Description: This guide discusses the importance of CAD standards within the construction industry. Its main aim is to answer the 'What, Why and How' questions for CAD standards. The guide is intended for CAD users (in explaining why CAD standards are necessary) and CAD managers (in explaining how CAD standards can be developed and implemented).

The first section of this guide explains how to produce good quality data with CAD software. This part mainly looks at the differences between data and drawings in CAD. The next section clarifies what CAD standards are and why they are needed. This part mainly examines three key areas, namely single company, inter-company and client perspectives, to explain the need for CAD standards. The next section discusses the issues regarding what to standardise in the CAD environment and is supported with some examples such as layer naming and file naming.