Civil 3D Open CAD Standards

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The Framework for Civil 3D
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AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018 is coming. OMG! Time for the annual Autodesk workstation rebuild weekend.

It’s also time to update parts of the website and the menus. You might note some things will get moved around a bit. Behind the scenes the elves are busy bees.

Out there in Civil 3D Land I can hear the cries of joy and groans of the software and template update that bounces hard off the rim.

We Can Fix That

A new Civil 3D release means it is time to release updated versions of our Open Standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D documentation. What the heck. Everyone needs a little more light reading on complex technical Civil 3D geek stuff like Style, Label Style, Layer, Block, and other Civil 3D resource naming conventions. We all need to be…

More Competent

New updates to out for our Open Framework CAD Standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D, our Standard Civil Symbols, and our Civilized Standard Keys.

Thank you to the many customers and other interested parties who have contributed to this Open CAD Standards effort over the years. You know who you are. You’ll never receive the recognition and respect you truly deserve. Isn’t it funny how standards development always seems to be like that – sometimes thankless work that someone has to do (grin). We know the mantra…

“Dave? Can our Civil 3D templates and styles do that?”

All the updates are now available for download in PDF format.

Open AutoCAD Civil 3D Standards

  • The Framework Standards PDF documents our in-depth naming conventions of every Civil 3D Feature Style and Label Style and all the other essential resources supplied in the Framework.
  • The Framework Symbols PDF documents the available symbols and includes visuals of all the symbol graphics. The graphic assessment methodology employed is also documented.
  • The Standard Keys PDF documents both the NCS standard Major and Minor Layer Keys and the available Civil Keys employed in our naming conventions for many AutoCAD Civil 3D resources including: layers, blocks, linetypes, etc.

The Open Standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D are a "variant" of the National CAD Standards (NCS). These Open Standards have been civilized for civil engineering, survey, and government agency production and publication use.

National CAD Standards Compliance

These Standards purposefully do not conflict with the AIA NCS and UDS recommendations for versions 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0. We recommend you purchase a copy of the National CAD Standards and support that ongoing effort.

Open Civil 3D Standards History

These Standards have been in continuous development in one form or another since the earliest release of the initial beta of AutoCAD Civil 3D. They have been publically updated since the release of AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009. Autodesk officially sponsored a 2010 release and included it with that software release. That Autodesk product was publically called the US California Country Kit.

Our Framework for Civil 3D products were and remain a generic US Imperial standard with intentionally little or no regional bias.

On-line documentation for the Framework’s Spreadsheet Tools for AutoCAD Civil 3D customization and maintenance are available to website Members for free. Register here.

Get the Framework for Civil 3D

If you’d like to see these CAD Standards Civil 3D made real, purchase an affordable copy of Templates Only.

See Our Support for Multiple Releases of Civil 3D

If you’d like to comment and/or contribute to these Open Standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D, please contact us via email support@cadpilot.com.