- Project plans
- Project activities
- Legislation and standards
- Industry context
Last edited 15 Nov 2017
General arrangement drawing
General arrangement drawings (GA’s) present the overall composition of an object such as a building. Depending on the complexity of the building, this is likely to require a number of different projections, such as plans, sections and elevations, and may be spread across several different drawings.
They may be referred to as 'location drawings' as they show the location of various components and assemblies within the overall design, but this can be confused with location drawings indicating the geographical location of the building.
General arrangement drawings are likely to be prepared at each stage of development of a building design, showing the overall relationship between the main elements and key dimensions. The level of detail will increase as the project progresses and they may need to be supplemented by more detailed drawings, showing specific elements and assemblies. On very simple projects these may be included on the general arrangement drawings themselves, but generally, separate drawings will be required.
General arrangement drawings may include references to additional information, such as specifications and detail drawings, however they should not duplicate information included elsewhere as this can become contradictory and may cause confusion.
The scale at which drawings are prepared should reflect the level of detail of the information they are required to convey. Different line thicknesses can be used to provide greater clarity for certain elements. They may be drawn to scale by hand, or prepared using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. However, increasingly, building information modelling (BIM) is being used to create 3 dimensional representations of buildings and their components.
BS EN ISO 7519:1997 Technical drawings. Construction drawings. General principles of presentation for general arrangement and assembly drawings establishes the general principles of presentation to be applied to construction drawings for general arrangement and assembly. This standard compliments the ISO 128 series on technical drawings.
 Find out more
 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- As-built drawings and record drawings.
- Assembly drawing.
- Building information modelling.
- Component drawing.
- Computer aided design.
- Concept drawing.
- Design drawings.
- Detail drawing.
- Engineering drawing.
- How to draw a floor plan.
- Installation drawings.
- North American Paper Sizes
- Notation and symbols.
- Paper sizes.
- Production information.
- Scale drawing.
- Section drawing.
- Shop drawings.
- Technical drawing.
- Technical drawing pen sizes.
- Working drawing.
Featured articles and news
ICE publish new report calling for new sector-wide body to help avert structural failures.
The rainbow JCB will be making a welcome return to the London Build Expo on 23 and 24 October at Olympia.
An introductory article to external works - all activities carried out to the external environment of a building project.
With the clock ticking, RIBA say that a 'no deal Brexit' will be "disastrous" for the architecture profession.
The focus is generally on the lime binder, but the aggregate is actually the most significant element.
The importance of communication, collaboration and simplicity when planning construction projects.
New working group is set up to consider options for raising standards across the property agent sector.
BSRIA provide a top 10 list of recent legislation and guidance affecting buildings.
Record third-time winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize - our profile of one of the world's most celebrated architects.
Foster + Partner's London Bloomberg HQ building wins the 2018 Stirling Prize.