Reading a Set of Working Drawings: A Client's Guide to CAD Blueprints

The moment a project moves past the floor-plan-and-mood-board stage, it becomes a set of working drawings — the CAD documents a contractor actually builds from. Clients often see this stack of sheets for the first time and aren't sure what they're looking at. Here is the short version.

Every set typically opens with a site plan, showing the plot boundary, orientation, setbacks, and how the building sits on the land. From there, floor plans show each level from directly above: walls, doors, room dimensions, and furniture layout if included.

Elevation drawings show the building from the outside, one face at a time — front, rear, and both sides — communicating height, window placement, and material changes. Section drawings cut through the building vertically, revealing floor-to-floor heights, staircases, and how spaces stack on top of each other.

Beneath the architectural sheets sit the services drawings: electrical layouts marking switch and socket positions, plumbing layouts tracing supply and drainage lines, and — on larger commercial or industrial jobs — full MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) coordination drawings that make sure ducting, wiring, and pipework don't physically collide inside a wall or ceiling void.

Finally, foundation and structural layouts specify what actually holds the building up: footing sizes, column grids, and reinforcement details, sized by a structural engineer rather than eyeballed.

When you receive a working drawing set, it is worth checking three things before sign-off: that room dimensions match what was verbally agreed, that door and window positions make sense for your furniture plan, and that the drawing set has actually been through municipal submission if your project needs one.