Construction Acronyms & Abbreviations


Here is a compilation of acronyms and abbreviations commonly found in, or associated with, the construction trades and industries. Feel free to suggest others in the comment section below:


Common to All

AFF

Above Finished Floor

BBRS

Board of Building Regulations and Standards



Construction

IBC

International Building Code


Electrical

AC

Alternating Current

AC

Armored Cable

AFCI

Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter

AHJ

Authority Having Jurisdiction

AL

Aluminum

AWG

American Wire Gage

CU

Copper

DC

Direct Current

EGC

Equipment Grounding Conductor

EMT

Electrical Metallic Tubing

GEC

Grounding Electrode Conductor

GFCI

Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter

GRC

Galvanized Rigid Conduit

HID

High Intensity Discharge (Lighting)

LCD

Liquid Crystal Display

LED

Light Emitting Diode

MC

Metal Clad (Cable)

MCC

Motor Control Center

NEC

National Electrical Code

PVC

Polyvinyl Chloride (pipe)

RMS

Root Mean Square

RX

Romex

TC

Tray Cable

UL

Underwriters Laboratories

UPS

Uninterruptible Power Supply


Mechanical

ACCU

Air Cooled Condensing Unit

BAC

Building Automation and Controls

BACnet

Building Automation and Controls Networks

BMS

Building Management System

BTU

British Thermal Unit

BTU/H

British Thermal Unit per Hour

CAS

Chemical Abstract System

CSST

Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing

EFV

Excess Flow Valve

HVAC

Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning

HVACR

Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

IDLH

Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health

LEL

Lower Explosive Limit

LFL

Lower Flammable Limit

LPG

Liquified Petroloeum Gas

PEL

Permissible Exposure Limit

PEX

Cross-Linked Polyethylene

PP

Polypropylene

PVC

Polyvinyl Chloride (pipe)

TXV

Thermostatic Expansion Valve

UMC

Uniform Mechanical Code


Plumbing

ABS

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

GPH

Gallons Per Hour

GPM

Gallons Per Minute

IPC

International Plumbing Code

NSPC

National Standard Plumbing Code

PVC

Polyvinyl Chloride (pipe)

UPC

Uniform Plumbing Code