Floor Plan Abbreviations: WIC, W/D, REF, DW and 60 More

Floor plan abbreviations are short labels that save space on a drawing: WIC is a walk-in closet, W/D a washer and dryer, REF a refrigerator and DW a dishwasher. Most are the first letters of the word or its consonants, written in capitals, and the same few dozen turn up on almost every US house plan. Below they are grouped by the room you will find them in, so you can read a plan one room at a time. For the drawn marks (door swings, fixtures, outlets) see floor plan symbols.

There is no single national list for residential plans, and offices differ: one writes MBR, another PBR, a third spells out Primary Bedroom. When a drawing set has an abbreviations list or a legend, usually on the first sheet, that list wins over anything here. For the line symbols (door swings, windows, stairs, outlets) see floor plan symbols; for the dimension strings see how to read a floor plan.

A real plan, abbreviated

This is FloorGen's 3-bed ranch with a 2-car garage, with each room renamed the way a drafter would shorten it and four appliance notes added: REF, DW and R in the kitchen, W/D in the laundry. Every room still shows its net floor area, measured to the inside faces of the walls.

Bedroom and closet abbreviations

Closet notes are where abbreviations pile up, because a closet is small on paper. A reach-in marked CL with R&S along its back wall is the usual bedroom closet; 5 SH in a linen closet means five shelves. Closet dimensions gives the depths those rods and shelves need.

Bathroom abbreviations

A powder room labeled PDR is the one you can show guests; the powder room dimensions post covers its minimum size. On a remodel plan, GB with a note such as "blocking for GB" asks for solid wood behind the drywall so a grab bar can be fixed later.

Kitchen and dining abbreviations

Appliances are often shown only by a rectangle and these letters, so the letters are what tell a 30 in range from a 30 in base cabinet. Refrigerator dimensions gives the widths a REF opening usually needs.

Living area abbreviations

Laundry, utility and mechanical

Garage and outdoor abbreviations

Notes on heights, sizes and drawing changes

The last group is not about rooms at all. These words sit in notes and beside dimensions, and they are the ones that confuse people most, because they change how a number should be read.

Writing abbreviations on your own plan

• Spell out what fits. A plan for a client, a contractor quote or a family discussion reads better with full room names. Abbreviate where space is tight: closets, appliances, notes.
• Be consistent. Pick one form (PBR or MBR, REF or REFR) and use it everywhere in the set.
• Add a list. A permit set with more than a handful of abbreviations should carry an abbreviations list or legend, usually on the cover or first plan sheet. See drawing plans for a building permit.
• Keep sizes and heights explicit. "OUTLET @ 42" AFF" is clear; "OUTLET HIGH" is not.

How FloorGen labels a plan

In FloorGen each room carries a name and its net area, and the name is plain text: type WIC or Walk-in closet, whichever your reader needs. Room types (bedroom, bath, kitchen and so on) are set apart from the name, so an abbreviated name keeps the right icon. For anything else, the Text note tool (press T) puts a note on the plan, with an optional leader arrow to point at an appliance or fixture. Notes print on the plan and in the print set while Print notes and north arrow is on, which it is by default; they never show in 3D.

Doors and windows get tags in the Doors and windows schedule: D for doors, W for windows and O for open passages (D1, W1, O1), each listed with its size and count. That is the drafting habit that saves writing every size beside every opening.

Once the letters make sense, the numbers are next: how to read a floor plan explains dimension strings and areas, and floor plan scale how big a plan prints.