How to use the project board and schedule

1. What the board does

The project board puts the elements of one project on one drawing sheet with one bending schedule. You design a beam, a column or a footing in its calculator and press “+ Add to a project”; the element appears on the board, its drawing goes on the sheet and its bars join the schedule. The server draws the sheet and re-runs every element from its saved inputs, so the drawing and the schedule always match the latest design.

The board takes the concrete elements: RC beam, RC column, pad footing, strip footing, raft, pile cap, retaining wall, RC wall, slab, flat slab, slab on grade, stair, lintel and masonry wall, plus a setting-out plan and a reinforcement plan. Each element keeps the code route of its calculator.

2. Getting started

The board needs an account, because the project is saved on the server. A free account holds one project with 5 elements, enough to try a beam, a column and a footing. A paid plan raises that to 200 elements per project.

1. Sign in and open the board. Give the project a name.
2. Open a calculator, design the element and press “+ Add to a project”.
3. Back on the board, the element is under ELEMENTS ON THIS PROJECT, its views are on the sheet and its bars are in ONE BENDING SCHEDULE.

3. Reading the board

Elements on this project lists each element with its mark. To change one, change it in its calculator and save; the sheet and the schedule update. Sheet sets the paper size, the title, the drawing number and the revision. Bar marks numbers the bars through the whole project, so no two elements share a mark.

Loads flow down uses the setting-out plan: when a beam sits on a column and the column on a footing, the loads come down after each save. Loads typed in a calculator are never overwritten, and you can unlink any link that should carry no load.

Architect’s plan (DXF or PDF) puts the architect’s plan under the setting-out plan; you can hide layers, draw grid lines and level marks and trace members on it. The DXF download never carries the architect’s plan.

4. Schedule, PDFs and sharing

The bending schedule follows SANS 282 shape codes. The board gives All sheets (PDF), the Drawing register (PDF) and the Order list (CSV). PDF and DXF of the project sheet, the printed schedule, the order list, the cutting list and the drawing register are part of every calculator pack. The Concrete and Foundations & Geo packs are on sale soon.

Revisions: once a sheet has a revision row it counts as issued. If an element changes after that, the board asks whether to add the next revision; one click adds the row and a cloud round each changed element. Notes go on the sheet with a number. Share a read-only link lets the client or the contractor see the sheets and the schedule and download the PDFs for 30 days, without editing.

5. A 2-minute walk-through

1. Sign in and open the board; name the project “House A”.
2. Open the RC beam calculator with its default 6 m beam and press “+ Add to a project”. B1 is on the board.
3. Do the same with the pad footing calculator. F1 joins it; the schedule now holds the bars of both, with the total mass.
4. Set the paper, title and drawing number under Sheet.
5. Change B1’s live load in its calculator and save. The board re-runs it, and if the sheet was issued it offers revision B.

The project bending schedule page (from the calculators) also collects the elements you add into one SANS 282 schedule, kept in this browser; the board keeps the same schedule on the server with the drawings.

6. Common mistakes

• Editing the drawing instead of the design. The board draws from the saved inputs; change the element in its calculator.
• Two elements with the same mark. Give each one its own mark (B1, B2) before you add it.
• Expecting loads to flow without a setting-out plan. The links come from the plan; no plan, no links.
• Sharing an editable copy. Use the read-only link; it stops after 30 days, or make a new link to stop the old one.

8. Learn more

• RC Design 1, lesson 8: detailing and the schedule and Detailing 1, lesson 6: the schedule end to end
• Guide: the RC beam calculator and the pad footing calculator

A guide to using the calculator, not a design. Check every value against the current code and your own project, and have the design checked and signed by a registered professional engineer.