Panel Feature Catalog — Tilt-Up Concrete Panels¶
A tilt-up concrete panel is rarely a plain rectangle. It carries openings, edge profiles, thickenings, cast-in connection hardware, and architectural details — each with its own design rules, tolerances, and documentation conventions. This page is the complete catalog of panel features organized the way ConstructiVision models them, with a plain definition and the governing industry standard for each.
The vocabulary here is drawn from the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) written guidance and its Section & Detail Library, ACI 551.2R “Design Guide for Tilt-Up Concrete Panels”, the PCI Design Handbook, and manufacturer handbooks (Dayton Superior, SureBuilt). Where a feature has several industry names, the common synonyms are noted.
How features are organized¶
Panel features fall into six families:
Family |
What it covers |
|---|---|
Openings & penetrations |
Windows, doors, dock levelers, vents, MEP penetrations |
Blockouts & recesses |
Voids, beam pockets, insulation blocks, reveals, reglets |
Thickenings & bearing |
Pilasters, lintels, ledgers, top plates, corbels, haunches |
Edges, corners & surface |
Chamfers, miters, reveals, parapets, control joints |
Embeds, inserts & connections |
Weld/embed plates, lifting & bracing inserts, dowels, anchors |
Materials & properties |
Finish, joint gaps, sandwich (insulated) construction |
A “✓ Modeled” tag marks features ConstructiVision draws and dimensions today. The rest are part of the industry catalog and the product roadmap — included here so the catalog is complete against the standards.
1. Openings & penetrations¶
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Standard opening |
✓ |
A window opening; elevation measured finished-floor to bottom, plus overall height. May or may not touch an edge. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Future opening |
✓ |
An opening marked “FUTURE OPENING” (dashed outline) that is not cut from the solid panel — planned for later. The Future tile on Standard Opening Details — csv-manual.md:1178, “places the words ‘FUTURE OPENING’ inside of the opening, draws a dashed line around the opening perimeter, and does not subtract the opening from the solid Panel”. |
TCA / CSV practice |
Round opening |
✓ |
A circular opening, typically for conduit or plumbing. |
TCA |
Arched opening |
✓ |
An opening with an arched head. |
Architectural practice |
Man door |
✓ |
A personnel door opening that does not touch an edge; includes swing direction; the doorframe is counted in materials. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Overhead / sectional door |
✓ |
A large rolling or sectional door opening. Placed through Dock Leveler Details (12 rows, pages of 6) — there is a shipped how-to, |
Field practice |
Dock leveler |
✓ |
A door opening with an extra blockout at the bottom for a hydraulic leveler. |
TCA |
Leveler pit |
✓ |
The bottom blockout of a dock leveler that houses the leveler mechanism. |
TCA |
Door guard |
✓ |
Metal embeds protecting the concrete edges of a dock-leveler opening. |
Field practice |
Louver / vent |
A mechanical louver or vent opening. |
Field practice |
|
Pipe / conduit penetration |
✓ |
A small MEP penetration through the panel. Placed as a round opening — Recess/Blockout with Shape = Circle and Thickness 0, which cuts through the panel. Tutorial 31: “Round openings are usually services — a conduit sleeve, a roof drain, a plumbing riser.” conduit/penetration/sleeve appear 0 times in the manual. CV-2512 (chad, 2026-09-08): the product also has a DISTINCT feature for this — |
ACI 551.2R |
Drip |
✓ |
A drip marker at the top of an opening to shed water. The Drip tile on Standard Opening Details, and again on Dock Leveler Details — csv-manual.md:1174 and :1587, “places a ‘Drip’ marker at the top center of the opening”. Disabled by the Future tile. |
Architectural practice |
2. Blockouts & recesses¶
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Blockout / recess |
✓ |
A rectangular, circular, arched, or triangular void or recess in the panel. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Beam pocket |
✓ |
A surface blockout that receives a structural beam. Modeled as a Recess/Blockout with Z Offset 0 — csv-manual.md:1358, “a value of zero (0) will place the block out on the surface for Beam Pockets”. Tutorial 33 teaches it as a follow-along. |
TCA |
Insulation block |
✓ |
A blockout offset from the surface that forms the insulation cavity of a sandwich panel. Modeled as a Recess/Blockout with a non-zero Z Offset — csv-manual.md:1357, “Enter the Z offset of the block out … to create Insulation Blocks for ‘Sandwich Panels’”. |
ACI 551.2R |
Non-rectangular blockout |
✓ |
A blockout with a non-rectangular shape. |
Field practice |
Form liner / exposed aggregate |
✓ |
An architectural finish applied to a recess (form liner texture or exposed aggregate). |
TCA |
Reveal / rustication |
✓ |
A recessed architectural joint line scored into the panel face for shadow articulation. This is the product’s Reveal ( |
TCA |
Reglet (flashing) |
✓ |
A cast groove that receives roof or wall flashing. |
TCA |
Reglet (masonry tie) |
✓ |
A cast groove or slot for masonry-veneer attachment. Placed as a Reveal — tutorial 32 teaches it that way. Reglet appears 0 times in the manual. Shares CV-1763 with the reveal. |
TCA |
3. Thickenings & bearing elements¶
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Pilaster |
✓ |
A vertical thickening projecting from the panel’s interior face, running up from the bottom. |
TCA |
Lintel |
✓ |
A horizontal thickening above the panel bottom, often over an opening (corbel-like). |
TCA |
Ledger |
✓ |
A cast bearing element mid-wall on the interior face, used to attach floor and roof systems. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Top plate / nailer |
✓ |
A bearing element at the top of the panel that also forms the top edge form. |
TCA |
Corbel |
✓ |
A horizontal bracket projection (treated as distinct from a lintel in the standards). |
ACI 551.2R |
Haunch |
✓ |
The thickened section formed when a pilaster or lintel is extended from an edge to support a joist or beam. |
TCA |
Brick ledge / shelf |
✓ |
A ledge cast to support a masonry veneer. Placed as a Lintel — csv-manual.md heads the section “## Pilaster / Lintel” and uses lintel 43 times, while brick ledge and shelf appear 0 times. Tutorial 32 teaches it; its ledge drew (+54 |
TCA |
Bearing pad / stub-beam pocket |
✓ |
A cast bearing surface or pocket for a stub beam. |
TCA |
Spandrel seat |
✓ |
A seat for a spandrel panel or member. |
Field practice |
Pilaster cap |
A cap detail at the top of a pilaster. |
Architectural practice |
|
Construction seat / bearing angle |
A cast-in seat angle used for construction bearing. |
TCA Detail Library |
4. Edges, corners & surface¶
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Chamfer |
✓ |
A beveled edge on the panel and/or feature edges; see Chamfers and Edge Profiles. |
TCA Detail Library |
Miter (left / right edge) |
✓ |
An outside- or inside-corner-joint bevel of the panel’s vertical edge; see Corner Conditions. |
TCA |
Reveal (horizontal) |
✓ |
A horizontal cosmetic strip cast into the panel surface. |
TCA |
Reveal (vertical) |
✓ |
A vertical cosmetic strip cast into the panel surface. |
TCA |
Parapet |
A panel extension above the roof line. |
Architectural practice |
|
Return / corner panel |
✓ |
A mitered corner or return panel forming a building corner. Modeled via the corner/miter edge settings and the radius field — csv-manual.md, “Enter the radius for curved, Outside Corner Panels”; miter appears 18 times. Tutorial 17 covers the radius case. |
TCA |
Weep hole |
A drainage weep through the panel or veneer cavity. |
TCA |
|
Control joint |
A tooled or scored joint that controls crack location. |
ACI / TCA |
|
Roof line |
✓ |
A reference line tracking a compound roof slope, used to position connection arrays. |
CSV practice |
Pour strip / closure strip |
A cast-in closure strip for a pour-back between panels. NOT modeled — corrected 2026-07-31, this row was over-marked. Tutorial 34: “the strip itself as an entity … is still planned. Right now the strip is only implied by a dowel projection: it is not drawn, it carries no concrete quantity of its own, and it is not tied to the two panels that form it.” The only trace on a panel drawing is the slab-dowel Length, which is measured into the strip — a datum, not the feature. Design captured in CV-1753. The claims audit WILL flag this row — csv-manual.md:2306 says “the length that the Slab Dowels extend from the near face of the Panel (into the closure strip)”. That mention is the datum, not the feature. Expected flag; do not re-mark. |
TCA Detail Library |
5. Embeds, inserts & connections¶
This is the largest family — the cast-in steel that connects the panel to the foundation, roof, adjacent panels, and lifting/bracing hardware. See also Reinforcement, Cover and Embeds and Lifting, Rigging and Bracing.
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Weld plate / embed plate |
✓ |
A cast steel plate (often with headed studs) for welded structural connections. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Embedded angle |
A cast-in continuous, perimeter, or seat angle. |
TCA Detail Library |
|
Slab dowel |
✓ |
A J-bar dowel anchoring the panel to the floor slab. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Pick point (lifting insert) |
✓ |
A lifting insert that transfers crane load into the panel during tilt-up. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Brace point (bracing insert) |
✓ |
A bracing insert that accepts a temporary brace after lifting. |
ACI 551.2R; TCA |
Coil insert |
✓ |
A coil-thread insert for secondary framing attachment. |
Mfr handbooks |
Slotted insert / anchor |
A slotted insert allowing flexible attachment positioning. |
Mfr handbooks |
|
Bent bar |
A bent reinforcing bar for a pour-back connection. |
TCA |
|
Seismic / shear connector |
✓ |
A cast connector resisting in-plane shear or seismic load. |
ACI 551.2R |
Welded-wire mat |
Welded-wire reinforcing mat. |
ACI 318 |
|
Panel dowel |
✓ |
A dowel tying the panel to the footing (distinct from a slab dowel). |
TCA Detail Library |
Epoxy / post-installed dowel |
A post-installed epoxy dowel. |
TCA Detail Library |
|
Cast-in anchor bolt |
✓ |
A cast-in anchor bolt. Drawn by |
TCA Detail Library |
Bridging anchor |
✓ |
A cast-in bridging or bracing anchor. |
TCA Detail Library |
6. Materials & panel properties¶
Feature |
✓ |
Definition |
Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
Bond breaker |
The casting-surface bond breaker that lets the panel release from the bed. |
TCA |
|
Panel finish |
✓ |
The surface finish type (smooth, textured, exposed aggregate). |
TCA |
Panel joint gap |
✓ |
The gap detail between adjacent panels (bevel or butt); see Expansion Joints. The Expansion Gap tiles on Main Panel Details — csv-manual.md:850 refers to disabling “the Expansion Gap tiles and ignore any values in them”; dimensions are auto-adjusted for them (:843). Taught in tutorial 9. |
TCA; ACI 117 |
Sandwich panel |
✓ |
Insulated dual-wythe construction (inner and outer concrete wythes around insulation). Formed by insulation blocks — csv-manual.md:1357 names the mechanism directly, “Enter the Z offset of the block out … to create Insulation Blocks for ‘Sandwich Panels’”. |
ACI 551.2R; PCI |
Why this matters for ConstructiVision¶
ConstructiVision generates panel books and construction documentation for tilt-up buildings. This catalog is the standard against which the software measures itself — every feature an engineer expects to detail on a panel has a defined place, a plain-language definition, and a governing industry reference. Modeling the full vocabulary (not just the common subset) is what lets the panel book remove assumptions and match what fabricators and field crews expect to see.
For the dimensions, tolerances, and default values behind individual features, see the companion pages in this section and Industry References.