Only took me 8 years to realize I've been using the wrong scale on my architectural drawings

I was comparing my work to a coworker's set of plans last month and finally noticed my line weights were all off because I'd been setting my viewport scale to 1/8" = 1'-0" when the project was actually in metric, has anyone else made that kind of bonehead mistake with scales?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda12h ago

I gotta respectfully disagree about calling this a "bonehead mistake." Mixing imperial and metric scales is definitely a pain, but it happens more than people admit, especially in firms that work across both systems. I've seen senior architects do the exact same thing on MEP coordination sets and nobody called them boneheads for it. The real problem is that viewport scales don't give you a clear warning when you switch between unit types, so it's easy to overlook. If you caught it after 8 years, that's on your firm's checking process too, not just on you.

mila_brown1010h ago

Even senior architects do the exact same thing" - yeah, I read somewhere that NASA lost a Mars orbiter because of a metric/imperial mixup back in 1999. Cost them $125 million. So if rocket scientists can mess it up, I figure us architects are in good company. Your point about the checking process is spot on too. Most firms I know have this informal "just trust the person who set it up" vibe for viewport scales, which is asking for trouble. One guy I worked with kept a physical ruler taped to his monitor to double check everything. Seemed ridiculous until he caught three scale errors in a month.

the_lucas8h ago

Did you try adding a scale check layer to your template?