How each set is made
The stand is a four- or five-sided plot with every boundary a whole number of centimetres (slanted sides come from 3-4-5 style triangles), so the perimeter works out exactly. The ground is a slope falling to one compass point; the corner heights in the survey table and the contour lines come from that slope. The house sits inside the building lines, with external walls 230 mm and internal walls 110 mm thick, and the floor plan's dimension lines add up to its overall sizes.
Directions are read against the north point, which turns from set to set. Lengths on the plans are in millimetres and answers in metres need converting. Areas and perimeters are given to two decimals; a decimal comma or point both work.
A worked example
In set CASA22 the survey table gives boundaries of 19000, 28500, 19000 and 28500 mm, so the perimeter is 19,00 + 28,50 + 19,00 + 28,50 = 95,00 m. Corner A is the lowest at 1244,8 m. BED 2 is 3900 by 3400 mm inside the walls: 3,9 × 3,4 = 13,26 m². The north point points to the right of the sheet, so the front of the house, facing the street at the bottom, faces east. Open set CASA22
What Question 1 asks on Paper 1
The DBE examination guidelines put the civil analytical question first on Paper 1, at about 15%, with drawings in first-angle projection. The 2024 papers gave 30 marks for 20 to 21 rows on a site plan: title panel facts, heights, named symbols, abbreviations, directions by the north point, distances in metres, and a perimeter and an area to work out. The symbols to draw in freehand are left out of these sets, because a drawing cannot be checked here: practise them from your textbook.
Questions people ask
What is the civil analytical question in EGD?
It is Question 1 of NSC EGD Paper 1: a site plan or a house drawing with a title panel and a table of short questions about it. The 2017 DBE guidelines give it about 15% of the paper; the 2024 papers gave it 30 marks.
How do I work out the perimeter of a stand?
Add all the boundary lengths. They are usually given in millimetres, so change each to metres (divide by 1000) before adding, and give the answer in metres.
How do I find the area of an L-shaped house?
Split the outline into rectangles using the overall dimensions, work out length times breadth for each in metres, then add them. Give the answer in square metres.
How do I give a direction from the north point?
Turn the drawing in your mind until the north arrow points up, then read the direction of the arrow, slope or face you are asked about: north, north-east, east and so on.
Which way does the ground slope on a site plan?
Downhill from the higher contour figures to the lower ones, straight across the contour lines. The lowest corner of the stand has the smallest height in the survey table.
What line types are used on a site plan?
The DBE line-work guide gives a medium chain line for building lines, a dark chain line for drainage and water pipes, and a long broken line for contour lines. Outlines are its darkest lines, and on the 2024 papers the stand boundary is a thick continuous line.
Sources, read October 25, 2026: DBE Engineering Graphics and Design Grade 12 Examination Guidelines (2017); DBE NSC EGD Papers 1 and 2, November 2024, and marking guidelines; DBE NSC EGD Papers 1 and 2 from the June 2024 exams, and marking guidelines; Eastern Cape Department of Education, 2024 NSC Chief Marker’s Reports for EGD Paper 1 and Paper 2. The part modeller and view drawing come from our Orthographic Practice site. The paid SANS 10111 and 10143 standards were not used: symbols here are our own drawings of the usual forms, shown in a legend or with their abbreviation. Check your textbook for the SANS forms.