by Brianna Crandall — June 3, 2011—The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) recently announced the release of the newest edition of the United States National CAD Standard (NCS). NCS Version 5 is now available online, round-the-clock, for purchase or use.
The NCS helps architects, constructors and operators coordinate efforts by classifying electronic design data consistently and making information retrieval easier. It improves communication among owners and project teams, cuts or eliminates costs of developing and maintaining company-specific standards, and reduces the expense of transferring building data from design applications to FM applications. More than 5,000 architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) firms have adopted the NCS in their workplaces.
The first update to the standard in three years, NCS Version 5:
- Added new “Distributed Energy” Discipline Designators
- Added a new Level 2 resource Discipline Designator for “Real Estate”
- Expanded Discipline Designator for “Survey/Mapping”
- Changed group definitions in “Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Resource, Structural, Survey/Mapping and Telecommunications Layer Lists” to allow broader use
- Expanded file extensions (up to four characters allowed now) to respond to changes in software application file extensions
- Added a new Level 2 resource Discipline Designator for “Real Estate”
Because NCS Version 5 is Web-based, it not only is available 24/7, but references within the text are cross-linked; spreadsheets are available for tabular data; and users can print each section separately, avoiding the need for a hardcopy of the entire document for reference.
NCS users who have purchased the previous version of the NCS within the past six months are eligible for a discount on NCS Version 5. This discount will be available for the next six months.
