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Handbook
HB 241992

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS FOR BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

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Copyri ght

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Users of Standards are reminded that copyri ght subsists in all Standards Australi a publications and soft ware. Except where the Copyri ght Act allows and except where provided for below no publi cati ons or soft ware produced by Standards Austr alia may be reproduced, stored in a retri eval system in any form or transmitt ed by any means without pri or permission in wri ti ng fr om Standards Australi a. Permission may be conditi onal on an appropriate royalty payment. Requests for permission and information on commercial soft ware royalti es should be dir ected to the head off ice of Standards Australi a. Standards Austr alia will permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use exclusively in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Austr alia. Standards Australi a wil l also permit the inclusion of its copyright materi al in computer software programs for no royalt y payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs. Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current editi on of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the Standard is amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identif ied. The use of material in pri nt form or in computer soft ware programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be vari ed by Standards Austr alia at any ti me.

SABC
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SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS FOR BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

A COLLECTION OF ABBREVIATIONS, ACRONYMS AND LETTER SYMBOLS EXTRACTED FROM CURRENT AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS FOR BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

FIRST EDITION

Prepared by Hans J. Milton

B.Arch.(Hons), M.Bdg.Sc., M.B.A., FRAIA

Standards Australia
Sydney, Australia July 1992

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS FOR BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page Foreword Introduction Definitions Notes on Arrangement and Typography Recommendations to Users of the Handbook
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i ii ii iii iv iv

User Respose Section 1 Decoding of Abbreviations Used in Building and Construction Drawings and Text Encoding of Abbreviations for Use in Building and Construction Drawings and Text Acronyms of Organizations Referenced in Australian Building and Construction Standards Section 3a Section 3b Section 4 Decoding of Organizational Acronyms Encoding of Organizational Acronyms

Section 2

37

Section 3

82 82 84

Letter Symbols for Metric (SI) Units of Measurement Used in Building and Construction Section 4a Section 4b Decoding of Metric (SI) Unit Symbols Encoding of Metric (SI) Unit Symbols

85 86 91 95

Section 5

Letter Symbols for Chemical Elements and Compounds Section 5a Decoding of Symbols for Chemical Elements and Compounds Correct Symbols for Chemical Elements or Compounds

96

Section 5b

98

Section 6

Notation for Physical Quantities Used in Engineering and Building Science (Roman and Greek Letter Symbols) Section 6a Section 6b Decoding of Notation for Physical Quantities Physical Quantities and Quantity Symbols for Use in Engineering and Building Science

101 102

108

FOREWORD
The development and use of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols, as a form of shorthand to convey information, has grown enormously during the past half century. It has even been described as one of the fastest growth industries in the world today. Designed to provide shortcuts in written material, drawings and speech, abbreviations and symbols have proliferated in all languages. In the English language alone there are hundreds of dictionaries and books devoted entirely to abbreviations, acronyms and symbols and their decoding and encoding. Governments and their bureaucracies on one hand, and scientists and technologists on the other, have been the main originators of new abbreviations and acronyms to replace lengthy terms with representative and often catchy miniwords. Modern English even includes some words that started out as abbreviations or acronyms. One of the best examples is the word laser which is a 5-letter abbreviation for the seven-word term l(ight) a(mplification by) s(timulated) e(mission of) r(adiation), thus replacing 55 letters and spaces. Great efforts have been made to standardize language-independent symbols internationally, for example symbols for units of measurement, notation for physical quantities, chemical symbols, and other technical information symbols. Contemporary literature, drawings and conversations continue to be filled with numerous, often undefined, abbreviations, acronyms, appellations, contractions, initialisms, and a variety of letter-based and graphical symbols as communication shortcuts. All too often readers, viewers or listeners have problems in interpreting meanings expressed in abbreviated form and, at times, this can lead to real misunderstandings or even costly errors. Not surprisingly, the shorthand used by one profession, discipline or industry is frequently completely baffling to others outside that area. The building and construction environment has always had a penchant for the use of shorthand in communication, from the colloquial use of reo for reinforcement, ag pipe for agricultural pipe, and RSJ for almost any kind of steel beam to a multitude of abbreviations and symbols on drawings and in text. Abbreviations and symbols are even included in the titles of some Australian Standards, with typical examples such as LP, PB, PVC, SI and UPVC, and the symbol kV. Throughout its seventy-year history, Standards Australia has endeavoured to bring about the rationalization of products, processes and services and establish quantitative as well as qualitative standards suitable for nationwide adoption. In that undertaking, many standards-writing committees have acted in good faith, although at times unilaterally, by contributing extensively to the catalogue of abbreviations and symbols. In line with other efforts to rationalize and simplify communication, it is an opportune time for a nationally recognized standard document on the use and interpretation of abbreviations and symbols in building and construction. Standards Australia has embarked on the first stage of such a project by arranging for the extraction, from some nine hundred national standards, of those abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that are relevant to the building and construction industries. The extracted material has been presented in a form suitable as a desk-reference handbook. While there is a multitude of other English-language abbreviations, acronyms and symbols for use in building design, construction, and related product manufacture or testing, it was decided that the first edition of this handbook should concentrate entirely on abbreviations and symbols found in Australian Standards. Therefore, every entry in the handbook can be traced back to relevant Australian Standards and, except for the listing of metric (SI) unit symbols, all entries are accompanied by a cross-reference to the source standard or standards unless there were too many different standards to allow individual identification. In a few instances, more than one abbreviation or symbol may be found in which case preferences are indicated by showing the less preferred form in parentheses. Guidelines for the development and use of abbreviations, and good practice in document preparation, are also included. The handbook was prepared for Standards Australia by Hans J. Milton, B.Arch. (Hons), M.Bdg.Sc., M.B.A., F.R.A.I.A. This handbook is envisaged as a dynamic document and all constructive comment on its layout and contents are welcome. Suggestions on additions or modifications to the range of abbreviations and symbols for construction can be made in relation to individual standards or the collection presented in this handbook.

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Standard Symbols and Abbreviati ons for Building and Construction

INTRODUCTION
GENERAL Modern society at large and its day-to-day activities and increasingly complex processes would not be the same without abbreviations, acronyms and symbols to convey information in shorthand form. Thousands of letter based abbreviations are in everyday use in Australia, and it is virtually impossible to avoid them. Their advantage is that they can save space and time in text, tables, drawings or speeches, especially where the reader, viewer or listener is fully conversant with their meaning. They can also make reading easier by avoiding needless repetition of lengthy terms. However, the deficiencies of using abbreviations and symbols must also be acknowledged: unless they are clearly understood, they can introduce ambiguity and errors due to misinterpretation. For effective communication, writers and editors need to take note of, and adhere to, some simple rules for the use of abbreviations and symbols. Where an abbreviation or acronym is used several times in an article, document or speech, it should be spelt out in full the first time it occurs and, preferably, at the start of each major section which might be interpreted in isolation. An even better practice, certainly for drawings and longer documents, is to include a schedule or legend of abbreviations and symbols. In books, technical papers and pamphlets this can be done either in the preliminary material or in an appendix. Some abbreviations and symbols are so widely known and used that they need little interpretation. Problems arise, however, when an abbreviation can have several meanings, depending upon the context. In such instances the old axiom should be adhered to When in doubt, spell it out. DEFINITIONS Abbreviation Derived from the Latin word abbreviatio meaning shortening, an abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or a phrase comprising several words, used as a symbol for the entire term. In the context of this document, an abbreviation includes an acronym and a contraction. Acronym Derived from a combination of the greek words akros (at the top or end) and onyma (name), an acronym is a shortened form, combining the initial letter or letters of a series of related words. An acronym is usually pronounced as a word. (Examples are: LASER, SONAR, AUBRCC) Contraction A contraction is a shortening of a word or phrase by the omission of medial (non-pronounced) letters or sounds; however, the last letter of the word must always be included. (Examples are: DEPT for department; PTY for proprietary) Shortened Forms Truncations of words in combination are being used increasingly to provide easily recognizable and catchy names for corporations, activities, processes and products. While these shortened forms are usually longer than acronyms, they form a sub-class of abbreviations. ((Examples include: NATSPEC for National Specification System; FORTRAN for formula translation) Symbols Symbols are internationally recognized representations of concepts, such as units of measurement, physical quantities, or chemical elements or compounds, using letters or graphic elements. Letters of the alphabet and numerals are, in themselves, symbols. The keyboard and extended character sets for computers have a number of additional general symbols (@, #, %, &), and symbols for specialized applications, such as the representation of currencies ($, , , ) or mathematical signs (+, , , , ). Musical notes are another example of the use of standard set of symbols to represent an abstract concept and enable world-wide reproducibility.

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ii

Standard Symbols and Abbreviati ons for Building and Construction

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HB 24-1992, Symbols and abbreviations for building and construction

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