Symbology and annotations: colour goes by layer, not by entity

It is Rule 2.8.7 of Chapter 2.8 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, within the Plan Drawing Standard. It is the rule that decides how the plan looks: where the line styles come from, where the symbols come from, and what may be written on top without breaking any of it.

It applies to plans governed by the Plan Drawing Standard submitted to the permit process, prepared by the professionals authorized to certify them.

• Letting the line symbology — style, thickness and colour — be assigned by layer and not by entity, as the seed file carries it predefined.Verified against the official source
• Downloading the symbol library along with the rest of the complementary files, except the control points symbol, which already comes in the seed file.Verified against the official source
• Making the symbol’s insertion point coincide with the exact coordinate where the element sits, for point elements.Verified against the official source
• Creating texts, annotations and dimensions in the corresponding layers according to the element, including those designated exclusively for them.Verified against the official source
• Not interrupting a line or polygon element to introduce an annotation.Verified against the official source
• Not replacing with texts, annotations or dimensions the information required in the attribute blocks.Verified against the official source
• Including the adjoining owners: the names of the owners of neighbouring parcels with their cadastre numbers, the standard’s only compulsory text.Verified against the official source

• The standard’s symbol library: a compressed file containing DWG-format symbols designed to represent specific objects.
• Seed file, which carries the line symbology predefined by layer and the control points symbol as an attribute block.

1. 1

   Step 1: Symbols that depend on scale and symbols that do not

   Symbols are drawings established for the purpose of representing a particular object or element, and they may be scale-dependent, scale-independent or both. The scale-dependent ones are those whose real printed size depends on the drawing’s scale. The independent ones are those whose real size is independent of the drawing’s scale, and the Regulation’s own example is the north arrow.

2. 2

   Step 2: The layer commands the line

   The symbology of the drawing lines is the style, thickness and colour of the lines with which lines and polygons are rendered in CAD programs, and it is established by layer. The seed file contains the line symbology predefined by layer — "by layer" — and not by entity — "by entity" — including the local layers. In practice this means there is no picking colours: you pick the right layer and the style comes with it.

3. 3

   Step 3: Where those styles come from

   Most of this standard’s layers use the same line symbology as the A/E/C CAD Standard, which includes styles, types and line thicknesses compatible with AutoCAD and MicroStation. The layers that do not use that symbology are the local layers, because they do not exist in the A/E/C CAD Standard’s list: they are the ones created for matters particular to Puerto Rico. The full list of layers with their line symbology is in Appendix I of the Regulation, and they are the same layers as the seed file’s.

4. 4

   Step 4: Download the library, except the symbol you already have

   The symbol library is a compressed file containing symbols designed to represent specific objects, and those symbols are files in DWG format. It contains every symbol forming part of the standard and must be downloaded like the rest of the complementary files, with one exception: the control points symbol, which is included directly in the seed file as an attribute block. The rest of the symbols are blocks grouping elements without attributes, and they carry the insertion point at the centre.

5. 5

   Step 5: Symbols are found by theme, not by discipline

   Symbols are divided into categories according to the theme they are associated with, and those categories do not depend on the disciplines. The purpose is to avoid repeating the same symbol across different disciplines. The Regulation’s example: although a civil engineer or a surveyor may use it for a project’s plan, the symbol for a pole is found under its theme or category, not under the civil engineering or surveying discipline. For point elements, the symbol’s insertion point must coincide with the exact coordinate where that element sits.

6. 6

   Step 6: Texts go in their layers and break nothing

   The creation of texts, annotations and dimensions must be executed in the corresponding layers according to the element, and there are layers designated exclusively for annotations and dimensions, such as the layer named G-ANNO-DIMS. Creating these elements must not alter or harm the creation of the graphic elements and their attributes: interrupting a line or polygon element to introduce an annotation is not permitted.

7. 7

   Step 7: You may add text, but not replace attributes

   Nor may the information required in the attribute blocks be replaced with texts, annotations or dimensions. It is permitted to add an attribute’s information to the plan as text, annotation or dimension, and likewise permitted to add other texts, symbols or dimensions to the plan. The difference is the order: the block filled first, then whatever you want to write on top. And for the purposes of this standard, the only compulsory text is the adjoining owners — the names of the owners of the neighbouring parcels with their cadastre numbers — which is a fundamental element.

8. 8

   Step 8: What we did not read, and we say so

   A note on the source. We do not reproduce here two lists this rule mentions: Appendix I, with the full list of layers and their line symbology, and Section 2.8.8.2, the symbol list, which in the copy we read survives only as a partial image of a much longer table. This rule also refers the reader to Section 2.8.5.9 for the organization and composition of the layers, but organization and composition is Section 2.8.5.8; 2.8.5.9 is Graphic Elements. And in the pole example, the sentence naming the category the symbol sits under is not legible: the paragraph speaks of "the theme or category mentioned" without it being visible which. We do not name that category.

The symbology comes inside the seed file and the symbol library is downloaded with the standard’s complementary files. The finished plan is submitted through the OGPe’s Unified Information System.

• Assigning line colour or thickness by entity instead of leaving it by layer.
• Interrupting a line or polygon so an annotation fits.
• Writing the data as text instead of filling the attribute block.
• Looking for symbols by discipline when they are organized by theme.
• Downloading the symbol library and also inserting the control points symbol by hand, when it already comes in the seed file.
• Leaving out the adjoining owners, the standard’s only compulsory text.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov