The construction of a building is not as simple as it appears to be. Professionals from various departments like civil, architecture, mechanical and more work together to make a project successful. A simple mistake can lead to a major loss. Hence, it is necessary to give utmost importance to planning or designing of a building.
A quick note here: by planning I don’t mean to talk about construction planning rather I am talking about building planning. Building planning is often referred to as Building designing in most countries.
Back to the topic;
So, there is a lot of planning done in beforehand and all those ideas are presented or shared by drawing. This piece of information provided in the form of drawing is called a plan. After the plan is submitted to various authorities and the owner, it is often revised based on their suggestions or necessities. In this way, after so many revisions a plan of a building is finally accepted.
Usually, architects are responsible for creating a plan but, civil engineers are also capable and eligible to draw it, In fact, you can find that civil engineers have actually created more plans than any architect for small projects. Not only planning, but civil engineers also wear different hats and take control of all the construction works in most of the small projects. By small projects, I meant 1 -5 storey buildings where the owners are not able to spend to hire different professionals.
Therefore, as a civil engineer, you should also learn about building planning. Most of the engineers think that learning a CAD software is all you need to create a plan but, in reality, planning is not just about drawing rather, it’s the background knowledge or theory that is needed to create a good plan. You should also know about the fundamentals, principles, climatic influence, orientation of buildings e.t.c to create a good plan. If you aren’t considering these factors while planning then, there is a major scope for improving the way you create a plan. Always remember, you are creating a plan so that the inmates of the home will live happily, enjoy natural features and will stay healthy. Hence, as a civil engineer, you should not just aim to build a strong home rather you must also provide comfort and try to fulfil all the needs of your client.