Grade 11 Year Summary across both papers, 200 raw marks and 3 hours each. Paper 1 CIVIL in first angle: analytical and electrical circuits, interpenetration and development, two-point perspective, and the civil working drawing with its detailed sectional elevation. Paper 2 MECHANICAL in third angle: analytical, the cam and the helix, isometric, and the assembly with its fasteners and half-section.
CAPS-aligned · Distinction-level Notes
Engineering Graphics and Design · Grade 11 · Year SummaryDate: TopJournal
Every distinction begins with one topic at a time.- start now
GRAPHICS THEORY · TOPIC 1DRAWING CONVENTIONS, INSTRUMENTS & SANS STANDARDS
⭐ EXAM FAVOURITE
Every drawing you hand in is marked against a shared rulebook so that any engineer, anywhere, reads it the same way. That rulebook is the national drawing standard, and Grade 11 expects you to apply it without thinking: the right line for the right job, neat single-stroke lettering, a properly filled title block, and dimensions placed the accepted way. These marks are handed to the learner who is disciplined, and lost by the one who is merely fast.
A drawing is a language, and neatness is its grammar.· the standard exists so your drawing means the same thing to everyone who opens it
Think of the standard as the spelling and punctuation of engineering. You can have brilliant ideas, but if your lines, letters and dimensions break the rules, the person building from your drawing either guesses or stops. The whole point is to remove guessing.
What you must be able to do
Select and draw the correct line type for each purpose (visible outline, hidden detail, centre line, dimension line, cutting plane and so on) at the right thickness
Print single-stroke vertical capital lettering and numerals neatly and at a consistent height using guide lines
Set up a drawing sheet correctly: border, title block, and the information every title block must carry
Apply the accepted rules for placing and reading dimensions, including the aligned and unidirectional systems
Name and use the main drawing instruments correctly, and explain what each one is for
Recognise and draw common conventional representations (screw threads, and the break line used to shorten long parts)
Understand scale, and state a drawing's scale as a ratio
The line types: one alphabet of lines
🔥 FREQUENTLY TESTED
Line-type questions appear on almost every paper because they test whether you can be trusted with the rest of the drawing. Two facts carry most of the marks: a line's appearance (continuous, dashed, or chain), and its thickness (thick or thin). Get those two right and you have named the line.
The standard line types
Line
Appearance
Thickness
Used for
Visible outline
Continuous
Thick
Edges and outlines you can actually see on the object
Hidden detail
Short dashes
Thin
Edges hidden behind the material, out of direct view
Centre line
Long dash, short dash (chain)
Thin
Centres of circles, holes and symmetrical parts
Dimension & extension line
Continuous
Thin
Showing sizes; extension lines project the feature out to the dimension
Cutting plane
Chain, thick at the ends and where it changes direction
Thin body, thick ends
Showing where an object is imagined cut for a sectional view
Break line (short)
Continuous, freehand wavy
Thin
Breaking off a view to shorten a long uniform part
Hatching (section lines)
Continuous, thin, at 45°
Thin
Shading the solid material that the cutting plane sliced through
⚡ MUST MEMORISE
A simple rule of thumb: thick means "you can see it" (only the visible outline is thick), and everything that helps you read the drawing is thin (hidden, centre, dimension, extension and hatching lines). If a line carries a dash pattern it is doing a job other than showing a real visible edge.
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKE
Learners draw a centre line as an ordinary dashed (hidden) line, or make hidden detail as thick as the outline. Both lose marks and, worse, change the meaning of the drawing. A chain line (long-short-long) is a centre line; evenly spaced short dashes are hidden detail. They are not interchangeable.
Lettering and numerals
📖 KEY DEFINITIONSingle-stroke lettering means each part of a letter is drawn in one clean pass of the pencil, with a uniform line weight, so the letter looks the same thickness throughout. The accepted style is upright (vertical) capital letters and numerals, printed freehand between light guide lines that keep every letter the same height.
💡 EASY MARK
Always draw two feint horizontal guide lines before you letter anything, spaced at your chosen letter height (for example 5 mm). Letters that sit neatly between guide lines read as consistent and score full neatness marks; free-floating letters of mixed height quietly bleed marks on every label and note.
Upright capitals: the standard uses vertical capital letters; avoid slanting and avoid lowercase for labels and titles
Consistent height: keep every letter and numeral the same height on a line, set by your guide lines
Even spacing: space letters so the areas between them look balanced, not measured to identical gaps
Single stroke, even weight: no double lines, no shading or serifs
The drawing sheet: border and title block
🔥 FREQUENTLY TESTED
A blank sheet is not a drawing sheet until it has a border and a title block. Examiners regularly ask you to list what the title block must contain, or to draw and complete one. It is the "identity card" of the drawing.
The border
A continuous thick frame drawn a set margin in from the paper edge (often a little wider on the left for filing)
It contains the working area and keeps the drawing clear of the ragged paper edge
The title block (bottom right corner)
Title or name of the part or drawing
Scale used (stated as a ratio)
Drawn by (name), and the date
Projection symbol (first-angle or third-angle)
Drawing number, and units of measurement (usually millimetres)
Layout of a drawing sheet: border, the wider filing margin and every cell the title block must carry.
Dimensioning rules
📖 KEY DEFINITIONDimensioning is the accepted way of writing sizes onto a drawing so a part can be made without measuring the drawing itself. A dimension line is a thin continuous line with arrowheads at each end; the size (the figure) is written above or within it; extension lines are thin lines that project a feature away from the outline so the dimension line has clean ends to sit between.
⚡ MUST MEMORISE
Core dimensioning rules: dimension and extension lines are thin; a small gap is left between the outline and the start of an extension line; arrowheads are neat, narrow and filled; every feature is dimensioned once only; and figures are placed so the drawing is not crowded, keeping dimensions outside the view where possible. A diameter is prefixed with the ∅ symbol and a radius with a capital R.
Aligned system
The figure is written in line with (parallel to) its dimension line
Read a vertical dimension by turning the sheet a quarter turn clockwise
Figures always sit above the dimension line
Unidirectional system
Every figure is written horizontally, whatever the direction of the dimension line
The dimension line is broken so the figure can sit inside it
No turning of the sheet needed to read any size
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKE
Dimensioning the same feature twice (once on each view) is a real error, not extra helpfulness: if the two figures ever disagree, the maker cannot know which is right. Dimension each size once, on the view that shows the feature most clearly.
Worked example: stating and using a scale (invented for practice)
A bracket is 240 mm long on the real part. It will not fit the sheet full size, so you draw it at a scale of 1:2. Every real millimetre is drawn as half a millimetre, so the length on the drawing is 240 ÷ 2 = 120 mm. The dimension figure written on the drawing is still the real size, 240, never 120: dimensions always state the true size of the part, no matter what scale the drawing uses. The scale 1:2 is recorded in the title block so the reader knows the drawing is reduced.
💡 EASY MARK
Scale is written as a ratio, drawing size to real size. 1:1 is full size, 1:2 is half size (reduction), and 2:1 is twice size (enlargement). Learn those three examples and you can classify any scale in the exam as full, reduced or enlarged in one line.
Instruments and conventional representations
Main instruments and what each is for
Set squares (45° and 30°/60°)
Drawing vertical, inclined and angled lines; combined they give 15° steps
T-square or drawing board with sliding rule
Drawing accurate horizontal lines and a base for the set squares
Compass
Drawing circles and arcs of a set radius
Protractor
Measuring and marking off angles that the set squares cannot give directly
Pencils (H for construction, HB for outlines)
Feint construction lines with a hard pencil, darker final lines with a softer one
Eraser and erasing shield
Cleaning up construction lines without smudging finished work
📖 KEY DEFINITION
A conventional representation is an agreed shorthand for a feature that would be slow or cluttered to draw in full. Two you must know: a screw thread is shown with a thick line for the crest of the thread and a thin line for the root, rather than drawing every helical turn; and a break line lets you cut out a long uniform middle section of a part and draw only the two ends, so a long rod fits the sheet while its true length is still dimensioned.
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKE
When a part is drawn with a break to shorten it, the dimension must still show the true full length of the part, not the shortened drawn length. The break saves paper; it never changes the size the part is made to.
The two standards by number: SANS 10111 and SANS 10143
📖 KEY DEFINITION
The rulebook has a name and a number, and both papers print it in their note block. SANS 10111 (published earlier as SABS 0111) is the standard for engineering drawing, so it governs Paper 2, the mechanical paper: line types, lettering, dimensioning, projection symbols, sectioning and the conventional representations of threads and machine parts. SANS 10143 (published earlier as SABS 0143) is the standard for building drawing, so it governs Paper 1, the civil paper: floor-plan symbols for doors, windows and sanitary fittings, hatching for building materials, the labels NGL, FFL and DPC, and the colour convention below. SANS stands for South African National Standard, and the older SABS numbers are the same documents under the previous name.
🔥 FREQUENTLY TESTED
Naming the standard is a written mark in the analytical question, and it is one of the few EGD facts you can simply learn. Tie each number to its paper: 0143 is the house, 0111 is the machine. If a question shows a floor plan, a foundation detail or a bath symbol, the standard in play is SANS 10143.
The SANS 10143 colour convention
⚡ MUST MEMORISE
On a coloured building drawing, each class of feature carries a fixed colour so a reader can tell new work from existing work at a glance. This has been asked as a straight six-mark list: name the colour used for six named feature classes. It is six marks for pure recall on a paper where almost everything else has to be drawn.
SANS 10143 colours on a building drawing
Feature
Colour
How to remember it
All EXISTING materials, whatever they are made of
Grey
Grey is the past: anything already standing goes grey, so colour only ever marks new work
New masonry (brickwork)
Red
The colour of a fired clay brick
New concrete
Green
The odd one out, so learn it first
New wood (timber)
Yellow
The pale colour of freshly sawn softwood
New glass
Black
Glass is drawn as a thin dark line, so black
New drainage and sewerage
Brown
Earthenware pipes buried in the ground
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKE
Colouring existing brickwork red because it is brickwork. The rule reads the other way round: the existing question is asked first, and everything existing is grey no matter what material it is. Only once a feature is new does its material choose the colour. The second frequent slip is swapping concrete and wood, so anchor green to concrete and the rest follows.
🧠 ACTIVE RECALL
Which standard is quoted on the civil paper and governs building drawing?(2)
State the SANS 10143 colour used on a coloured building drawing for EACH of the following: all existing materials, new masonry, new concrete, new wood, new glass, and new drainage and sewerage.(6)
Which line is the only one drawn as a THICK continuous line?(2)
A thin line made of a repeating long-dash, short-dash pattern is a:(2)
The accepted style of lettering on an engineering drawing is:(2)
A part 300 mm long is drawn at a scale of 1:2. What length does it occupy on the drawing?(2)
In which dimensioning system are all figures written horizontally, so the sheet never needs to be turned to read a size?(2)
Which instrument would you use to mark off an angle of 35°, which the set squares cannot give directly?(2)
Describe the appearance (pattern and thickness) and the purpose of each of these three lines: the visible outline, the hidden detail line, and the centre line.(6)
List FIVE separate pieces of information that a properly completed title block must contain, and state in one sentence why the title block matters.(5)
A learner dimensions the same hole diameter on two different views of a part. Explain why this breaks the dimensioning rules and what problem it can cause.(4)
Explain what a scale of 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 each means. Then, for a part that is 240 mm long, calculate (a) the length it is drawn at a scale of 1:2 and (b) the length it would be drawn at a scale of 2:1, and (c) state what dimension figure is written on the drawing in each case and why. End by saying where the scale must be recorded.(10)
Explain it to a Grade 8: why do engineers all follow the same drawing rules instead of each drawing in their own style?
ONE-MINUTE SUMMARY
Every drawing follows a shared national standard so it reads the same to everyone. Lines are named by two things, pattern and thickness: only the visible outline is thick and continuous, while hidden detail (thin dashes), centre lines (thin chain), and dimension, extension and hatching lines are all thin. Lettering is single-stroke upright capitals of even height, printed between light guide lines. A sheet needs a border and a title block carrying the title, scale, name, date, projection symbol, drawing number and units. Dimensions use thin lines with neat arrowheads, are placed once per feature, and follow either the aligned system (figures parallel to their lines) or the unidirectional system (all figures horizontal). Scale is a ratio of drawing size to real size, but the dimension figure always states the true size. Know your instruments (set squares, compass, protractor, pencil grades) and the conventional shorthand for screw threads and break lines. Name the standards by number: SANS 10111 (formerly SABS 0111) for engineering drawing on Paper 2, SANS 10143 (formerly SABS 0143) for building drawing on Paper 1, whose colour convention is grey for all existing materials, red new masonry, green new concrete, yellow new wood, black new glass and brown new drainage.
IN THE EXAM
When naming a line, always answer with both its pattern and its thickness; one without the other rarely earns full marks.
Rule feint guide lines before any lettering, and keep it upright single-stroke capitals, neatness marks are the easiest marks on the paper.
Dimension each feature once, keep dimension and extension lines thin, and leave the small gap between the outline and the extension line.
State scale as a ratio and remember the written dimension is always the true size, never the reduced or enlarged drawn length.
If asked for title-block contents, rattle off title, scale, drawn-by, date, projection symbol, drawing number and units.
🔒 GEOMETRICAL CONSTRUCTIONS
🔒 SCALES
🔒 LOCI: CAM & HELIX
🔒 FIRST-ANGLE
🔒 3RD-ANGLE ORTHO
🔒 SECTIONAL VIEWS
🔒
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Feeling the pressure? Take a breath.
Exam stress is completely normal. Here are a few things that actually work. None of this replaces a doctor or a trusted adult.
Breathe in
Box breathing: 4 counts in, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold. Do it four times.
Anxiety
Grounding: name 5 things you see, 4 you hear, 3 you can touch.
Reframe "I am going to fail" into "I have prepared, I will do my best".
Concentration
Work in 25-minute blocks, then a 5-minute break (Pomodoro).
Put the phone in another room while you study.
One task at a time. Multitasking costs more than it saves.
Sleep
Cramming all night backfires: sleep is when the brain locks in memory.
No screens for 30 minutes before bed.
The same bedtime every night keeps the brain sharp.
Study habits
Active recall (testing yourself) beats passive re-reading by far.
Space your study across days; do not cram it all into one.
Practise past papers under time. That is exactly how these notes are built.
If it gets too much, talk to a parent, teacher or a trusted adult. You do not have to carry it alone. SADAG (free, 24 hours): 0800 567 567, or SMS 31393.