Private Sector  Buildings and structures built for ordinary people.

Public Sector  Includes municipal, city, county, state and federal government buildings.

City Planners  People that study all the aspects of community development.

Zoning Laws  Laws that determine what type of structures can be built in specific parts of a community.

Topography  A building site’s surface features.

Utilities  Services such as electricity, gas, telephone.

Survey  A drawing that shows the exact size and shape of a building lot.

Power of Eminent Domain  Law that states that the government has the right to buy private property for public use.

Condemnation  The legal process for taking over land that an owner refuses to sell.

Scale Drawings  Small measurements that are used to represent large measurements in drawing structures.

Site Plans  Shows where the structure will be located on a building lot.

Floor Plan  Show the location of rooms, walls, windows, doors, stairs and other features of a structure.

Elevations  Drawings that show the finished appearance of the outside of a structure.

Detail Drawings  Show features that cannot be shown clearly on a floor plan or elevation drawings.

Section Drawings  Show how a part of a structure looks when sliced by a cutting plane.

Specifications  Details about what materials are to be used for as project as well as the standards and government regulations that must be followed.

How are private sector projects funded?  A person’s own private funds.

How are public sector construction projects funded.  Taxes

Things that city planners study.  The size and character of the population.  The economy of the community.  The nature and quantity of natural resources such as oil, gas, water, timber and farmland.  Transportation facilities.  The history and culture of the area.

Things that zoning laws specify.  Maximum property size.  Maximum height of a building.  The number of families that can occupy a house.  The number of parking spaces a commercial building must provide.  The distance structures must be from the property boundary lines.

Three zones that communities are divided into.  Residential  Commercial  Industrial

Seven things that must be considered when selecting a building site.  LocationUtilities  SizeZoning Laws  ShapeCost  Topography

Three things that must be considered when reviewing and revising preliminary design ideas.  Special needs and desires of the client.  Amount of money available.  The site on which the structure will be built.