Putting Your CAD Details on Palettes

Standard CAD details have been an interesting topic among companies for many years.  Some companies have established vast and very organized detail libraries, and some companies have no standard detail library at all and simply grab details from previous projects.  Regardless of what method a company utilizes to file their details, quick and easy access to your details is very important.  The AutoCAD-based products incorporate palettes that provide a really nice way of accessing standard details very quickly and controlling the way they are placed into a drawing.

Using palettes to access standard details eliminates users from using the Insert command and then browsing to the desired detail.  This article will describe the basics of using palettes for organizing your details for easy access. 

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State of Texas Has Published BIM Standards for Projects

In the summer of 2009, the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) announced that Building Information Modeling (BIM) would be required on state projects.  In January 2010, they published the BIM standards which are to be utilized on projects.  The TFC’s BIM Standards are detailed and a great deal of work has gone into preparing the standards for publication.  I commend the TFC for the hours of effort that has gone into this process, which covers both building and site information.

According to the “TEXAS FACILITIES COMMISSION – PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDER GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS” document, the “TFC has adopted Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a standard for producing the design and documentation for all projects under TFC authority”.  “CADD software may only be used to produce documents on minor renovation or maintenance projects when approved in writing by one of the FDC Directors”.