Hand off DXF to subcontractors
A subcontractor doesn't need your whole model — they need their own trade plus the building outline, in the right units, in a DXF version their CAD can open.
Quick answer
- Send each trade two layers: their own discipline and the building outline (A) as reference.
- Export via
File → Export → Per-discipline ZIPor as a single DXF with the layer schema the receiver expects. - Keep units on mm and pick R2013 when their AutoCAD is older than 2018. Have the receiver re-measure one known dimension.
Which layers to send
Send each trade exactly two things: their own discipline layer and the building outline (A) as reference. The six NLCS layers are A (building), E (electrical), S (sanitary), M (mechanical/HVAC), D (roof), G (ground/foundation). More than that distracts; less makes the drawing useless on site.
So the sanitary contractor gets A + S, the electrician A + E. How you assign components to layers — and how Diaz remembers that choice per component type — is covered in Discipline layers in 2D. If your drawing came from an architect DXF with its own layer naming, run Tools → Re-map layers first.
Scale and units
A DXF carries geometry in model units, and the unit is declared in the $INSUNITS header — 4=mm, 1=inch. Diaz exports in mm by default. If the drawing arrives 25.4× too big or too small at the receiver, that is a unit mismatch, not a scale problem: re-export with the correct unit. Never re-scale geometry to compensate — it loses accuracy on every subsequent edit.
Step-by-step
- Get your layers in order first — every component on its NLCS discipline layer (see Discipline layers in 2D for the assignment workflow). For the hand-off, what counts is the result: each trade layer complete.
- Check per trade what will land in their file: toggle visibility in the Layer panel (shortcut
L) and confirm their layer plus A tell the whole story. RunTools → Clash detectbefore anything leaves the door. - Choose the export route. All trades at once:
File → Export → Per-discipline ZIP(one DXF + PDF per trade, A-layer included). One trade:File → Export → DXFand pick the layer schema they expect — keep NLCS, or AutoCAD AIA. - Pick the DXF version: R2018 is the default, R2013 when their AutoCAD is older. Confirm export units — mm is the default; the receiving CAD reads the unit from the
$INSUNITSheader. - Verify on the receiving side: have them measure one known wall and check text and dimensions — those are the most common round-trip issues.
What goes wrong
- An empty drawing on their side: two causes — the trade layer never got components assigned, or the A-reference was toggled off at export. Check both before it goes out.
- Everything 25.4× too big or too small: unit mismatch (mm vs inch). Re-export with the correct unit — never re-scale the geometry.
- Garbled layer names (é, ü, ñ): an encoding mismatch between UTF-8 and cp1252 — the same pitfall documented on the import side in Import + export DXF.
- Exploded blocks don't round-trip: if you exploded an imported block, the link back to the original block reference is gone — the architect's file won't reconnect.
- They ask for DWG: Diaz writes DXF, not DWG. DXF is the industry-standard exchange format and AutoCAD and BricsCAD open it directly — the same programs you use in the other direction to convert an architect's DWG to DXF.