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AutoCAD Plumbing Design
A 60–80 hour, professional-level programme that builds practical, code-compliant plumbing design competence from manual calculation through AutoCAD drafting and Revit BIM modeling — for mechanical and...
AutoCAD Plumbing Design
This course includes:
- 31h 02m 36s
- 86 Lectures
- 42 Downloadable resources
- Certificate of completion
Instructor
Montser Mohamed
Overview
A 60–80 hour, professional-level programme that builds practical, code-compliant plumbing design competence from manual calculation through AutoCAD drafting and Revit BIM modeling — for mechanical and MEP engineers, BIM modelers and CAD technicians, engineering students, and career-starters entering plumbing design across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the wider GCC, culminating in the Charter Center certification exam.
Description
Programme Highlights
From Manual Calculation to Full AutoCAD & Revit Proficiency
A genuine start-to-finish skill progression — fixture unit and pipe sizing calculations first, then converted into construction-ready AutoCAD drawings, then extended into coordinated 3D Revit models.
Grounded in the Saudi Plumbing Code (SBC 701)
Design decisions are anchored to real code requirements — water distribution, hot water supply, sanitary drainage, and venting provisions — with comparative awareness of UAE and Qatar building code frameworks.
A Real, Submittable AutoCAD Plumbing Project
Learners build a complete plumbing drawing package — layout, riser diagrams, pipe routing, and fixture schedules — from a project brief through to a coordinated, code-referenced final set.
Charter Center Certification Exam Included
A dedicated final module combines knowledge-based questions with a practical AutoCAD/Revit deliverable, assessed against the standards built throughout the course to award Charter Center certification.
Course Curriculum — 7 Modules + Certification Exam
Plumbing Design Foundations & Core Water Systems
This opening module establishes the complete plumbing engineer's workflow — from concept through code-compliant construction documents — before any single system is examined in depth, giving learners a map of exactly how the course's seven modules build toward a finished, certifiable skillset. Core water supply system types are introduced: cold water distribution architecture, direct versus indirect (tank-fed) supply arrangements, and the pressure-zoning considerations that become critical on the high-rise developments common across Saudi and UAE cities. Hot water systems receive dedicated attention — storage versus instantaneous (tankless) generation, and recirculation system design, since hot water travel distance and standby loss are genuine design problems on the large-footprint towers and mixed-use developments typical of GCC construction. The module closes by previewing how this foundation feeds directly into the code framework (Module 02), the fixture and calculation work (Modules 03–05), and ultimately the AutoCAD and Revit production skills (Modules 06–07) that convert design decisions into deliverable drawings.
Plumbing Codes, Standards and Engineering Principles
This module grounds every design decision in the rest of the course to real, enforceable code requirements rather than generic best practice. The Saudi Plumbing Code (SBC 701) — part of the Saudi Building Code and built on the International Code Council's plumbing code framework — is studied directly across its core sections: water distribution system installation, hot water supply system requirements, sanitary drainage piping and building sewer provisions, venting requirements, and graywater soil absorption system rules. Rather than rote code memorisation, the module teaches the engineering principles underlying these requirements — why minimum pipe slopes exist, why vent systems protect trap seals, why backflow prevention is mandatory at specific connection points — so learners can reason through code-compliant decisions on scenarios the code text does not explicitly cover. Comparative regional awareness closes the module: how Dubai Municipality's building and green building regulations, Abu Dhabi's Estidama water-efficiency requirements, and Qatar Construction Specifications relate to and differ from the Saudi framework, since GCC-based designers routinely work across more than one jurisdiction's requirements.
Fixture Piping, Fittings and Accessories
This module builds the fixture and material selection knowledge that Modules 04 and 05's calculations depend on entirely. Water Supply Fixture Units (WSFU) and Drainage Fixture Units (DFU) are introduced as the foundational sizing concept behind every calculation the course covers — every fixture type carries a standard unit value that converts a building's fixture count into design flow demand. Piping material selection is treated as a genuine engineering decision rather than a fixed choice: copper, PEX, CPVC, and PVC are compared against GCC-relevant conditions — water quality, ambient and water temperature extremes, and code-permitted applications for each material. Fittings and valve types are covered practically — gate, ball, and check valves, pressure-reducing valves for high-rise pressure zoning, and the fitting equivalent-length values that feed directly into Module 04's pressure loss calculations. The module closes on accessory specification: cleanouts, trap types, and backflow preventers, and how these fixture, material, and accessory decisions collectively become the direct input to the manual calculations that follow.
Manual Calculations I — Water Supply and Distribution Sizing
This is the first of two modules dedicated to manual calculation — the deepest, most calculation-intensive part of the course — covering the water supply side of the discipline in full working detail. Fixture unit demand conversion is practised directly: taking a building's total WSFU count from Module 03 and converting it into an actual design flow demand using established fixture-unit-to-flow-rate methodology. Pipe sizing calculations follow, balancing acceptable flow velocity against pressure loss to select the correct pipe diameter at every point in a distribution network — not simply the largest pipe available, since oversizing carries real cost and installation consequences on large GCC projects. Water pressure loss calculations are built up systematically: friction loss along pipe runs, elevation loss on multi-storey risers, and fitting equivalent-length losses from Module 03, combined into a complete pressure budget from source to fixture. The module closes on sizing water heater and hot water generation capacity against the calculated demand established here — the exact calculation discipline a design reviewer or code official will expect to see documented on a real project submission.
Manual Calculations II — Drainage, Venting and System Verification
This second calculation module completes the manual sizing discipline by covering the drainage side of the system and verifying the full calculation package before it becomes the basis for production drawings. Drainage system sizing converts a building's total DFU count into required drain pipe diameters and slopes, applied against the SBC 701 code requirements studied in Module 02. Venting system design and sizing follow — ensuring every trap seal is genuinely protected against siphonage and back-pressure, and applying the vent stack sizing rules that determine required vent pipe diameter at each level of a drainage system. The module closes on complete system calculation verification: checking a full water supply, drainage, and venting calculation package for internal consistency — confirming that pipe sizes, pressure budgets, and vent provisions all agree with one another and with the code — before the package is handed off as the technical basis for the AutoCAD drafting work in Module 06. This verification discipline is what separates a calculation exercise from a defensible engineering deliverable.
AutoCAD Plumbing Drafting and Project Production
This is the largest hands-on component of the course, converting the calculations from Modules 04 and 05 into an actual, submittable set of construction drawings in AutoCAD. Plumbing layout development is practised first — placing fixtures, routing supply and drainage piping, and resolving routing conflicts against a real architectural background. Riser diagram construction follows, building the vertical schematic that shows how supply and drainage systems connect floor to floor — an essential deliverable on any multi-storey GCC project. Pipe routing and sizing annotation is drilled directly against the calculation results from the previous two modules, ensuring every drawn pipe carries the diameter its calculation actually justified rather than a generic default. Fixture schedule creation, drawing standards, and layer conventions specific to plumbing drawing sets are covered for professional consistency and coordination-readiness. The module culminates in building one complete, coordinated AutoCAD plumbing project package — from an initial project brief through to a final, code-referenced drawing set — the genuine start-to-finish drafting proficiency the course's "from scratch to proficiency" promise is built around.
Revit BIM Modeling, Advanced Systems and AI-Assisted Design
This module extends the 2D AutoCAD skillset from Module 06 into a full 3D BIM workflow using Autodesk Revit. Plumbing family creation and system modeling are covered directly — building parametric fixtures, pipe systems, and connections that carry real engineering data, not just visual geometry. Clash detection against structural, architectural, and mechanical models is practised as a core coordination skill, reflecting the ISO 19650-aligned BIM workflows increasingly mandated on Saudi Vision 2030 and UAE infrastructure projects. Advanced and emerging plumbing system types round out the technical content: greywater recycling and water reuse systems, increasingly significant given GCC water-scarcity conditions and Vision 2030 sustainability targets, fire suppression system coordination, and high-rise pressure-zoning strategy for tall developments. The module closes on AI-assisted plumbing design tools — current-generation capabilities for automated fixture layout suggestions, clash prediction, and calculation cross-checking — introduced explicitly as a productivity layer that complements the manual calculation and CAD/BIM fundamentals built earlier in the course, not a replacement for genuine engineering judgement.
Charter Center Certification Exam
The capstone assessment brings the full course together into a single certification exam. A knowledge-based component draws across Modules 01 through 05 — code requirements from SBC 701, fixture and material selection principles, and the manual calculation methodology for water supply, drainage, and venting sizing. A practical deliverable component requires an AutoCAD and Revit submission assessed directly against the drafting and modeling standards built in Modules 06 and 07 — layout accuracy, correct pipe sizing reflecting the underlying calculations, riser diagram completeness, and coordinated 3D model quality. Candidates who pass both components earn Charter Center's Plumbing Design System certification, a credential built specifically around the practical, code-compliant, software-proficient skillset that MEP contractors and design consultancies across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the wider GCC look for when hiring or contracting plumbing design staff — not a purely theoretical qualification, but proof of the full calculation-to-drawing-to-model workflow the course teaches.
Software, Standards & Platforms
Course Outcome
On completing this course, you will be able to perform manual plumbing calculations for water supply, drainage, and venting systems, produce construction-ready AutoCAD plumbing drawings, build coordinated 3D plumbing models in Revit, and apply the Saudi Plumbing Code (SBC 701) and regional GCC standards to real design scenarios — earning Charter Center's Plumbing Design System certification and a practical skillset for MEP engineer, BIM modeler, and CAD technician roles across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the wider GCC construction sector.
No Modules Available
Modules will be added soon