Data Prep: Tips, Tricks & Techniques- Building a Simple Site - Paper and CAD

Written by Chad Cooper

Created on Sunday, 01 August 2010 19:41

To kick off my multi-article series on Building a Simple Site, I wanted to cover the first step you take as a data builder. This first step is a common step with all other project types, but so are nearly all of the steps for building a simple site. Which, again, is why mastering the simple site is so critical: if you can build a one acre parking lot quickly and effectively, you can take that same process and build a 100 acre parking lot quickly and effectively. Better to figure out and perfect that process over a project that takes one hour and not the one that take 100 hours. The first step in building a simple site is obtaining the paper and the CAD. While this may seem as obvious to some, it is nonetheless a critical component of your work that needs to occur before your efforts can move forward.

Just to be clear, lets define what I mean by paper and CAD. Not too many years ago, paper meant literally the paper plans sitting on your desk. I have a picture from not very many years ago of stacks and stacks of paper plans throughout my office. I think if there ever was a fire hazard from an overwhelming amount of paper in such a small space, I won it. Those days are forever lost in this increasingly electronic world. You are now much more likely to be given electronic scans of the paper plans than an actual paper copy of the plans. Many engineers will "print" electronic copies of their construction plans as part of their standard operation procedure when their work is completed. As such, to save on shipping costs, it never hurts to ask either your client, or the engineer directly if these are available - just make sure you talk to your client before you contact the engineer directly to make sure everyone is on the same page. So whether it is an electronic scan, or a physical copy of the construction plans, just make sure you have the construction plans available to you.

As for a definition of CAD, I mean the electronic drafting design files from the engineer. While this will usually be an AutoCAD file, it could also be a Microstation, Terramodel, Carlson or any other of the many file types. Thankfully, the days of having to either fight with the engineer or pay them to get their design files are, for the most part, over. I have found that quite the opposite is true these days. Nearly all engineers that I deal with are not only willing to provide these files, but will ask what format we need and what we need to see in the files. So whether it is a literal AutoCAD file, or any other file type, you will need these electronic design files before you can start work. In your quest to collect both of these items you want to get with your client first to see if they already have the information. More and more engineers are providing a CD that has both the CAD and the paper on it to the construction firms, so be sure you check with your client first before bugging the engineer.

While you should have no problems *most* of the time getting the paper and the CAD, there will be that one project where you have a bear of a time getting one or the other. Since most construction sets of plans do not have enough layout information to build them without some form of a CAD file, I have found that most of the time the missing component is the paper - usually due to a need to get the project out ASAP. Right now I need you to make yourself a promise: that you will only under extreme circumstances build a project without *both* the CAD and the paper. I recently devoted an entire article to this issue, but let me restate why. Part of your job is to double check the engineers work while building the model. If you only have one source of information, you have nothing to check it against outside of issues within the design itself. I can not tell you how many times I have had outdated CAD, or outdated paper. If my CAD was outdated, and the client didn't know it, and I didn't have any paper because the client was in a rush to get to work quickly, I would build a bad model based on outdated information. So please, make it a rule of thumb right now to *only* proceed with your work when you have *both* the CAD and the paper.

Once you have these two components, make sure you that make a local backup of each in their original form. There are many reasons why you will someday need to come back and look at how the information came to you in its unmodified form. Keeping the CD doesn't cut it. Trust me, you won't be able to find that specific CD 14 months from now - I know that I couldn't when I needed to. Having a copy in your email doesn't cut it either. Two years from now when you clean out your email, you are not going to think to make a copy of those Coconino High School files from the engineer. Keep a local, unmodified version of both the CAD and paper on your own personal computer. This is both as a reference and as a protection against you. Remember also that just because the project has been built does not mean that you can delete all the original information. An additional hard drive to store all this information permanently is a lot cheaper than a lawyer.

Now its time to get to work - but we will save the next step for next month. While it may seem silly to devote this much time to writing about obtaining the paper and the CAD, this is a critical component of building a simple site, let alone a much larger and complex one. Usually, it is not a problem to obtain both and they will be emailed to you from your client. However, make sure that you only start your work when you have both. While your client may pressure you to build a model based only on the CAD, help them understand the risks that doing so entails. If they are okay with those risks, and take responsibility for their directions to you, then go ahead. However, to ensure your job safety, keep this as the exception and not the rule. Being a good data builder isn't limited to creating a solid model. Equally important is being a *responsible* data builder.

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