Preferred Number - Buildings

Buildings

In the construction industry, it was felt that typical dimensions must be easy to use in mental arithmetic. Therefore, rather than using elements of a geometric series, a different system of preferred dimensions has evolved in this area, known as "modular coordination".

Major dimensions (e.g., grid lines on drawings, distances between wall centres or surfaces, widths of shelves and kitchen components) are multiples of 100 mm, i.e. one decimetre. This size is called the "basic module" (and represented in the standards by the letter M). Preference is given to the multiples of 300 mm (3 M) and 600 mm (6 M) of the basic module (see also "metric foot"). For larger dimensions, preference is given to multiples of the modules 12 M (= 1.2 m), 15 M (= 1.5 m), 30 M (= 3 m), and 60 M (= 6 m). For smaller dimensions, the submodular increments 50 mm or 25 mm are used. (ISO 2848, BS 6750)

Dimensions chosen this way can easily be divided by a large number of factors without ending up with millimetre fractions. For example, a multiple of 600 mm (6 M) can always be divided into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 25, 30, etc. parts, each of which is again an integral number of millimetres.