NLCS stands for Nederlandse CAD Standaard, the Dutch CAD standard: an open standard defining how digital 2D drawings for civil engineering, roads and water works are built up. It fixes layer names, object codes, symbols, line types and colours so that a drawing produced by one party can be used directly by another.
Why does it exist?
Every client and every engineering firm used to have its own drawing conventions. A contractor working for five municipalities had to maintain five layer structures — costly and error-prone. NLCS replaces that with a single set of agreements.
What the standard covers
- Layer structure — a fixed, coded arrangement of drawing layers
- Object coding — every object (sewer, cable, paving, tree) has a fixed code
- Symbols and hatching — a uniform symbol library
- Presentation — line weights, colours, text heights and title blocks
- Metadata — how properties are attached to drawing objects
Development and governance
NLCS has been developed by the sector itself since 2007 and has become the CAD standard for Dutch civil engineering. It is maintained by digiGO (formerly the BIM Loket foundation), which also looks after other open BIM standards. The Dutch Forum Standaardisatie lists NLCS as an open standard.
NLCS and BIM
NLCS started as a 2D drawing standard. As more projects are developed in 3D with object data attached, the standard is being extended so the coding also works inside BIM models. NLCS does not replace BIM — it makes sure the drawings coming out of a model are unambiguous.
In practice
- Many Dutch clients require NLCS-compliant drawings in the specification; check this before you start drawing
- NLCS applications exist for the common CAD packages and create the layer structure automatically
- Checking tools let you test a drawing for compliance before delivery
- In building construction NLCS is less common; other conventions apply there
Related terms
- BIM
- Construction drawing
- Detail drawing
- Specification
- Civil engineering
Want to learn more about construction terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.