Drafting Standards

[dik]

I believe it's common for drawing notes to be in UPPER case. Does anyone know if this is a standard? or, in Canada, included in the CSA Standards for drafting? I don't have a copy of CSA Standards for drafting or if this is even included in the standards.

Along the same line, is it common (or a Standard) for general notes or 'on drawing' specifications to be in UPPER case lettering?

Thanks in advance, Dik

 

[advidana]

ANSI Y14.2-1979 paragraph 6.1.2-Upper case letters shall be used for all lettering on drawings unless lower case letters are required to conform with other established standards, equipment nomenclature or markings.

 

[borgunit]

Just as a note. Our company is conforming to ISO standards. ISO standards use proper English grammer for English drawings. Which means only the beginning of complete sentences and proper words are capitalized. Notes that are not sentences are in lower case. FYI

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right "
.. Henry Ford

 

[RiBeneke]

Specs in our country do not prescribe upper or lower.
I prefer lower case. It is quicker to read and occupies less line space, and for this reason newspapers and books are not printed all uppercase.
I think some of the reason for uppercase in the old days was based on reasons of neatness with hand lettering, and for reasons of speed with stencil-lettering.

 

[JanekPop]

You should be advised to use whichever case is called for in your company's standards or the international standards they recommend. If you do not have a standard to work to then it must be common sense to use lower case for the reasons mentioned in the above 2 replies. UPPER CASE if your drawings were to be microfilmed.

 

[diamondjim]

If the upper case were preferred in the
old days, it probably was for microfilming
reasons as the smaller type may not have
been as readily scaled down and then back
up to full size. I agree that the upper
and lower case are easier to read.

 

[Friptzap]

Most mechanical plumbing and piping contractors and engineers I have ever worked for in the past 20 years have used all uppercase. Architects as well. The reason you will see this is because it can be very difficult to see lower case in dark buildings under construction and the whole point in creating those type of drawings is so some guy in a dimly lit building can read the drawing with "ease" and larger letters are much easier to see. (Not "read" like you would a book but "see&quot

 

[bpeirson]

Another reason upper case is preferred is when the notation DN (DOWN) is placed on stairs indicating the base or head of the stairs. In lowercase, dn can be misread as up. If the orientation of the stairs are misunderstood then mechanical, electrical or plumbing may be routed through the stairwell in what is percieved to be "under" the stairs.

An instructor I had noted that a company he worked with had problems like this arise occasionally but when property developers are trying to save money by mirroring house plans (in the old days the velum sheet was run through the copier upside down) the up dn problems increased.

I have even seen (done) AutoCAD drawings plotted with text mirrored due to indiscriminant use of the mirror function.