Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations SSS148 on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

On centre vs centre to centre 2

Status
Not open for further replies.

canwesteng

Structural
May 12, 2014
1,699
Curious as to what everyone used for terminology. On centre and centre to centre mean the same thing, but someone told me on centre is much more common in construction. I've been using c/c instead of o/c on all my drawings with no questions from contractors, but in heavy industrial the supers and foremen tend to be pretty good, vs some residential contractors that can be pretty clueless.
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

I use O.C. for studs, rafters and joists but use c/c for dimensioned things.
 
We use o.c. for virtually everything. Only job I've personally done where we didn't was for a contractor who seemed to have trouble understanding what o.c. meant even after a couple explanations. Just switched everything over to c/c to avoid confusion.
 
I use c/c when talking true dimensions. o/c is when I'm dictating a spacing.
 
I agree with jayrod12 -- c/c for dimensions; o/c for spacing. Although, our standard abbreviations (defined on general drawing sheet) are "C-C" and "OC".
 
We always use [red]O.C.[/red]

Check out Eng-Tips Forum's Policies here:
faq731-376
 
In Australia we typically say "300mm centres" or similar.

What do you mean by "c/c for dimensions; o/c for spacing"? What dimensions?
 
I note that so far everyone is using the British "centre" rather than the American "center". My computer always tells me I have a spelling mistake when I do that.

BA
 
If the spacing is to be shown for many items, it would be my practice to say o/c or o.c. If there were only two items, the dimension could be shown without further notation. If the dimension lines are ambiguous, it may be better to include "c/c".

BA
 
I see both used indiscriminately, but use c/c myself simply because to me it means centre to centre & so do I. (Yes, centre, BAretired)
 
Don't mix them up in a single plan. Pick one and use it consistently. They mean the same thing.
 
Usually our drawings have a terminology and symbols legend towards the beginning of our set (right after the General notes sheet) that outlines what the different terms mean.
 
I use o/c for everything... except for my standard details... some still have c/c and I try to correct them as I use them.

Dik
 
BART... what's wrong with 'centre'... makes perfect sense... it's the middle of something...<G>

Dik
 
Dik...Nothing wrong with "centre", in fact it is the correct spelling in Canada, Britain and France. My spell check still gives me an error when I use it. I guess my spell check is American. Of course, I could add "centre" to my dictionary, but I tend to favor the American spelling.

BA
 
Either is correct and both are interchangeable as far as I can tell. If you have a contractor that is confused by either one, find a new contractor.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor