Plumbing and Heating
Cold and hot water, heating, gas and oil, drawn as pipes on the plan between valves, cylinders, radiators, boilers and heat pumps. 46 fittings, hot and cold drawn as a pair in one stroke, and each radiator's output at the flow temperature of its heat source.
Every property, and what it does
Select a pipe or a fitting and these are its rows. A band shows when it applies, so a radiator has its output and a supply pipe its sizing.
The catalogue
The fittings, by the system they are on.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Cold water | The cold water fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Isolating valve, Stopcock, Pressure reducing valve, Double check valve, Outside tap, Water meter, Supply manifold, Check valve, Anti-vacuum valve, Cold water storage, Break tank, Water filter, Strainer, Water softener, Cistern, Meter chamber, Valve chamber |
| Hot water | The hot water fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Hot water cylinder, Expansion vessel, Mixing valve, Thermostatic mixing valve, Pressure relief valve, Shower pump, Mixer tap |
| Heating | The heating fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Solar thermal collector, Thermostatic radiator valve, Circulator pump, Air release valve, Balancing valve, Zone valve, Feed and expansion tank, Radiator, Thermostat, Gas boiler, Air source heat pump, Convector, Underfloor heating loop, Temperature sensor, Actuator, Heating coil, Heat exchanger |
| Gas | The gas fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Gas cock, Gas meter, Safety cut-off, Gas tap |
| Oil | The oil fittings, each with its plan symbol and its usual mounting height. | Oil meter |
Element
What the selected run or fitting is, and which trade it belongs to.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The catalogue name of the fitting, or the kind of run. | Read from the element |
| Kind | The catalogue entry it was drawn from. Change it to swap the fitting, keeping where it sits. | The 46 fittings of the trade |
| System | What it carries. It decides which trade owns it, its colour and its schedule. | Cold water, Hot water, Heating, Gas, Oil |
| Trade | The trade that owns it, read from the system. To move it, change the system. | Read from the system |
| Supply | Whether a fitting that needs a supply is connected to one by a run. | Connected, Not connected, Not required |
Design
Valves, radiators and vessels are drawn from their own design, so the symbol and the body follow it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Preset | A named design for the fitting. Change anything in it and it reads as modified. | The fitting's named designs |
| Design controls | The parts of the fitting itself, drawn from its own generator, so its symbol and its 3D body follow. | By fitting |
| What that makes it | What the design comes to, read only, so the schedule cannot disagree with the fitting. | Bore, Type, Length, Across flats, Connection, Working pressure |
Radiator output
A radiator is rated at one temperature and gives what its heat source allows.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Rated | The radiator's output at the standard rating of BS EN 442 (75/65/20, a mean difference of 50 degrees). | Watts |
| System | The heat source it is on, and its flow temperature. | From the heat source on the drawing |
| Gives | The rated output corrected for that system. A radiator rated 1500 W gives far less on a heat pump at 45 degrees. | Watts, read only |
Size
The size of a run, and how the plan draws it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal | The diameter of a round run, or the larger side of a duct. | Pipe sizes in mm, from the trade's usual size |
| Shape | Round, or rectangular with a width and a height. | Round, Rectangular |
| Drawn as | Runs 75 mm and over are drawn to their width with two lines; smaller ones as a single line. | Single line, Double line to width |
Where it runs, where it sits
A run has two ends and a level at each; a fitting has a height and a facing.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Start, End | The fitting each end is bound to. A bound end goes wherever the fitting goes. | Read from the plan |
| Level at start, Level at end | How high each end is above the storey's floor. | Millimetres |
| Invert at start, Invert at end | The level of the inside bottom of the pipe at each end, for runs that fall. | Derived from the run it leaves and its gradient |
| Length in plan | The run's length on the plan. | Read from the plan |
| Drop | How far the run falls from start to end. | Derived from the two levels |
| Height | How high a fitting stands above the storey's floor. Negative is below ground. | Millimetres; each fitting starts at its usual height |
| Facing | Which way a fitting faces, anticlockwise from east. 90 faces up the page. | Degrees |
| Flip to the other side | Moves a wall fitting onto the other face of its wall, pointing into the other room. | One click |
Belongs to
What the schedule files it under, and whether a person has checked it.
| Field | What it does | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit | The circuit or zone the schedule files it under. Where a fitting is wired, the wiring decides. | Any name |
| Proposed | Marks what a generator wrote and nobody has checked yet. Confirm clears it. | Confirm |
| Pipe | On a water pipe: the loading units behind it, the flow they ask, what its size carries and the size it needs (BS 8558). | Read from the pipe |
| Heating | On a heating pipe: the radiators it serves, against what its size carries at a 20 degree drop. | Read from the pipe |
How the Plumbing tools work
Open Plumbing
In the editor, open CAD tools and choose Plumbing. The group has three tools: Catalogue (PLUMBING), Pipe (PIPE) and Place (PLACEPLUMB).
Place the fittings
Pick a fitting from the catalogue by its system and click where it goes. It stands at its usual height, which its panel can change.
Draw the pipes
With Pipe (PIPE), click each point and press Enter. A run that starts or ends on a fitting snaps to its connection point and is joined to it.
Draw two at once
Hot and cold (PAIR) draws both supplies side by side in one stroke; Flow and return (HEATPAIR) does the same for heating. Each is its own pipe afterwards.
Plumbing and heating questions, answered.
What can I place?
Stopcocks and valves, meters, outside taps, cylinders and expansion vessels, mixing valves and pumps, boilers, air source heat pumps, radiators, convectors, underfloor heating loops, thermostats and solar thermal collectors, gas meters and cocks.
How do I draw hot and cold pipes together?
Use Hot and cold (PAIR): it draws both supplies side by side in one stroke. Flow and return (HEATPAIR) does the same for heating.
Does it check the heating?
Yes, as advice: radiators that give less than their rating at the flow temperature, a heat source too small for its emitters, pipes too small for the heat behind them, and gas runs that lose too much pressure.
Are the services in 3D too?
Yes. Runs are built as real cables, pipes and ducts at their levels, fittings stand at their heights, and a run that crosses a wall or a floor cuts its own hole through it.
Read on
- Drainage: Waste, soil, vents, chambers and rainwater.
- Ventilation: Ducts, fans, MVHR and air conditioning.
- Plumbing and heating docs: Pairs, sizes, outputs and the checks.