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  5. Appeal to Properly Name CAD & BIM Files for Development Applications

Appeal to Properly Name CAD & BIM Files for Development Applications

  Published: 21 October 2020
  Theme: Instil (DC Services & Good Practices)

Some 60% of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) files submitted electronically still do not comply with URA’s CAD submission guidelines and BCA’s BIM e-submission guidelines. This has made it difficult to identify the correct files easily and quickly, causing unnecessary delays when retrieving the files for processing work.

We seek the co-operation and understanding of all Qualified Persons and Professional Engineers to immediately adhere to the proper CAD & BIM file naming conventions to improve the development application process.

Naming CAD Files

CAD files should be named as follows:

Proper CAD file naming

  • Project Identification: A user-defined field to specify the project. E.g. MLP1 for Merlion Park Project.
  • Author: The individual/company/organisation responsible for creating the file. E.g. A for Architect.
  • Types of Work: The types of information being represented on plan. E.g. SP for Site Plan, FP for Floor Plan, and so on.
  • Level/View Plane: The level of the development or view plane being represented on plan. E.g. 02 for 2nd storey, A for Attic, BB for Section BB and NE for northeast elevation plan.
  • Zone or Block: The zone or block being represented on plan. E.g. 01 for Block 1, A1 for Zone A1.
  • Version (Revision/Submission No.): The version of the plans being submitted. E.g. A for 1st submission, B for 2nd submission, C for 3rd submission.

A full list of standardised acronyms can be found in the CAD submission guidelines.

Proper CAD file naming

Naming BIM Files

BIM files should be named as follows:

Proper BIM file naming

  • Project ID: A user-defined project reference number (max. 6 characters)
  • Author: The individual/company/organisation responsible for creating the file (max. 2 characters)
  • Model Part: The zones, blocks, levels of trades being represented in the file (max. 6 characters)
  • Submission Version: The version number submitted to each agency (max. 1 character) E.g. A for 1st submission, B for 2nd submission and so on.
  • Software Version: The software version used and submitted to each agency (max. 3 characters, which should be the last 3 characters of the software version used)
  • Additional Information: This is determined by the user. A good practice is to indicate the federated model as a MAIN file (max. 6 characters)

A full list of standardised acronyms can be found in the BIM e-submission guidelines.

Proper BIM file naming

Banner image by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

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