Sarim Insight • Smart-Book Post

Construction Abbreviations for Drawing, BOQ, and Site Work

A practical abbreviation guide for contractors, engineers, and site teams.

Purpose: This post helps you remember the most common construction abbreviations used in drawings, BOQ, reports, and site communication.

1) Professions

Design & Engineering

• Arch. = Architect
• Ar. = Architect
• Eng. = Engineer
• Civ. Eng. = Civil Engineer
• Str. Eng. = Structural Engineer

Management

• PM = Project Manager
• CM = Construction Manager
• QS = Quantity Surveyor
• Cont. = Contractor
• Sub-Cont. = Subcontractor

Building Systems

• MEP Eng. = Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing Engineer
• Elec. Eng. = Electrical Engineer
• Plumb. Eng. = Plumbing Engineer

2) Drawing Disciplines

Abbreviation	Full Meaning	Common Use
Arch. Drg.	Architectural Drawing	Plan, elevation, section, detail
Str. Drg.	Structural Drawing	Beam, column, slab, footing drawings
MEP Drg.	Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing Drawing	Services coordination
Elec. Drg.	Electrical Drawing	Lighting, power, panel layout
Plumb. Drg.	Plumbing Drawing	Water supply and drainage layout

3) Structural Terms

Main Structural Elements

• Str. = Structure
• Struct. = Structure
• Col. = Column
• Bm. = Beam
• Slb. = Slab
• Fd. = Foundation
• Ft. = Footing

Concrete & Steel

• RC = Reinforced Concrete
• Rebar = Reinforcement Bar
• Conc. = Concrete
• Reinf. = Reinforcement
• Formwk. = Formwork

Technical Symbols

• Ø = Diameter
• c/c = Center to Center
• TYP. = Typical
• Lvl. = Level
• FFL = Finished Floor Level
• NGL = Natural Ground Level

4) MEP Terms

General Systems

• MEP = Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing
• HVAC = Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning

Electrical

• DB = Distribution Board
• LT = Lighting
• PWR = Power

Plumbing

• SAN = Sanitary
• WS = Water Supply

5) Measurement Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Meaning	Use Example
mm	millimeter	Ø12 mm rebar
cm	centimeter	Beam size 20 × 30 cm
m	meter	Wall length 5 m
m²	square meter	Floor area 120 m²
m³	cubic meter	Concrete volume 15 m³

6) BOQ and Project Terms

BOQ Terms

• BOQ = Bill of Quantities
• Qty = Quantity
• Unit = Unit
• Rate = Price per unit
• Amt = Amount
• Spec. = Specification

Site Work Terms

• Exc. = Excavation
• Backf. = Backfilling
• Conc. = Concrete
• Formwk. = Formwork
• Reinf. = Reinforcement

7) Easy Memory Guide

• Str. = Structure
• RC = Reinforced Concrete
• BOQ = Quantity + Cost
• MEP = Building Systems
• FFL = Finished Floor Level

Example Site Sentence:
Check the Str. Drg. before casting the RC Slb.. Use Ø12 @200 c/c as per Spec.

8) Final Note

These abbreviations are very useful for reading drawings, preparing BOQ, writing reports, and communicating with workers, engineers, and clients on site.

For daily construction work, learning these short forms will help you read faster, write faster, and communicate more professionally.

Sarim Insight Tip: Save this post as a quick reference guide for your team, especially for new staff, site engineers, and quantity surveyors.

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