Last week I wrote about Drawing Notes for Standards Tuesday, I hope you found the information helpful. There were a couple of things I didn’t get a chance to cover because I wanted to limit the size of the post. If you missed it, make sure you read Standards Tuesday – Drawing Notes. What I wasn’t able to discuss was language requirements per ASME Y14.100 in regards to Drawing Notes.

The Language of Drawing Notes

Drawings notes must be written in English, unless you state otherwise in the drawing somewhere but if that was I meant by language this would be a real short post. Instead, when I speak of the language of drawing notes I am referring to sentence structure and common words and phrases. Section 4.26.1.1 of ASME Y14.100-2000 states:

Notes shall be concise statements using the simplest words and phrases for conveying the intended meaning.

As an Engineering Manager I have seen a wide variety of ways people approach creating notes. The best notes I have seen have always been short but sweet with no abbreviations. Don’t try to tell a story with notes and most importantly don’t try to show how much education you have had by adding words that you need a dictionary to interpret. Remember that engineers are not the only people who may read your print. As I mentioned last week If your grandmother can read it then you did a good job.

…as per..

There are certain words and phrases that are common on drawings regardless of the industry you may be in. Section 4.26.2 specifies the requires for usage of the most common words in phrases. The first being that when you find it necessary to refer to an external document such as SOPs, Standards or Manufacturing Instructions use the phrases “per,” “conforming to,” “as specified in,” ” and “in accordance with” (or “IAW“). I would have to say the most common phrase is “per“, as in “Passivate per ASTM A 967“.

Unless Otherwise Specified…

I am positive that everybody has seen the phrase “unless otherwise specified” but do you know how to use it correctly? First off, this phrase must be used either at the beginning of the note or in the drawing notes header. Don’t just arbitrarily use the phrase anytime. Only use this phrase when referring to an external document or a requirement on the drawing that has an obvious exception on the drawing. Meaning, don’t make a note that states ” Unless otherwise specified, dimensions are in inches” if there is obviously not a dimension on the drawing that is not in inches. It can cause confusion especially when the reader is searching the drawing for the exception that doesn’t exists.

You shall..

Four words that you may notice are used a lot in drawing notes, procedures and even ASTM standards are “Shall,” “Will,” “Should” and “May“. Each word has a specific meaning that could change the way a reader would interpret your notes. First , the word “shall” is meant to describe the note as being mandatory and without exception as in ” 1. Electrical components shall be RoHS compliant.”

It will?

Second, is the usage of the word “will“, Section 4.26.3 states:

“Will” establishes a declaration of purpose on the part of the design activity

I have to be honest, I have spent the past 20 minutes trying to think of a time that I have needed to use “will” in a drawing. I would like to give an example of the proper use of “will” but I am at a lost. Anybody that seen the proper usage of “will” please enlighten me.

May I?

Next there are the words “should” and “may” as describe by ASME Y14.100. Obviously, if “shall” describes the note as being mandatory then “should” and “may” are non-mandatory. One example I have seen of “may” is in the note ” completed parts may be package in polybags” Of course, if you do not want to give the reader the option, use the word “shall” in your note.

etc…

Finally, words that must not be used in drawings notes are what are to be considered “Indefinite Terms“. Terms such as “and/or,” “etc.,” “e.g.,” and “i.e.” must not be used. I must admit I have been tempted to use these terms in a note but luckily i thought better of it. This goes back to how this post started when I said that the best notes are short with no abbreviations.

This concludes our discussion on drawing notes. As you might tell these rules should not only apply to drawing notes but can also apply to procedures and other technical writings. When I write drawing procedures and instructions I try to apply these rules to maintain consistency. As always, I hope you will find this post helpful in your daily work when creating drawings and other controlled documents.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.