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United States National CAD Standard® History

The first edition of the national standard was built on three industry documents from different sources. The documents are the Uniform Drawing System (UDS) from CSI, CAD Layer Guidelines from AIA, and Plotting Guidelines and Attributes from the 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 Standard was published in 2001. Version 2.0 of the Standard incorporated modules 4-8 from the Uniform Drawing System, a revised CAD Layer Guidelines.

The third edition of the U.S. National CAD Standard was published in 2004. Version 3.0 expands the coverage with additional layer groups, symbols, and terms and abbreviations and adds an Administration section. Version 3.1, published in January 2005, includes the re-publication of all UDS modules to incorporate CSI MasterFormat™ 2004, and amendments from the membership.

Version 4, released in January 2008, includes expanded and reorganized CAD Layer Guidelines, making it easier to locate layer names, including new telecommunications and electrical discipline layer names. The updated Uniform Drawing System includes new and revised symbols for geotech, security, fire suppression, masonry, plaster and other areas. Common drawing practices also have been updated and clarified. And the re-written Plotting Guidelines reflect that line widths are no longer required to be mapped to color numbers.