What Is a Framing Plan?

A steel beam callout such as W18x35 with a camber of 3/4 inch tells the detailer the shape and the camber, and a number at each end may give the end reaction for connection design. Top of steel elevations are noted wherever they differ from the typical, such as at a depressed slab for tile or a roof step.

Wood framing callouts give the size, the grade when it matters, and the spacing, such as 2x10 at 16 inches on center, along with headers over openings and blocking lines. Engineered lumber such as LVL beams and I-joists is called out by depth and series, with the manufacturer's span tables as the reference.

Beams are located by the grid lines they frame between, and by dimensions from grid where they fall off grid. Architectural backgrounds show where walls are, but the structural plan is dimensioned to the grid, because the grid survives wall moves.

Late in design, it is common for a framing plan to sit over an architectural xref whose walls have moved since the framing was laid out. The check that matters is openings, shafts, and stair penetrations against the current background, since those are the changes that move steel.

Stair openings, elevator shafts, roof hatches, rooftop unit curbs, and large duct penetrations all need framing around them. Each one adds headers or trimmers and changes the reactions on the members that receive them.

Rooftop equipment changes late and often. A unit that grows from 1,800 to 2,600 pounds on the mechanical schedule can require new support framing or a heavier joist designation, and that change belongs on the framing plan and the joist schedule together.

For steel, AISC 303, the Code of Standard Practice, allows the engineer of record to delegate connection design to an engineer working for the fabricator. The framing plan then has to carry the information that design needs, usually reactions on the plan or a reference to a connection criteria table.

Steel joists and joist girders are designed by the manufacturer to the loads shown, using Steel Joist Institute designations such as 24K8 or a load diagram for special joists. Concentrated loads from equipment or hung piping that never made it onto the plan are a frequent reason joists get redesigned during submittals.

IBC Section 1603 requires the construction documents to state floor and roof live loads, snow, wind, and seismic design data, usually on the general notes sheet. The framing plan shows where those loads change, such as a mechanical room designed for 150 pounds per square foot beside offices at 50 plus a partition allowance.

Lateral information lands here too: braced frame or moment frame lines, shear wall locations and types in wood construction, collectors, and deck attachment patterns. A framing plan with no lateral system marked leaves the reader guessing how the building resists wind and seismic load.