, that
restrictive demands on the unlike in Reekies day, very little
development of artistic flair once standardisation exists. Therefore,

Shortcut 62 | April 08 | RIBA Enterprises 3

Plotting a Hatch
British drawing conventions

this Shortcut intends to re-impart mantra of minimising waste. On types and so should be used down
some of the forgotten drawing page 10, he suggests that when to the last half-inch. Drawing with
consistencies of a bygone age; using a pencil (the best way of

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a short stub of pencil should not be

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however, it will not elaborate on sharpening... is by means of an attempted. In an emergency, a strip
some of the more dated information

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ordinary penknife) its longevity can of paper can be rolled around the

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in Reekies book, on French curves, be extended by some simple rules: end and gummed, to increase the

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quill pens and proportional When a pencil has been reduced to length and make the pencil more
compasses, for example. As an

L I about half its original length by manageable.

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aside, and for those who think that
efficient use of materials is some
kind of modern environmental
agenda, Reekie continually
reinforced the post-war rationing
sharpening, the balance tends to
be destroyed and it becomes
difficult to control in the fingers. The
short length should then be put in
a holder, of which there are many
Its nice to know that, whatever
emergency may have befallen the
humble draughtsman, there was
always a way of making his (or her)
pencil last just that little bit longer.

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1.
Avanti, Summary of existing research types and standards relevant to ICT enabled collaborative working, Standards and

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Research Review

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References

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BS 7845 (1996) Guide to the use of BS 3939 and BS EN 60617. Graphical symbols for diagrams, BSI.
BS EN ISO 5455 (1995) Technical drawings - scales, BSI.
BS EN ISO 9431 (1999) Construction drawings - spaces for drawing and for text, and title blocks on drawing sheets, BSI.
BS ISO 129-1 (2004) Technical drawings - Indication of dimensions and tolerances. General principles, BSI.
NHS Estates (1992) Engineering symbols and drawing conventions - a catalogue for use in healthcare premises, NHS.
National Joint Consultative Committee for Building (1996) Reproduction of drawings for tender purposes, Guidance Note 5, NJCC.
National Joint Consultative Committee for Building (1996) Record (or as built) drawings, operating and maintenance instructions, and
the health and safety file (2nd revision June 1996), Procedure Note 16, NJCC.
Recommended Readings:
Architectural Press (2004) Working drawings handbook. 4th edition, ARCPRESS.

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BRE (1988) Information Paper 3/88 Production drawings - arrangement and content, BRE.

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BS 1192-3 (1987) Construction drawing practice - Recommendations for symbols and other graphic conventions (withdrawn 1999),

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replaced by BS EN ISO 3766 (1999) Construction drawings. Simplified representation of concrete reinforcement, BS EN ISO 7518 (1999)

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Construction drawings. Simplified representation of demolition and Rebuilding, and BS EN ISO 11091 (1999) Construction Drawings.
Landscape Drawing Practice, BSI.

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BS 1192-5 (1990) Construction drawing practice. Guide for structuring of computer graphic information (withdrawn), replaced by

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BS 1192-5 (1998) (withdrawn), replaced by BS 1192 (2007) Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and construction
information Code of practice, BSI.

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BS 1635 (1990) Graphic symbols and abbreviations for fire protection drawings, BSI.
British Standards Institution (2001) Technical drawings - General principles of presentation. Basic conventions for lines, BSI.
British Standards Institution (2001) Technical drawings - General principles of presentation. Preparation of lines by CAD systems, BSI.
Dusek, J. (2006) Construction Print Reading for the 21st Century, Thomson Delmar Learning (USA).
Reekie, R. F. (1946) Draughtsmanship, Edward Arnold Publishing.

Written and illustrated by Austin Williams. ISSN 1753-2094 (Print)

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