PIPING ENGINEERING CELL

PIPING DRAWINGS
T. N. GOPINATH

THE BASICS

The drawings are always considered as the
language of engineers. The machine
drawings and the geometrical drawings are
taught in the basic engineering curriculum.
Piping Engineers derive basics from these to
represent the pipeline routing on the
drawing. There are two types of views used
in the piping drawings:
a) Orthographic.- Plans and Elevations
b) Perspective. - Isometric Views
Piping layout is developed in both plan view
and elevation view and section / details are
added for clarity wherever necessary. These
drawings are called the General
Arrangement of Piping. To represent a three
plane piping in two dimensions of the paper,
certain symbols are followed. Most
commonly used symbols are in Table 1.
Orthographic symbols are available in
templates that are used for speeding up the
manual drafting and also the symbol library
for computer aided drafting.
In complex piping systems, especially
within the unit/plant building where
orthographic views do not illustrate the
details of design fully, pictorial view in
isometric presentation is drawn for clarity.
Specially printed isometric sheets are
available with lines drawn vertically and at
30o clockwise and 30o counter-clockwise
respectively from the horizontal axis of the
paper by the use of which 3D representation
of the pipelines can be prepared.
1.0 PLAN AND ISOMETRIC
PRESENTATION OF A PIPING
SYSTEM
The purpose of drawing is to give detailed
information so that the pipelines could be
fabricated and erected to satisfy the process
requirements. Prior to making the piping
drawings, the equipment layout drawings
and plot plan are prepared and these
drawings are used as the basis for
developing the piping drawing. Sometimes,
preliminary piping study is made to fix the
equipment co-ordinates. The other data
required for the development of piping
drawings are defined in the chapter on
“Equipment and Piping Layout”.
For presentation of unit piping layout, the
scale adopted usually are 1:25 or 1:331/3
(1:33.33)and 1:100 for the pipe rack. There
are different sizes of drawing sheets
available for the preparation of the
drawings. The sizes of the drawing sheets as
per ISO are as given below:
SIZE OVERALL DIMENSIONS
in mm (Untrimmed)
A0 - 841 x 1189
A1 - 594 x 841
A2 - 420 x 594
A3 - 297 x 420
A4 - 210 x 297

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Piping General Arrangement is normally
drawn on A0 size sheet. If the area to be
covered is small, then A1 size sheet is also
used. Piping group produces a ‘KEY PLAN’,
which is a plot plan on a small scale (1:500,
1:750 or 1:1000 or smaller), which can be
accommodated above the title block, dividing
the total area into smaller areas which are
covered in all the piping drawings. For
identifying the relative location of the area
covered in the plan the area covered in that
particular drawing is hatched or shaded.
The dimensional details of the title
block are developed based on the project
requirement. The drawing sheet is divided
along the length and the breadth in equal
spaces and marked along the boundary. The
longitudinal blocks are identified by alphabets
and those along the breadth numerically.
These co-ordinates are used to locate the area
on the drawing which the reviewer or a
discussion team wants to draw attention to.
The direction of the north is taken either
towards the right or left on the top of the
drawing sheet. This direction is kept constant
in all the areas covered in the plant, so also is
the scale of the drawing.
2.0 HOW TO START THE PIPING GA?
2.1 Place the north arrow at the top left/right
hand corner of the sheet to indicate plant
north.
2.2 Do not plan drawing in the area above
the title block of drawing, as this is
allotted for general notes, number and
title of reference drawings, brief
description of changes during revision
and the bill of materials wherever
applicable.
2.3 Process equipment and piping have
priority on the Piping GA. The piping
drawings are started after fixing
positions of the equipments.
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2.4 In-plant piping drawings are drawn to
1:331/3 scale and Pipe rack piping plan
to 1:100 scale with junction details
enlarged if necessary.
2.5 Equipment layout is reproduced on
the Piping GA to its scale and drawn
on the reverse side in case of manual
drafting. In case of CAD, separate
layer is used for equipment layout.
The major primary beams and
secondary beams are also shown if
area covered is indoors.
2.6 Pertinent background details which
govern piping routing, such as floor
drains, HVAC ducting, electrical and
instrument cable trays, etc. are also
drawn in faint on the reverse.
2.7 Utility stations are also established so
that the most convenient utility
header routing can be carried out.
3.0 DEVELOPMENT OF PIPING
GENERAL ARRANGEMENT
DRAWING
3.1 The piping drawings should be
developed in such a way that all the
process requirements are met with.
3.2 It is not always possible for the piping
drawing to follow exactly the logical
arrangement of the P&IDs.
Sometimes, lines must be routed with
different junction sequence and line
numbers and subsequently the list
may be changed.
3.3 Performance and economics have to
be considered in parallel while
deciding the routing.
3.4 Piping is represented by single lines
up to a size of 150 NB and double
lines for sizes 200 NB and above.
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This is to save the time of drafting and to
avoid confusion.
3.5 In single line representation, only the
centre line of the pipeline is drawn using
solid line and in the double line
representation, the actual size to scale is
drawn with centre line marked in chain-
dotted lines.
3.6 Line numbers are shown against each
line exactly in the same way as
represented in the P&I Diagrams.
3.7 The change in specification should be
shown in line with P&I Diagram. This
change is usually indicated immediately
to the downstream of the valve, flange or
equipment.
3.8 Valves should be drawn to scale with
identification number from the P&ID
marked thereon.
3.9 Draw valve hand wheels to scale with
stem fully extended. If it is lever
operated, then the movement of handle
position should be marked.
3.10 If a valve is chain operated, note the
distance of the chain from the operating
floor.
3.14 Each line should be identified by line
number and should also show the
insulation, tracing requirements, etc.
3.15 Lines, if required, shall be broken to
show the required details of hidden
lines without drawing other views.
3.16 Do not draw details that can be
covered by a note.
3.17 Draw plan to a larger scale for any
part needing more details and identify
it as “Detail ‘A’”, etc.
3.18 Draw part isometric sketches or part
elevations to clarify complex piping
or piping hidden in the plan view.
3.19 Full sections through the plant may be
avoided if isometric drawings are
drawn for the lines. Part sections,
where required, shall be shown to
clear the hidden details in plan.
3.20 Sections in the plan views are
identified by numbers, say 1-1, 2-2,
etc. and details by alphabets, e.g.
“Detail ‘A’”.

3.11 Show location of each instrument

connection with encircled instrument
number taken from P&ID.

3.12 Similar arrangements shall be shown as

typical detail or covered in a separate
company standard as Instrument Hook-
up drawings.

3.13 Draw plan view of each floor of the

plant and these views should indicate
how the layout will look like between
floors as seen from top.

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FIG. 1 : TYPICAL GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF PIPING

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FIG. 2 : TYPICAL GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF PIPING

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FIG. 3 : TYPICAL PIPING ISOMETRIC DRAWING

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4.0 ISOMETRIC DRAWINGS OR ISOs

Piping isometrics are three
dimensional representations of piping on two
dimensions of the drawing sheet. An isometric
drawing covers a complete line as per the line
list connecting one piece of equipment to
another. It should show all information
necessary for the fabrication and erection.

ISOs are not drawn to scale but should be

proportional for easy understanding. 4.2 Dimensions and angles.
Dimensions are given relative to centreline of
piping. 4.3 Reference number of P&IDs, GA
Drawings, line numbers, direction of
Isometric drawing should also include the flow, insulation and tracing.
following information:
4.4 Equipment location and equipment
4.1 Plant North - The direction should be so identification.
selected as to facilitate easy checking of
GA with Iso 4.5 Give nozzle identification on the
connected equipment.

4.6 Give the details of flange on the

equipment if the specification is
different from the connecting piping.

4.7 Size and type of every valve and

Direction of operation.

4.8 Size and number of control valve.

4.9 Location, orientation and number of

each equipment.

4.10 Field weld - preferred in all directions

to take care of site variations. It can
also be covered with a general note.

4.11 Location of high point vents and low

point drains. It is preferably covered
with a standard arrangement note.

4.12 Any special requirement such as line

to be tested prior to installation etc.

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4.13 Bill of Material.
4.14 Requirements of stress relieving, seal
welding, pickling, coating, etc.
5.0 SPOOLS
When the piping is shop fabricated, the
isometric drawings are developed further to
create spool drawings. A spool is an assembly
of fittings, flanges and pipes that may be pre-
fabricated. It does not include bolts, gaskets,
valves or instruments. A spool sheet is an
orthographic drawing of a spool drawn either
from piping GA or from an Iso sheet. Each
spool sheet shows only one type of spool and
carries out the following tasks.
5.1 Instructs welder to fabricate the spool.
5.2 Lists the cut lengths of pipe, fittings and
flanges etc. needed to make the spool.
5.3 Gives material of construction and any
special treatment of finished piping.
5.4 Indicates how many spools of the same
type are required.
Spool numbers are given to make the
identification easy. Each Iso sheet is identified
with the line number it represents. Both the
spool and the spool sheet can be identified by
a number or letter using the Iso sheet number
as prefix.
Straight run pipes over 6 m are usually not
included in a spool, as such lengths may be
welded in the system during erection in the
field. The size of a spool is limited by the
available means of transport.
As a general practice, Carbon Steel piping
40NB and below are ‘field fabricated’. All
Alloy Steel and Carbon Steel spools 50 NB
and above are normally ‘shop fabricated’.
Large diameter piping, being more difficult to
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handle, is more economically produced in a
workshop.
6.0 DIMENSIONING OF
DRAWINGS
6.1 Sufficient dimensions should be given
for positioning equipment and for
erecting piping.
6.2 Duplicating dimensions in different
views should be avoided, as this may
lead to errors if changes are made.
Reserve horizontal dimensions for the
plan view.
6.3 If single pipe is to be positioned or a
pipe connected to nozzle is to be
indicated, then show the centre line
elevation and mark as CL.
6.4 If several pipes are sharing a common
support, show elevation of Bottom of
Pipes and mark as BOP EL. This is
more applicable to non-insulated
lines.
6.5 In case of several pipes on a pipe
rack, show the “Top of Support”
elevation and mark as TOS EL.
6.6 In case of buried pipelines in a trench,
show elevation of bottom of pipes.
6.7 In case of drains and sewers, the
Invert Elevation of the inside of the
pipe is marked as IE.
6.8 Centre lines of the equipment and
pipelines shall be located with
reference to the building column
centre lines or the co-ordinates which
can be considered as a reference base.
6.9 The distance between the lines shall
be dimensioned centre line to centre
line.
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6.10 The horizontal nozzles on the equipment
shall be located from centre to flange
face in plan. For vertical nozzles show
Face of Flange elevation (FOF).
6.11 For valves, instruments and non -
standard equipment, show the
dimensions from flange face to flange
face.
6.12 Flanged valves are located with
dimension to flange faces. Non-flanged
valves are dimensioned to their centres
or stems.
6.13 For flanged joints, show a small gap
between dimension lines to indicate
gasket. Flanged joints can also be shown
without gasket but cover the same with a
general note and include gasket thickness
in the valve or equipment dimensions.
6.14 For Finished Floor (FF), the elevation
shall be the high point of the floor. For
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paved areas, it shall be the high point
of paving (HPP).
6.15 For foundation, the Top of Grout
(TOG) elevation is shown.
6.16 Show dimensions outside the drawn
view - do not cut pictures.
6.17 Draw dimension line unbroken with
fine line. Write dimension just above
the horizontal line. For vertical lines
write sideways.
6.18 The dimension lines can be terminate
with arrow heads or oblique dashes.
6.19 If series of dimensions are to be
shown, string them together. Show
overall dimension of the string of
dimensions. Avoid one of the break-
up dimensions to omit repetition and
error during changes.
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6.20 Do not omit significant dimension other 7.1 Title of the drawing.
than fitting make up.
7.2 Orientation - North arrow against plot
plan.

7.3 Inclusion of graphic scale (if drawing

is to be reduced).

7.4 Co-ordinates of equipments against

equipment layout.

7.5 Equipment numbers and their

6.21 For field run piping, give only those 7.6
dimensions which are necessary to route
piping clear of equipments and other
obstructions. Locate only those items 7.7
which are important to the process.
7.8
6.22 Underline out of scale dimensions or
mark as NTS. 7.9
appearance on the piping drawing.
Correct identification on all lines in
all views.
Line specification changes.
Reference drawing numbers and files.
Correctness of all dimensions.

6.23 Do not terminate dimensions at screwed 7.10 Whether representation is correctly

or welded joints. made in line with the standard
symbols or not.
7.0 CHECKING OF PIPING
DRAWINGS 7.11 Location and identification of all
instruments. Requirements of
Checking shall be done only on the print upstream / downstream straight
or the check plot of the drawings and by lengths.
coloured pencils/pens.
7.12 Insulation requirements as per
A. Corrected areas and dimensions are P&IDs.
marked yellow.
7.13 Piping arrangement against P&ID
B. Areas and dimensions which are to be requirements such as gravity flow,
deleted are marked green. seals, etc.
C. Areas to be corrected/incorporated on 7.14 Possible interference.
the drawing are marked in red.
7.15 Correctness of scale in case of
The new print after correction is “back General Arrangement Drawings.
checked” for incorporation.
7.16 Whether all stress analysis
Points to be checked on the piping drawing requirements are met or not.
includes:

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7.17 Adequacy of clearance from civil 7.21 Details and section identification
structures, electrical apparatus and match.
instrument consoles.
7.22 “Matchline” provision and accuracy.
7.18 Floor and wall openings.
7.23 Presence of signatures and dates.
7.19 Accessibility of operation and
maintenance space and provision of drop 7.24 Accuracy of BOM in Isometrics.
out and handling areas.
7.25 Number of the issue and the revision.
7.20 Foundation drawings and vendor
equipment requirements.

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