A door schedule and a window schedule are tables in the drawing set that list every door and window on the project, one row per tag. The plan shows where each opening is and gives it a mark, such as door 101A or window type C; the schedule gives the rest: size, type, material, frame, fire rating, hardware set, glazing and the details that apply. The plans, the schedules and the specifications (Division 08, Openings) are meant to be read together, and most opening problems on site start where the three disagree.
What a door schedule shows
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Door number | The mark on the plan. Many offices number doors after the room they open into (101, 101A, 101B). |
| Size | Width × height × thickness of the leaf, for example 3'-0" × 7'-0" × 1 3/4" or 1000 × 2100 mm. |
| Door type | A letter or number pointing to the door type elevations (flush, half-glass, louvered, pair). |
| Door material and finish | Hollow metal, wood, aluminium, glass; paint, stain, factory finish. |
| Frame type and material | Frame elevation key and material, for example hollow metal frame type F2. |
| Fire rating | Required rating of the door assembly, such as 20, 45, 60 or 90 minutes, and any smoke or temperature-rise requirement. |
| Hardware set | A number that points to the hardware set in the door hardware specification (Section 08 71 00), which lists hinges, lock, closer, stops and the rest. |
| Details | References to head, jamb and sill (threshold) details. |
| Remarks | Anything unusual: access control, acoustic rating, undercut, vision panel, kick plate. |
The swing and handing are usually read from the plan, where the door is drawn with its arc. Some schedules repeat the hand (LH, RH, LHR, RHR) so the hardware can be ordered from the schedule alone.
What a window schedule shows
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Window type (mark) | The tag on the plans and elevations. Windows are usually scheduled by type, so all identical windows share one row and a quantity. |
| Size | Unit width × height, often with the rough opening (the hole in the wall) as a separate value. |
| Operation | Fixed, casement, awning, hopper, double-hung, sliding, tilt-turn. |
| Frame | Material and finish: aluminium, vinyl, wood, fibreglass, steel. |
| Glazing | Insulated, laminated, tempered, low-e, tinted; safety glazing where the code requires it. |
| Performance | U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) for the energy code, sometimes air and water performance. |
| Head and sill heights, details | Where the window sits in the wall and which details apply. |
| Remarks | Egress window, fire-rated, screens, obscure glass, mulled units. |
Doors are usually scheduled one by one because hardware and ratings vary; windows are usually scheduled by type because many are identical. Storefronts and curtain walls are normally shown on their own elevations rather than in the window schedule.
Code checks the schedules carry
Schedules are where a plan reviewer or a contractor checks that each opening meets the code. Three checks from the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) come up on almost every US project; your jurisdiction's adopted code and its amendments govern.
- Door clear width: an egress door must give a clear opening of at least 32 inches (813 mm), measured with the door open 90 degrees between the face of the door and the stop, and a clear height of at least 80 inches (2032 mm) (IBC 1010.1.1). The clear width is less than the nominal leaf width, so check it, not the leaf size.
- Fire door ratings: the door rating follows the wall it sits in. In IBC Table 716.1(2), a door in a 2-hour fire barrier needs a 1 1/2-hour rating, a door in a 1-hour shaft or exit stair enclosure a 1-hour rating, and a door in a 1-hour corridor wall a 20-minute rating. Fire doors must carry a permanent label from the manufacturer showing the listing agency and the rating (IBC 716.2.9.1).
- Emergency escape and rescue openings: where the code requires them (typically sleeping rooms in residential occupancies), the window must give a net clear opening of at least 5.7 square feet (0.53 m²), or 5 square feet at grade floor, at least 24 inches high and 20 inches wide, with the bottom of the opening no more than 44 inches (1118 mm) above the floor (IBC 1031.3).
Glazing in doors and next to doors, and other hazardous locations, must be safety glazing; the schedule should say which units are tempered or laminated.
How to read door and window schedules, step by step
- Start on the plan. Find the tag and read where the opening is, which way it swings and what wall it is in.
- Find the row. Every tag on the plans should have exactly one row, and every row should appear on a plan.
- Check the wall. If the plan shows a fire-rated wall or a rated corridor, the door row needs a matching rating.
- Follow the type to the door, frame or window type elevations for the shape, glass and panel layout.
- Follow the hardware set to Section 08 71 00 and check it suits the door: a fire door generally needs a closer and an active latch (IBC 716.2.6), and an exit door the right exit device.
- Follow the details to the head, jamb and sill sections, and compare them with the wall section the opening sits in.
- Compare sizes with the dimensioned openings on the plan and the rough openings in the wall.
Creating schedules in Revit and ArchiCAD
In Revit, schedules are views of the model: View tab, Create panel, Schedules, Schedule/Quantities, then choose the Doors or Windows category. Each row is a door or window in the model, so moving or resizing one updates the schedule. Fields that are not part of the family, such as a hardware set, are added as parameters and filled in the schedule.
In ArchiCAD, the Interactive Schedule lists doors and windows from the model, with predefined schemes such as Door List and Window List opened from the Navigator. Values can be edited in the schedule and the change goes back to the model. Our guide to floor plan symbols shows how the tags appear on the plans.
Common mistakes
- Tags on the plan with no schedule row, or rows for doors that were deleted from the plan.
- A door in a rated wall scheduled with no rating, or a rated door with hardware that cannot be used on a fire door.
- Door numbers that changed in one revision of the plans but not in the schedule.
- Leaf size scheduled instead of checking clear width at an accessible or egress door.
- Window sizes in the schedule that do not match the elevations or the rough openings in the wall section.
- Hardware set numbers that do not exist in the hardware specification.
Frequently asked questions
What is a door schedule?
A table in the drawings that lists every door by its number with its size, type, material, frame, fire rating, hardware set and details.
What is a window schedule?
A table that lists each window type with its size, operation, frame, glazing and performance, usually with a quantity per type.
Where are door and window schedules in a drawing set?
Usually on the architectural sheets near the floor plans or with the door and window type elevations; the sheet index on the cover sheet tells you which.
What does the hardware set number mean on a door schedule?
It points to a group of hardware items listed in the door hardware specification, Section 08 71 00, so many doors can share one set.
How are doors numbered on drawings?
Many offices number doors after the room they open into, adding letters for second and third doors (101A, 101B). Check the drawing legend for the convention.
What fire rating does a door need?
It depends on the wall. Under IBC Table 716.1(2), for example, a 1-hour corridor wall needs a 20-minute door and a 2-hour fire barrier a 1 1/2-hour door.
Ncored is the desktop PDF editor we built in our architecture studio for drawing sets from AutoCAD, Revit, and ArchiCAD, on Windows and Mac (Apple Silicon). Open the plan and the schedule in separate windows side by side, search the set for a door number, cloud a tag that has no schedule row and leave a comment, and compare two issues of the plans as a colour overlay to see which openings moved. Markups are saved as standard PDF annotations that open in Acrobat, Bluebeam, Preview and other standard PDF viewers. 14 days free. No signup, no email, nothing to enter.
Related: floor plan symbols, wall sections, how to read construction drawings, MasterFormat divisions.
All product names, standards and organisations mentioned on this page are trademarks or registered names of their respective owners and are used for identification only. Ncored is an independent product by Noir architects and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them. Code references are to the 2021 International Building Code as published by the ICC; this page is not code advice, and the adopted code, the project's drawings and specifications and the design professionals govern. Individual experiences may vary.