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Russ Hinkle, AIA, CDT, LEED BD+C
Senior Member
Username: rhinkle

Post Number: 145
Registered: 02-2006


Posted on Thursday, February 27, 2020 - 09:04 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

We have a standard list of material abbreviations that our office puts in the drawing set every time. Question has come up if there is an industry standard list out there in the AE world.
Anyone away of a list/database?

Personally, I say in this world of computers - write out the word, but I don't win that argument very often. Especially in the young world of tweets and text messaging.
Russ Hinkle
James Sandoz, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA
Senior Member
Username: jsandoz

Post Number: 294
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Thursday, February 27, 2020 - 09:20 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Abbreviations can be useful for things like finish schedules but I agree with Russ - write it out unless the word or phrase is particularly long. Perhaps that practice will also help people with their spelling. If we are to use abv.(or is it "abvr."?) there should be standards, at least within a firm.
Ronald L. Geren, FCSI Lifetime Member, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSC, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: specman

Post Number: 1575
Registered: 03-2003


Posted on Thursday, February 27, 2020 - 11:08 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

"Question has come up if there is an industry standard list out there in the AE world."

Yes, it's called the National CAD Standard, which includes the Uniform Drawing System developed by CSI. Module 5 addresses terminology and abbreviations.
Ron Geren, FCSI Lifetime Member, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSC, SCIP
Ed Storer
Senior Member
Username: ed_storer

Post Number: 58
Registered: 05-2009
Posted on Friday, April 17, 2020 - 07:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Dream on!

A firm I worked for some years ago had a "boilerplate" drawing that listed abbreviations - that nobody paid much attention to.

One of my favorites was two definitions for "DF". It was first defined as Douglas Fir and then as Drinking Foundation. I thought that was a club I should join. It must have been issued on hundreds of projects.
Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC
Senior Member
Username: redseca2

Post Number: 684
Registered: 12-2006


Posted on Saturday, April 18, 2020 - 02:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

I often find that the abbreviations list has no relevance to the project. We specialize in healthcare and lab designs which can include hefty and mysterious abbreviations. None of these will be on the abbreviations list, but a dozen related to wood frame construction will be. I often am asked to provide QA (quality assurance, not on the list) reviews and I love it when the project manager freaks because I actually redmarked their abbreviation list.

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