Questions before a window is specified.

These notes are for an architectural elevation on a new home. Awning, sliding and fixed windows do different jobs on a drawing. An awning sash throws outward. A sliding sash stays in the frame and moves sideways. A fixed pane does not open at all. The notes below are questions for a project review. They do not say what can be made for your opening.

General guidance only. Sizes, glass, screens and hardware are decided against your drawings, not from this page.

Three different motions.

Read across if you are still choosing a family. Read down if the elevation already says which pane opens.

Awning

Motion. The sash hinges out, usually from the top. The opening is an arc, not a slide.

Clearance. That arc needs empty space outside the wall: a path, a balcony, or the underside of a soffit.

Access and screens. The winder or lock is often on the bottom rail. A screen usually stays on the room side, so the sash has to clear the screen while someone can still reach the winder.

On the schedule. Opening mark, throw direction, whether a restrictor is wanted, and screen yes or no.

Sliding

Motion. The moving sash stays in the plane of the frame and travels sideways.

Clearance. Little projection outside the wall. The practical limit is where the pull finishes, and whether a curtain or blind already occupies the reveal.

Access and screens. The pull moves with the sash. Name the moving panel so the pull ends where a person can reach it. A screen may need its own track.

On the schedule. Which panel moves, which way, screen yes or no, and any lock height already drawn on the elevation.

Fixed

Motion. None. If the room needs air, it has to come from another opening.

Clearance. No sash travel. Look at what is built hard against the glass, such as a bench, a stair or a shower screen. Those make an opening sash a later problem.

Access and screens. No winder. A flyscreen drawn on this mark is a question, not evidence that the pane opens.

On the schedule. Mark it fixed, keep the opening reference, and copy any glass note already written on the drawing. Do not invent one here.

W / Awning

Awning: the sash leaves the wall.

What does the sash throw into? Walk the outside of the opening. A path, a downpipe, a pergola rafter or a chair can sit in the arc even when the elevation looks clear.
Who reaches the winder? Over a kitchen bench the bottom rail may be easy. Over a stair, or behind another door swing, it may not. Say which, rather than assuming a handle height.
Does the screen stay in while the sash is open? If it does, the sash has to clear the screen frame, not only the wall line.
Is a restrictor doing a job? It shortens the throw. The sash still moves outward. Note a restrictor when a walkway is the reason you want one.

W / Sliding

Sliding: the sash stays in plane.

Which light moves? A two-light slider is not both panels opening. Name the moving light and the fixed light, including any mullion the drawing already shows.
Where does the pull finish? If the moving panel ends behind a curtain stack or a tall return, the handle is there too.
What shares the reveal? A blind, a pelmet or a security screen can take the depth a sliding sash was assumed to have. Show them on the drawing if they are already there.
Does the screen slide, or only cover the opening half? Those are different widths. Write the one you mean.

W / Fixed

Fixed: light, not air.

Where does the ventilation actually come from? A fixed pane beside an awning is a pair. A room of only fixed panes has no air path. Say which case this opening is.
What is hard against the glass? A benchtop, a shower screen or a stair balustrade belongs in the note. It is the reason this pane does not open.
Is a glass note already on the drawing? Copy it onto the schedule. This page will not choose a glass build-up for you.
Could this mark be read as an opening window? If the elevation uses the same frame line for fixed and opening panes, label the fixed one so the schedule and the drawing agree.

What to include with the plans.

Send what you already have. Leave the undecided items as questions.

Window schedule or marked elevations, with opening references.
Which panes open, and how: awning throw, sliding direction, or fixed.
Screen yes, no, or not yet decided. Per opening, not for the whole house.
A note of anything the sash might hit: a path, a soffit, a bench, a curtain.
Any glass or energy-report page you already hold, attached as that document rather than rewritten here.

Door openings use a different set of questions. Door planning guide

See how a schedule is reviewed

Send plans