I've just spent the morning wrangling some surveys supplied by an outside consultant into a format useable by our engineering group. Let me just say that anybody who thinks you can just deliver CAD and data files in any format and in any random drawing "standard" and your client won't notice or care is seriously mistaken. And creating an accurate surface model is a real skill not possessed by all.
Did they at least 'E-transmit' so it didn't blow out all the XREFS and include the plot styles?
They transmitted a .dwg and nothing else. Source software unknown. There were no xrefs referenced, so that is one problem I didn't have to deal with. Luckily it had 3d TIN lines in it, but the originator was obviously unfamiliar with the concept of breaklines.
Did your agreement with them include any specifications about deliverables? In my experience very few of the people who do write contracts have any idea of how to describe what should be part of a digital deliverable.
I'm in the middle of verifying a road plan drawing for a utility company. If a set-up mistake can be made this pile has it.
The base drawing was scaled from SPC at 0,0. That would have been great had they selected US Survey Feet as the units. Half of the Xrefs got that right and half didn't. The collection of drawings is randomly scaled from 0,0 or the intersection of the false northing and easting for the zone. A handful were also shifted to approximate our local GIS. The plan set has three published control points. Two are scaled from 0,0 using international feet. One is scaled from the zone false northing and easting intersection using US Survey Feet.
Perhaps we should consider adding 'treatment of spatial data' for our next conference...
what's a coordinate system???;-)
IMHO if a client needs a certain CAD format/standard etc then it should be provided by the client PRIOR to the start of work. Do not ask for it after because for all we know the poor surveyor submitted it in the style that you received because some other client wanted it that way in the past.
It's always easier to follow the standard before you do that data processing & drafting or even before doing the actual fieldwork.
> IMHO if a client needs a certain CAD format/standard etc then it should be provided by the client PRIOR to the start of work.
Quite true. And I make allowances for that. In this case the survey and surveyor was contracted separately by the client (a public agency) and our engineers had no contact with him.
But if you are using some obscure software whose points are represented in a C3d drawing by proxy objects, and deliver TINs without having used breaklines - don't expect to get a lot of work from engineers who work in C3d.