METRO Now Using Altiva Software's CADconform for CAD Data Quality Assurance and GASB 34 Compliance

December 29, 2006 (Houston, TX) – Altiva Software announced that the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) is now using CADconform® to check all CAD drawing files submitted by architectural and engineering (AE) contractors against defined METRO CAD standards. For drawings that do not conform 100% to the standards, METRO uses CADconform to generate reports of the errors, then forwards the reports and returns the drawings to the AE firms for unpaid re-work.

To avoid this re-work, METRO is making its preconfigured, CADconform standards database available to all AE firms doing contract drafting and design work for METRO. Using CADconform with the METRO standards database, contractors can use the same tool to assure that their drawing files conform 100% to METRO CAD standards before they submit the drawings to METRO. CADconform provides integrated drafting menus and a check/fix tool that makes it easier to follow METRO standards than not to.

METRO chose CADconform as a key part of the METRO Solution Phase 2 Implementation Plan. CADconform will serve as its quality assurance tool in the first phase of asset management, giving it the foundation to meet Federal Government reporting requirements dictated by Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34, also known as GASB 34.

In addition to providing it an unprecedented level of standards conformance, METRO was able to install and configure CADconform, conduct user training, and begin checking and returning non-conforming CAD drawing files in just 3 days.

"CAD data quality has always been important to METRO, but the new GASB regulations make it more important. CADconform is the quality control tool to help METRO and its AE contractors quickly and easily conform to CAD standards, assuring data quality," said METRO Director, Office of Management Jose Castellanos, P.E.

"Before, we had no practical way to check every drawing for CAD standards; it was a manual process that could take days per drawing and it was humanly impossible and very costly to achieve this level of conformance. Now it takes just minutes to generate a full report.

"Also, our AE contractors are able to use the exact same software that we use, pre-configured with our CAD standards, to easily draft, check and fix their own drawings. When contractors follow this process, it helps them and us to produce conformed drawings."

Dannenbaum Engineering, a METRO contractor, was the first to purchase CADconform and begin using it with METRO standards.

"When we heard METRO was going to make its standards available in an electronic format and use CADconform to assure data quality, we wanted to be proactive in meeting our client's needs, so we purchased the software to use for our in-house drafters," explained Dannenbaum Director of Information Systems Jamie Montgomery. "CADconform is so easy to install and use. It lowers our costs while meeting higher customer standards; it's a real win-win.

"We appreciate METRO's extra effort to select and pre-configure a tool that not only meets their needs to enforce CAD standards, but also makes it easier and less expensive for us to meet those standards. Now, when we submit a drawing, we know it was drawn right the first time and don't have to worry about it being returned to us for unexpected and costly re-work."

In addition, Dannenbaum and all AE firms can use CADconform to define, draft to and check against multiple sets of standards including those from other clients, industry and government, such as the United States National CAD Standard™, which is now available in the latest version of CADconform (see related press release).

"The potential for savings related to conformance to CAD standards is staggering," explained Altiva Software CEO Philip Hurlston. "In a recent contractor-submitted drawing that METRO checked using CADconform, of the 38,000 total items in the drawing, the software identified and reported over 23,000 that did not conform to METRO CAD standards. That number of errors could easily take days to fix - and that's just one drawing. With CADconform, quality control is distributed to every drafter, within their existing workflow; assuring drawings meet standards from the start."

GASB, a federal government agency, requires all government entities that receive federal funding to report periodically on the value and condition of all its physical assets and infrastructure, as defined in GASB 34. Much of the asset and infrastructure data is contained in CAD drawings.

Advanced computer systems can extract the data from CAD drawings, helping to simplify and automate the creation of GASB 34 reports. However, for the advanced systems to correctly interpret and extract the information from the graphical data, CAD drawings must conform 100% to CAD standards, which define the exact details - such as line weights, colors and styles - of each of the hundreds of items that make up a CAD drawing.

AE firms can obtain the METRO standards database by contacting Lovie Miles at METRO, 713-739-4821 or lm03@ridemetro.org.

AE firms can obtain CADconform by contacting Marie Franklyn at Altiva Software, 281-295-2252 or metro@altivasoft.com.

For more information about METRO, see http://www.ridemetro.org.

For more information about Dannenbaum Engineering, see http://www.dannenbaum.com.

CADconform® is a software add-on that works seamlessly between AutoCAD® and MicroStation® to promote and enforce 100% conformance to CAD standards. It is the only product of its kind that provides an encrypted, tamper-proof electronic seal ensuring data integrity and user confidence.

Properly enforced CAD standards provide strategic business value including: re-use of intellectual property stored in drawings, better interoperability and project management, and significant cost-savings and contributions to HS&E.

Altiva Software is the only company dedicated to 100% conformance to CAD standards. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Germany and Australia.

Visit us on the web at www.altivasoft.com.

CADconform is a registered trademark of Altiva Software, Inc. AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. MicroStation is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems, Inc.

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