CAD Standards the Rules....

[fuzzytnth3]

The following rules apply to any CAD package be it 2d only or full BIM (well ok some of em are ArchiCAD specific)

1
Never leave anything on the ArchiCAD or Zero layer. This is punishable by having the fingers on your right hand chopped off in most offices I have worked. I know staff who were sacked for doing just this. You have been told!

2
Xrefs (and modules) always go on an Xref layer eg A-0-Xref for our Xrefs and G-9-Xref for topographic survey xrefs. Never put an xref on the ArchiCAD layer as you then loose the ability to switch off an xref without having to switch off all it’s layers. Also see the first rule above.

3
When copying and pasting always check periodically that you haven’t duplicated a pile of stuff by using the Check Duplicates command in the Edit menu of ArchiCAD. I have seen files that had so much duplicated crap in them that once I purged it, the file size was halved and as a result was much faster to save and open.

4
Never have duplicate text to use at different scales. As the scale of the drawing gets bigger make use of Worksheets and the Detail windows to “drill down” to the level of textual information you need to impart.

5
Only 3d model elements that will appear in more than one View. Anything else can be represented by a line or a fill.

For example a stair is best 3d modelled as it will appear in Plan Elevation and Section.

Whereas showing at what height is 2.0m above FFL only shows up in the Plan view so is easier drawn as a Polyline or better still use ArchiCAD’s built-in command!

6
Don’t draw iddy biddy bits of Elevations or Sections or even worse Details on Storey Plan Views. Use the tools provided by ArchiCAD ie Elevations go in an Elevation window, Sections in a Section Window and obviously Details go in a Detail Window. Its not rocket science!

If it is just part of an Elevation you want then place a Worksheet marker over the part of the Elevation you want and use that. Even if all you want is 2d lines and Fills but with the Worksheet associated to the 3d Model then you can use trace reference to check back to the Model to see what you need to update.

7
Have a Backup strategy. Files always become corrupted at the most crucial times. At the very least use Teamworks as it keeps a number of backups. But you also need to be able to recover quickly from a hard disk failure scenario. Possibly this should be rule number one!

Any more suggestions?

[Achille Pavlidis]

Before placing anything -anything- on screen, always check the favorites palette!

[fuzzytnth3]

Draw once then Hotlink it eg Hotel Bedrooms, Flat Layouts, Bathroom Layouts

Use a Library object even a dumb one for a repetitive element, if that element changes later modify the object and all the instances update.

When using Composites use the "Apply Structure Settings" don't de-check them otherwise it will lead to inconsistent pen weights being applied across the Project.