Expert: Nazim Nice - 10/20/2010

Question
Is a 1/16" = 1' a standard drawing scale? There is no 1/16 on the architectural scale, there's a 16.  I can get the correct measurement if I multiply the integer by 16 then add the remaining 16ths? Is this the standard way of getting the measurement?  

Answer
Hi Juan,

1/16" is a standard drawing scale, however I have found that it is not used that frequently. The reason seems to be that architectural plans at that scale are usually too small to read clearly. Typically for larger buildings 1/8" = 1' is used for architectural plans, and for smaller buildings 1/4" = 1' is used. At 1/16" = 1', building components like doors, columns, windows, etc would be tiny, plus if you add notes and text in a legible size, it could quickly get overwhelmed and turn the drawing into an unreadable mess.  

A smaller scale like 1/16" = 1' might then be more appropriate for a landscape or site plan. But then most of the time we work in a scale like 1" = 20' or 1" = 30' (engineer's scale).  

As for using the scale, I believe you are correct. Or you could use the 1/8 scale and multiply by 2.

Nazim Nice
Principal / Architect
http://www.motion-space.com
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