Realized I was using the wrong scale ratio after 2 years of drafting

I was at a job site last week checking measurements on a commercial build in Austin and nothing was lining up with my drawings. Turns out I had been using 1/8 inch scale for detail sections when the standard in that office is 1/4 inch. My old boss never caught it because he just glanced at prints. Has anyone else had a dumb scaling mistake that messed up a whole project?

2 comments

2 Comments

campbell.nora14d ago

Oh, I feel for you. That "nothing was lining up" feeling is the worst. I had a similar thing happen on a townhouse project in Dallas years ago where I had drawn up all the foundation plans at 1/4 scale but the structural engineer was working in 1/2 scale. We didn't catch it until the steel was being fabricated and the anchor bolt patterns were off by about 4 inches across the whole slab. Had to get a bunch of field welds and custom base plates made on the spot, which the GC was not happy about. Now I keep a little sticky note on my monitor with the office standard scale ratios and I always do a quick overlay check before sending anything to the field or to a consultant.

anthony_lane5513d ago

@campbell.nora hit it right with the overlay check and sticky note - I've started doing a quick dimension check across two random detail sheets before I send anything out now, just to be sure everything matches. That anchor bolt story is rough though, four inches off across a slab is the kind of mistake that gets you a whole new reputation with the GC.