Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

20 June 2001

MacCAD news: ArchiCAD to implement National CAD Standards

Architosh Press Report: Graphisoft Signs Adoption Agreement with NIBS for the Implementation of U.S. National CAD Standards

Boston/San Francisco - (June 19, 2001) - Graphisoft announced today that ArchiCAD 7.0, the flagship product of its building design and management software solutions, supports and will implement the United States National CAD Standards (NCS) Version 2.0.

Graphisoft which began shipping ArchiCAD 7.0 in the United States on June 18 supports the creation of object-based standards worldwide as part of its commitment to the adoption of the lifecycle information model for the AEC industry.

"We are delighted to see Graphisoft step forward to provide leadership for the construction industry, and other software vendors, toward implementation of our national Standard. We all stand to win by its broad scale implementation," said David Harris, FAIA, president of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS).

Development of the NCS is an ongoing activity of National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) in association with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), the United States Coast Guard, and other AEC industry associations and government agencies. The goal of this initiative is the voluntary adoption of the Standard by the building design and construction industry in order to streamline and simplify the exchange of building design and construction data from project development throughout the life of a facility.

"ArchiCAD has an information-rich design process and our library and estimating capabilities already support CSI. By supporting the National CAD Standards, and working closely with NIBS, we believe our users and industry professionals will benefit from the information revolution taking place in the AEC industry," said Al Moulton, president of Graphisoft U.S.

About the NCS

The U.S. National CAD Standard, originally published in 1999, plays a vital role in developing the capability of managing one continuous electronic data stream across the full life cycle of buildings.

The first edition of the national standard was built on three industry documents from different sources: the Uniform Drawing System (UDS) from CS, CAD Layer Guidelines from AIA, and Plotting Guidelines and Attributes from the Tri-Service CADD/GIS Technology Center and U.S. Coast Guard. The effort was based on a Memorandum of Understanding among the above organizations and NIBS, SMACNA (Sheet Metal Contractors Association) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

The second edition of the U.S. National CAD Standard was published in February 2001. Version 2.0 of the Standard incorporates modules 4 - 8 from the Uniform Drawing System, a revised CAD Layer Guidelines, and a number of deferred issues from the first project committee. Specifics of the Standard are online at http://www.nationalcadstandard.org/.

NCS Version 3.0 is currently in committee and begins to deal with object-based technologies, Internet, and important aspects of lifecycle model creation.

About NIBS

NIBS was created by Congress in 1974 to be a forum for the construction industry. The enabling legislation defined 12 membership categories, public and private, covering the full spectrum of the industry. NIBS's primary mission is to speed the deployment of new knowledge and new technologies that will benefit the building community. NIBS councils address a broad range of issues; all the way from earthquakes, floods, and other natural hazards, to environmental issues - asbestos, lead-based paint, radon, to energy, to metrication, and lastly to IT standardization and management issues. More information about NIBS is available at http://www.nibs.org/nibshome.htm