Standard Details

[nuuvox000]

As I prepare to obtain my PE license at the end of the year, I am thinking about standard details on mechanical and plumbing drawings. As a PE, do I need to come up with my own details for everything? I assume importing details from other firms' drawings is stealing intellectual property but I'm not sure. I guess I'm wondering where you got your details, if you had to draw them all up on your own, etc. If you move to a different engineering firm, do the details belong to the firm in which you were employed or do they belong to the engineer? Is there any real threat of getting sued over these things? Thanks!

 

[GT-EGR]

I can only speak for myself that as long as you understand a detail and can speak to everything on it, you can use it. The previous PE/firm that made it didn’t invent how a coil works or how to service a chiller or disconnect a water heater. Hard to imagine engineering companies suing eachother over how you defined installing something. That being said just copy pasting items without taking the time to make them your own will get you in trouble in many ways beyond just upsetting another engineer.

 

[willard3]

Undrstanding why someone made this detail and how it works is the important part.

 

[nuuvox000]

Thanks for the responses!