What Do Clouds Mean on Engineering Drawings?

Engineering is a complicated field that requires years of hard work and dedication. As with any profession, there are certain aspects of engineering that are specific to the field, and engineering drawing is one of them. For anyone looking at a blueprint, it can be hard to understand what it means. Clouds in an engineering drawing are a perfect example.

What Do Clouds on Construction Drawings Mean?

If you are looking at a construction drawing or blueprint, the clouds on a construction drawing indicate that there have been changes made to the blueprint in the area where the clouds are located. Revision clouds are not necessarily something that is going to be added by hand to the blueprints or drawings, but they can be in some cases until the clouds can be added digitally to the plans.

The clouds help to encompass the entire area that was revised so that anyone looking at those original prints can tell that they were changed and that there is another version of the print or the drawing that they need to seek out if they want to see those revisions in action and want to see what the final drawing is going to be.

When Are Revision Clouds Used?

Revision clouds are most commonly used in construction drawing revisions when the prints are digital. These clouds are often built into programs to allow the architect to change the prints without having to change the entire print all at once. These clouds are not clouds in the traditional sense, but rather an indication that there has been some revision in that particular area.

These revision clouds can be very large and encompass an entire area, or they can encompass only one small area. When looking at a construction drawing or a blueprint, if you see a revision cloud, it should clearly indicate that there was some change made. If you want to see the accurate blueprint, you need to seek out that revision and see what was changed.

Revision clouds are most often used in the digital print to draw attention to and highlight the changes that were made so that you can then see what changes have been made. Not all architects use revision clouds, but they are a commonly accepted practice for those architects and construction companies that are illustrating changes that have been made.

Categorised in: Structural Engineer