Robin Bonhof on the Dutch CAD Standard

Robin Bonhof and his colleagues at ORBIS Engineering and NTP have recently started saving a lot of time on their drawing work. The reason: they switched to the NLCS as their drawing standard in mid-2019. In particular, the uniformity in designs is a big advantage, Bonhof says. "Drawings are immediately clear. That makes for faster processing and clear interpretations."

Fourteen designers work at ORBIS Engineering, employed by the umbrella organization NTP, a civil engineering contractor. Bonhof is one of those designers. "We design a lot of residential areas, both new construction and redevelopments," he says. "We also do a lot of work on N roads, for example for asphalt maintenance and reconstruction work."

Reconstruction N351

In one of those projects last year, the NLCS came up. Bonhof: "The province of Overijssel reconstructed 1.6 km of the N351 near Kuinre. We were allowed to take care of the design process and execution. We made route calculations, worked out construction profiles and ultimately produced a final design. One of the spearheads of the province was that we would deliver our drawings in accordance with the NLCS. We were not working with it at the time, but we went to find out. With success, I dare say."

Interchangeability

Soon Bonhof and his colleagues discovered that data interchangeability is one of the great advantages of the NLCS. "The province naturally checked our designs and calculations. That went very easily and quickly. Logical, if you both work with the same drawing standard: the structure is the same, and you can directly elaborate on the other's design without having to make a translation first. That advantage also works our way: we had incorporated the province's changes into the new design in no time." 

Time Saving

The NLCS is also an added value in the work processes of NTP, ORBIS Engineering's largest client. After all: in the execution, there is hardly any loss of time due to (different) interpretation of drawings. Bonhof nods. "The uniformity works to our advantage. We find that switching with our colleagues at NTP is very streamlined." Designers also benefit from the uniformity of the NLCS in other projects. Where previously they had to rebuild entire substrates, they now save a lot of time. "How much? That depends on the size of the project, but you're easily talking about several hours. For example, we do a lot of revision work for clients. Thanks to the layout in NLCS format, they immediately see what we mean and can process the design in their management system. As a result, approval follows more quickly and we can complete the project sooner."

Push back

Bonhof and his colleagues use InfraCAD as a tool to work in accordance with the NLCS. "We initially chose InfraCAD for other purposes, such as downloading substrates, importing KLIC reports and processing BGT cadastral maps. The fact that InfraCAD is also a very suitable tool for drawing in accordance with the NLCS was an extra push to make the switch. We had our own drawing standard which in itself was fine, but InfraCAD is so compatible with the NLCS that we decided to go that route. Useful features include automatic scaling, for example, or converting a drawing to NLCS format at the push of a button."

Own identity

This fulfilled a wish of most ORBIS designers. But fair is fair: not all colleagues were eager to welcome the new standard. "Some were attached to our old standard," Bonhof said. "Therefore, together with a colleague, I set up all work processes and structures according to our preferences. For example, we incorporated the advantages of our old standard into the NLCS-InfraCAD combination. Consider, for example, the conversion of the many types of cubes we use in our designs: we can still use those now. Or take the lisp routines: certain quick functions that are very useful in revision work. We translated those so that they contain the NLCS coding."

No more duplication of effort

The battle of persuasion by Bonhof and his colleague was not yet complete. They were busy preparing for a presentation session at which they would brief their colleagues on the pros and cons of the NLCS. "Unfortunately, due to the corona situation, that session hasn't happened yet," Bonhof said. "But it's definitely going to happen. We want full support for the NLCS, which we believe is the standard of the future. OK, not all parties are using it yet; especially the smaller construction companies and architects are not going to adopt it just yet. But we hope they will. Especially if architects do not work to scale or with different coordinators, converting drawings takes a lot of time, especially if a design goes up and down several times. In other words: if our partners would all use the NLCS, we would all do much less duplicate work, reduce the chance of interpretation errors and save time and money at the bottom of the line. On the front end, implementing the NLCS may cost some time and energy, but you are guaranteed to earn that back."

NLCS 

The NLCS (Dutch CAD Standard) is a uniform drawing standard for civil engineering. The information in an NLCS drawing is unambiguous, complete and clearly structured. As a result, drawings can be exchanged easily, the chance of errors is smaller and the entire GWW chain can save on costs. The NLCS is a BIM level 1 standard and is managed by the BIM Loket.

About ORBIS Engineering

ORBIS Engineering (Hattem) is an engineering and consulting firm specializing in the preparation of projects in public space and environment. Its fourteen employees provide engineering and consultancy services within the fields of infrastructure, environment and spatial development. ORBIS Engineering is part of NTP.