Explainer · what is a setting out drawing
What a setting out drawing is and how it's used
By Sumana Kumar · Published 28 Oct 2022 · Updated 25 Oct 2024
A setting out drawing is the plan a builder uses to physically position a building, or its parts, on the ground. Where a general arrangement drawing shows what the building looks like, the setting out drawing carries the dimensions and reference points that say exactly where everything goes relative to known marks on site. It is the link between the design on paper and the pegs, lines and levels established on the actual plot.
This explainer covers what a setting out drawing contains, the reference points it works from — grids, datums and a setting-out point — how it differs from other drawings, and the discipline of dimensioning that makes it reproducible on site.
What a setting out drawing is for
The setting out drawing answers one question: where, precisely, does this go on the ground? It translates the abstract geometry of the design into measurements a surveyor or builder can reproduce with a tape, a level and an instrument. Column positions, wall lines, building corners and key levels are all dimensioned from fixed references so they can be marked out accurately.
It is a working document for the start of construction. Get the setting out right and the whole building lands in the correct place, square and level; get it wrong and every later trade inherits the error. That is why the setting out drawing is treated with particular care and why its dimensions are checked and re-checked before a peg goes in.
Working from grids and a setting-out point
Setting out hangs off references that exist on the ground. The structural grid is usually the backbone — gridlines are established on site and the building dimensioned from them. Underpinning the grid is a setting-out point, a single agreed origin, often tied to the site boundary or an existing feature, from which the grid itself is located.
From that origin everything cascades: the setting-out point locates the grid, the grid locates the structure, and the structure locates everything else. Dimensioning to these fixed references — rather than between movable elements — is what makes the drawing reproducible, because a surveyor can re-establish the same points on site from the same origin every time.
Datums and levels
Setting out is three-dimensional, so alongside the plan position it fixes height. A level datum — a fixed reference level, often related to a site benchmark or an agreed finished floor level — is established, and key levels are set out relative to it. Finished floor levels, thresholds and external ground levels all carry level marks tied back to that datum.
This vertical setting out is as important as the horizontal. A building positioned perfectly in plan but built to the wrong level creates drainage, access and threshold problems. The setting out drawing, or an accompanying levels drawing, therefore carries the datum and the levels so the building is correct in all three dimensions, not just on the page.
How it differs from a general arrangement drawing
A general arrangement (GA) drawing shows the layout — rooms, walls, doors, furniture — for understanding the design. A setting out drawing strips that back to the geometry that must be positioned and dimensions it rigorously from references. The two can look similar but serve different jobs: the GA communicates the design; the setting out enables construction.
In practice the setting out information may be a dedicated drawing or a clearly dimensioned layer of the GA, but the intent is distinct. On a setting out drawing, clutter is the enemy — only the references, the dimensions and the points being located belong, so the person marking out the ground can read the numbers without hunting through furniture and finishes.
Dimensioning discipline
The quality of a setting out drawing lives in its dimensions. Dimensions run from the fixed references — the setting-out point and the grid — to the elements being located, in a clear, unambiguous chain. Running dimensions from a single origin avoids the accumulation of small errors that creeps in when each dimension starts from the last. Every critical point is located, and nothing is left to be scaled off the drawing.
This is why "do not scale" appears on construction drawings: a setting out drawing must be marked out from its written dimensions, not measured off the paper, because the paper may have been reduced or distorted. The discipline is to dimension everything that must be positioned, tie it all to the references, and leave no critical point undimensioned.
Setting out in CAD
In CAD a setting out drawing is built on the same coordinate framework as the model: the grid on its dedicated layer, the setting-out point marked, and dimensions placed from those references to the located elements. Keeping the grid and dimensions on their own layers lets you produce a clean setting out drawing by freezing the architectural finishes, from the same model that generated the GA.
Because CAD geometry is precise, the temptation is to let the builder scale off it — but the rule still holds: dimension explicitly. Place dimensions from the grid and origin to every column, corner and wall line, add the level datum and level marks, and check the chain closes. The result is a drawing a surveyor can take to site and reproduce point for point.
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Questions
Frequently asked
What is a setting out drawing?+
It is the dimensioned plan a builder uses to position a building, or its parts, on the ground. It carries the measurements and reference points — grids, a setting-out point and a level datum — that say exactly where everything goes relative to known marks on site, translating the design into something that can be marked out.
How does a setting out drawing differ from a GA drawing?+
A general arrangement drawing shows the layout for understanding the design; a setting out drawing strips back to the geometry that must be positioned and dimensions it rigorously from references. One communicates the design, the other enables construction. The setting out drawing keeps clutter out so the numbers read clearly.
What is a setting-out point?+
It is a single agreed origin, often tied to the site boundary or an existing feature, from which the structural grid is located. Everything cascades from it: the origin locates the grid, the grid locates the structure. Dimensioning from this fixed point is what makes the drawing reproducible on site.
Why does it say 'do not scale' on the drawing?+
Because the drawing must be set out from its written dimensions, not measured off the paper. A printed or exported sheet may have been reduced or distorted, so scaling off it gives wrong figures. Every critical point is dimensioned explicitly so the builder works from numbers, not a ruler.
Does a setting out drawing include levels?+
Yes, setting out is three-dimensional. Alongside plan positions it fixes height against a level datum — a fixed reference level — with key levels like finished floor levels and thresholds marked relative to it, so the building is correct in all three dimensions, not just in plan.
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