From the course: BIM Manager: Managing CAD Standards

Why standards are so important

From the course: BIM Manager: Managing CAD Standards

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Why standards are so important

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- [Instructor] Let's talk about my favorite subject in the world, CAD standards. For the last going on two decades, I've been leading the standards charge. For 10 years, it's been at my company which has seven offices across the country and involves, well, every trade from site civil to telecommunications and all trades between. Let me tell you, it's been fun. Let's discuss why we need standards in place, shall we? Hey, why not, right? Your drawings are ultimately your product. Yeah, the design is what you might get sued over, not for some font that's too big, but our drawings say who we are. Clients and other firms do take notice. Also, the better the aesthetics on our drawings, the less confusing they are. If our demolition plans look there's an existing building in the background, with nice heavy dashed lines for clear demolition and perfectly placed clear notes, that goes a long way. Process equals efficiency equals profit. CAD standards aren't just about aesthetics, they're about process as well. Process reduces redundancy and equals accuracy. You may not know how much time and money you're losing in efficiency. There's no real matrix to calculate the hemorrhage of time and money lost in poor standards. And I'll tell you, your competition sharpens their pencil every day. We have to do more for less, that's just the fact, all of us. It would be nice to have the lowest price on a project because we're efficient. So how about new hires? How do you orient new employees? Do you have something in place when they sit down at their desk, or do they just start going on their own? What's their first impression of your company when they get hired? Is there standards in place? You'll probably tell them where the coffeemaker is and how to do their timesheet, but do you tell them how to do the CAD? How long does it take to get them on board? I've had people show up that I didn't know were there for months. You can't do that. You lose a new hire quick with poor standards. I don't mean they quit, but I mean you lose their morale. So what do they do? They implement the standards they dragged with them from their old company because everything was so much better. Now they're off on their own. So that being said, let's take a look at the players involved.

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