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1:500 Scale Explained

At 1:500, one unit on the drawing stands for 500 of the same unit in real life. So 1 cm on paper is 5 m, and 1 m in real life is drawn 2 mm long.

What is 1:500 scale used for?

1:500 is used for site plans and block plans that show a building on its plot. Drawings at this scale are read with an scale ratio ruler marked in ratios, or with any metric ruler and a quick multiplication.

How many meters is 1 cm at 1:500?

At 1:500, 1 cm on the drawing is 5 m in real life. Multiply any paper measurement by 500 to get the real size in the same unit.

How do I convert real size to 1:500?

Divide the real measurement by 500. A 5 m wall is 10 mm long on a 1:500 drawing.

How much fits on one sheet at 1:500?

An A1 sheet (841 x 594 mm) covers 420.5 m by 297 m of real space at 1:500, before margins and the title block. An A3 sheet (420 x 297 mm) covers 210 m by 148.5 m.

A 4 x 5 m room at 1:500

A bedroom 4 by 5 meters is drawn 8.0 by 10 mm at 1:500. That is why house plans use 1:50 or 1:100: rooms are big enough to label, and the whole floor fits on one sheet.

How to measure a drawing at 1:500

1. Check the title block or scale bar to confirm the drawing really is 1:500. Plans are often printed at a different size than they were drawn.
2. Measure a dimension that is already labeled, such as an exterior wall, and compare it with the chart above. If they disagree, the print was scaled.
3. For PDFs and images, skip the ruler. The floor plan scale calculator converts any measurement, and MeasureFloorPlan sets the scale from one known wall and measures every room from there.

More on reading scales: floor plan scale explained. Nearby scales: 1:200 and 1:1000. Every scale is compared on the drawing scale chart.