The Construction Specifications Institute in 1994 created a drawing sheet naming system. The AIA’s system, in turn, is based on the CSIs.

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Called UDS for uniform drawing system, drawing file names are based on the order of a construction project. The system uses two characters, followed by three digits, such as AS102.

Position        Example            Meaning
1                          A                     Discipline designator, such as A for architecture
2                          S                     Discipline modifier, such as S for site
3                          1                     Sheet type ranges from 0 to 9
4-5                      02                    Sequence numbers range from 00 to 99

To make UDS easier to remember, CSI uses the first letter of a discipline designator, with a few exceptions for names with duplicate first letters. If a modifier is not used, a hyphen is used as a placeholder.

Position 1
Discipline Designators

The following code letters indicate the discipline involved in the drawing. The order shown is the order in which the discipline is carried out in projects.

Code       Discipline Designator
G               General
H               Hazardous materials
V               surVey and mapping
B               geo technical
C               Civil
L               Landscape
S               Structural
A              Architectural
I                Interiors
Q              eQuipment
F               Fire protection
P               Plumbing
D              process
M              Mechanical
E              Electrical
W             distributed energy (formerly civil Work)
T              Telecommunications
R              Resource
X              other disciplines
Z              contractor and shop drawings
O              Operations

Position 2
Discipline Modifiers

The CSI UDS’s discipline modifiers are the same as the AIA’s discipline-specific codes.

Position 3:
Sheet Types

The CSI UDS’s sheet types are identical to the AIA’s sheet types.

Positions 4-9:
Sequence Numbers and Supplement Drawings

The CSI UDS’s sequence numbers and supplement drawing types are identical to the ones specified by the AIA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ralph Grabowski is a CAD expert with 30+ years experience. He is the author of several best-selling books related to most leading CAD programs. Ralph writes also in a variety of CAD news portals and magazines. More than anything, he is renowned as the founder and editor of the upFront.eZine newsletter and the blog WorldCAD Access.

NB: The views and opinions expressed by the author in this article or in the eBook do not necessarily reflect those of Graebert as a company or publisher of this blog.

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