What Is Drawing Revision Cloud?

A revision cloud is a cloud-shaped graphic drawn around a specific area of a drawing that's been changed since a previous issue, making the change visually easy to locate. It's typically paired with a revision number or triangle referencing a revision log that describes what changed and when.

Revision clouds exist because drawing sets get reissued multiple times over a project's life, through addenda, bulletins, or formal revisions, and without a clear visual marker, it's difficult for anyone reviewing a reissued sheet to know at a glance what actually changed versus what carried over unchanged from a previous version.

A common gap is a revision cloud on one sheet without a corresponding update to a related sheet that should have reflected the same change, or a revision log entry that doesn't match what's actually clouded on the drawings. Structured AI's Compare Versions feature addresses this directly, automatically detecting and visualizing changes between any two versions of a drawing set, rather than relying on manually placed revision clouds to convey what changed.

FAQ

Is this term used consistently across the industry, or does it vary by firm or region? Most of these terms are used fairly consistently across the industry, though exact usage can vary slightly by firm, region, or project delivery method. When in doubt, project-specific contract documents typically define exactly how a term is being used on that project.

How does this connect to AI-assisted drawing review? Structured AI's QA/QC Compliance Checks, Document Chat, and Overlay features are built to catch the kinds of issues and inconsistencies that show up in exactly this part of the design and construction process, with findings tied to the exact page and location involved.

Where can I learn more about related terms? See the related topics below for connected concepts that often come up alongside this one.