AEC definitions
General notes are numbered instructions on a drawing that apply to the whole sheet or the whole discipline set, not to a single pointer. They define abbreviations, tell you which other documents govern, and state rules such as 'do not scale the drawings.'
Definition
A reader who starts at the floor plan and skips the general notes will miss scope. Notes send you to the specifications, identify who provides an item, and interpret symbols. Structural general notes carry design criteria and material standards. Architectural general notes carry documentation rules. They are contract content. A note that contradicts the specification is a conflict, resolved by the order of precedence, not by whichever text was noticed first.
In depth
Notes on G-001 may apply to all drawings. Notes on S-001 apply to structural drawings. Notes in the corner of A-101 may apply only to that sheet. A 'typical' buried in the wrong list will be enforced too widely or not at all.
If a general note and a local note disagree, the specific note usually governs that location and the general note governs the rest. Say so in your own standards, and draw it that way. Do not leave the reader to invent the rule.
NIC, VIF, TYP, AFF, and dozens of others are defined in the notes or an abbreviation sheet. Using an abbreviation the list does not define, or defining it two ways, creates a bid argument. NIC means not in contract only if the note says so.
Bidders should read this page. Estimators who search for trade keywords and skip abbreviations miss exclusions that decide the number.
A well-written note says material and execution requirements are in the specifications, and then stops. A note that specifies a product in full duplicates the spec and will be wrong after the next addendum.
When a note and a spec section disagree, follow the precedence clause. Then fix the documents. Living with both is how the submittal and the field each cite a different sentence.
They state codes, loads, concrete strength, steel grade, and inspection assumptions. The plans show member sizes. The notes state the rules those sizes were chosen under. A plan note that silently changes a load without the general notes and the calculations is incomplete.
Special inspection is often flagged from these notes and from the specification. The inspector and the building department both read them.
Editing note 3 on S-001 can change the meaning of every structural sheet. Cloud it, describe it, and tell the bidders or the field in the addendum or bulletin narrative. A quiet edit to a note is still a revision.
Do not use a general note to slip in scope that the drawings do not show, and do not assume a note deleted scope the drawings still draw. The conflict will be priced by someone, and then disputed.
Examples
General note 1 says dimensions govern and the drawings shall not be scaled. A missing dimension becomes an RFI.
The abbreviation list defines NIC as not in contract. Casework tagged NIC on the plan is excluded. The same letters are not reused for a different meaning.
Structural general notes specify 4000 psi concrete. A plan note at one footing says 5000 psi. The conflict is resolved in an addendum before the mix is ordered.
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