Which standards can be validated?
- International: ISO 128 (presentation), ISO 7200 (title blocks), ISO 129 (dimensioning), ISO 1101 (geometrical tolerancing), ASME Y14.5 and Y14.100.
- National: BIS, DIN and BS drawing practices.
- Customer standards: OEM-specific drawing requirements for suppliers.
- Company standards: your layers, styles, templates and notes.
Automation checks the rule-based parts of these standards; interpretation and design intent still need an engineer.
Automatable checks
| Check | 2D (AutoCAD) | 3D CAD drawings |
|---|---|---|
| Approved layers, linetypes, colours | Yes | Where layers are used |
| Text and dimension styles | Yes | Yes (drafting standard) |
| Title block completeness | Yes (attributes) | Yes (properties) |
| Projection symbol and scale | Yes | Yes |
| Overridden dimension text | Yes | Yes |
| Tolerance format and general tolerance note | Yes | Yes |
| Revision table vs document revision | Yes | Yes |
AutoCAD standards: built-in vs custom
AutoCAD includes the CAD Standards tools (DWS files, CHECKSTANDARDS) for layers, styles and linetypes. Custom validation adds what these tools cannot do: title block contents, drawing number format, overridden dimensions, required notes, block versions and project-specific rules, all with detailed reports and batch processing.
Auto-fix options
- Move objects from wrong layers to correct ones based on mapping rules.
- Replace old title blocks with the current version, keeping attribute values.
- Purge unused styles, layers and blocks.
- Reset overridden dimensions after confirmation.
Checking consistently is more valuable than checking perfectly. Automation gives you both.
Reporting and audit
Validation reports list each drawing, rule results and fixes applied. Stored with the release, they provide evidence for ISO 9001 audits and customer quality reviews.
Validate your drawings automatically
ENGIMANDI builds drawing standards validators for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Mechanical, SolidWorks and Inventor. See also drawing validation software development.