On 15 and 16 February 2025, the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering (IIC) – Hanoi University of Civil Engineering delivered a training course in Reading Construction Drawings for Long Linh Construction Co., Ltd. The course was held in Muong Lat District, Thanh Hoa Province, where the company operates.
Muong Lat is a highland district of Thanh Hoa Province, bordering Laos and located more than 300 km from Hanoi. The course was delivered on site, with a duration of 12 hours over two days. The programme aimed to equip the company's technical staff with a sound method for reading a complete set of design documents.
Course details
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Course | Reading Construction Drawings |
| Client | Long Linh Construction Co., Ltd. |
| Duration | 12 hours |
| Dates | 15 February 2025 to 16 February 2025 |
| Venue | Zone 4, Muong Lat Town, Muong Lat District, Thanh Hoa Province |
| Preparation | Participants bring their own laptops to practise on drawings |
The programme was condensed from the Institute's Reading Construction Drawings course. It focused on reading drawings for the purpose of quantity take-off, in line with the requirements of a construction contractor.
Training programme content
Part 1. Basic concepts
- Basic drawing concepts and the standards governing the presentation of drawings.
- The types of drawings in a residential building document set.
- General skills for reading drawings for quantity take-off.
- Installing AutoCAD and the basic commands used to check dimensions and measure quantities for estimates.
Part 2. Symbols and conventions
- The components of a drawing, together with construction drawing symbols and the conventions used in residential drawings.
- The sequence for reading a set of construction drawings.
- Reading structural drawings for piles, foundations and superstructure.
Part 3. Structural and building services drawings
- Reading columns, beams and slabs following the sequence for reading structural drawings: general notes, structural plans, beam and column sections, and the reinforcement schedule.
- Reading in-house electrical and plumbing drawings.
Part 4. Architectural drawings: masonry
- Reading masonry wall dimensions.
- Deducting door and window openings when calculating wall quantities.
Part 5. Architectural drawings: finishes
- Plastering, cladding, tiling, painting, ceilings, doors, lintels, railings and construction details.
- Reading construction drawings to understand the construction sequence and methods.
Part 6. Summary and quantity calculation
- A summary of drawing types and of the methods for calculating quantities for each part of the building.
- An introduction to reading road and bridge drawings.
- Questions and answers, followed by a final test.
Training approach
For a construction contractor, reading drawings must be closely linked to the preparation of quantities. Engineers need to identify which figures on a drawing are entered in the bill of quantities, and which items are deducted or added. For this reason, each part of the course concluded with the corresponding quantity take-off. For masonry walls, openings are deducted. For columns, beams and slabs, figures are read from the schedules. For finishes, quantities are calculated layer by layer.
The Institute sincerely thanks Long Linh Construction Co., Ltd. for inviting it to deliver this training course for the company's technical staff in Muong Lat.
Companies wishing to arrange on-site training are kindly invited to contact the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering at +84 989 427 809 or +84 914 388 841 to discuss a training plan.