Blueprints: A Visual Tool for the Building Process
Reading Time: 10 Minutes
Blueprints are written plans that are used by contractors in the building process. Plans are drawings that consist of lines, symbols, diagrams, and notes that communicate to the builder on how to construct a project. A plan consists of project shape, material content, and material quantity. Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) is now an industry standard in the production of plans. The introduction of CAD has revolutionized the construction industry; however, the use of this technology has not replaced the architect nor draftsperson. (El Moussaui, 2025). Architects, engineers, and draftspersons are professionals who produce architectural and mechanical plans.
A typical set of architectural plans consists of three plan views: top or plan view, front view, and right-side view.
In an architectural set of plans for home building, the plan view is known as the floor plan.
The front view of a house is also known as the front elevation.
“Detail drawings show a small part of the construction project at a larger scale, to show how the component parts fit together. They are also used to show small surface details, for example. decorative elements.” (Wikipedia, 2025).
Tip 2: To learn what it takes to develop, plan, and manage a successful construction project the new, updated and expanded edition of this bestselling text addresses the basics of how we design, develop, and construct our buildings and our communities:
John Muhammad, President/Owner of Nation’s Builders and host of the Business Building Blocks Podcast, Graduate student of the University of Texas at El Paso majoring in Construction Management M.S., B.S. degree from Texas Southern University, former Site Health and Safety Specialist for the renovation of the Administration Building of the Johnson Space Center at NASA and former superintendent for semi-custom home builder, Emerald Homes.
References
El Moussaoui, M. (2025). Architectural practice process and artificial intelligence–an evolving practice. Open Engineering, 15(1), 20240098.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_drawing