NB Engineering Tools for AutoCAD
Structural & Engineering Design Tools
A professional AutoCAD automation suite for footing, combined footing, pile cap, beam, slab, column, grid and geotechnical workflows. Works from the Ribbon and the classic pull-down menu alike.
Supported: This installer: AutoCAD 2024 x64 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit. Other AutoCAD versions need a separate compatible release.
What NB Engineering Tools is
NB Engineering Tools is a professional engineering productivity and automation suite for AutoCAD. It speeds up repetitive AutoCAD work - structural drawing, foundation design, reinforcement detailing, quantity estimates and layout preparation - from one place.
It is not a collection of loose LSP files. 25 engineering/productivity modules and 1 core/security module - 26 in all - ship as protected compiled VLX, with a professional Windows installer, an AutoCAD Ribbon, a classic pull-down menu, machine activation and NB Credits. Nothing has to be loaded by hand.
Who it is for
- Structural and civil engineers
- Engineering consultants and structural design offices
- AutoCAD drafting professionals
- Engineers working on foundation design
- Small and medium engineering consultancies
The main workflows
Footing design, reinforcement, drawing and estimate
NBFooting brings footing selection, unique design grouping, structural inputs, the design summary, reinforcement, plan and section drawings and the estimate into one workflow. Identical footings fall into one unique design group - select 24 footings that resolve to 2 unique designs and credits are charged for the 2 successful designs, not 24. NBCombinedFooting handles combined footings.
Pile cap geometry and reinforcement
NBPileCap organises pile-cap geometry, loads and reinforcement inputs. Depending on the module version, it covers compression and tension inputs, concrete and steel properties, thickness and shear checks, moment reinforcement, development/STM review, the estimate and plan/section drawings, with a compact interface for laptop displays.
Slab, beam, grid and room measurement
NBSlabDraw takes the repetition out of main, crank and extra bars, support detection, block reading, hooks, bends and legend dimensions. The beam, grade-beam, column and grid modules produce the related drawings and layouts. NBRM adds room names and architectural feet-and-inch sizes, such as a bedroom at 15′-10″ × 8′-11″.
Module list
26 compiled modules, grouped by the work they do. Each states its declared purpose — no claim is made about the accuracy, speed or code-compliance of what it produces, because none of that has been tested here.
Layout, Grid & Schedule
- NBColumnLayout
- Column layout preparation
- NBColumnLoad
- Column load related workflow
- NBColumnSchedule
- Column schedule preparation
- NBGrid
- Structural grid-line automation
- NBNameText
- Footing/column naming and text automation
- NBQuickBlock
- Quick AutoCAD block productivity tool
Footing & Foundation
- NBFooting
- Isolated footing design, reinforcement, plan, section and estimate workflow
- NBCombinedFooting
- Combined footing design and drawing
- NBPileCap
- Pile cap plan, section, code/design checks and reinforcement
- NBPileCenter
- Pile center/layout related workflow
- NBLoadPile
- Load and pile-foundation related layout/drawing
- NBFootingLoadArea
- Footing/column load-area related workflow
- NBFootingExcel
- Footing information/estimate export workflow
Geotechnical
- NBSoilCapacity
- Soil bearing capacity related calculation
- NBGeotech
- Geotechnical engineering workflow
Beam & Slab
- NBBeam
- RCC beam related engineering drawing
- NBBeamSpan
- Beam span/column measurement workflow
- NBGBDraw
- Grade beam drawing automation
- NBSlabDraw
- Slab reinforcement/crank rod drawing automation
- NBSTRD
- Slab thickness/rod related structural design workflow
- NBDevLength
- Reinforcement development length calculation
Dimension Utilities
- NBRM
- Room name and architectural feet-inch room measurement
- NBDFM
- Dimension/drafting utility
- NBDITM
- Engineering dimension/conversion utility
Mouza & OCR
- NBMouza
- Mouza drawing/OCR related engineering drafting workflow
License & System
- NBCore
- Security, initialization and compiled-runtime support module
Module behaviour may change and improve between versions.
Licences and NB Credits
Account & device activation
Open NB ONLINE → Connect Account (NBWACCOUNT) in AutoCAD. Sign in through the browser with the website account that owns the licence, select that licence and confirm your PC. First activation requires internet. Your website password is entered only on the website.
NB ONLINE → Connect Account → Select licence → Confirm my computer
NB Credits
NB Credits, also called Tokens, pay for specific engineering operations. Purchases and spending in the online edition use the same website wallet. View it in Account → Licenses & Wallets and NB ONLINE → Wallet. Paid commands require internet and enough available tokens; reserved tokens cannot fund new charges.
How credits are charged
- Tools do not all cost the same number of credits.
- Some tools charge per successful command session.
- Design tools charge per successful unique design - as in the footing example above.
- A cancelled or failed operation may not be charged, depending on the tool.
- A pack size is a credit balance, not a promise of a number of drawings or projects.
Opening token offers
An admin sets any opening or promotional token offer. The offer confirmed in your order or account applies; a fixed number of tokens is not guaranteed with every licence. Buy additional tokens from your account when needed.
Reinstalling or formatting Windows: Your confirmed online wallet balance stays on the website. Reconnect with the same account and licence after reinstalling; support may need to verify or reset the device. Ask support to reconcile any pending sync or reserved tokens. Tokens from an older offline edition are not automatically added to or substituted for the online wallet.
Refills, changing computers, updates and security
- Choose a licence in Account → Licenses & Wallets to buy tokens. Submit the payment and screenshot; it stays pending until an admin or super admin approves it. Tokens are credited once. Check the result in your account, then use Sync Now in AutoCAD. Contact support if you selected the wrong licence.
- A Single machine licence permits 1 computer, a 3-PC office licence up to 3, and a 5-PC office licence up to 5. Connect each PC separately; PCs on the same licence share one token wallet. A replacement computer or motherboard may require a verified device reset through support.
- Updates may improve the interface, workflows, security and compatibility. A major version, support for a new AutoCAD release or significant new modules may be a paid upgrade.
- Bypassing activation, altering the security mechanism, reverse-engineering the compiled files, unauthorised redistribution and reselling licence keys are prohibited, and can lead to the licence being suspended or terminated.
Installation
AutoCAD 2024 x64 · Online v0.6.5 pilot · Clean Setup / r8 Upgrade Setup
Separate EXEs are supplied for clean installation and verified r8 upgrades. Keep existing wallet data; do not remove a legacy installation to move its tokens. Follow the included guide and verify the installer checksum:
- 1Close AutoCAD in every Windows session and get the correct installer from Account → Downloads.
- 2Use Clean Setup on a new PC. Use r8 Upgrade Setup only for a verified v0.6.4 r8 installation; contact support for other older installations.
- 3Open AutoCAD 2024 after installation. NB Engineering Tools and NB ONLINE load automatically; manual NETLOAD or VLX loading is not required.
- 4Use NB ONLINE → Connect Account, sign in on the website, select your licence and confirm the PC. Repeat on each permitted office PC.
- 5Open Wallet and choose Sync Now. Check the account, licence and available tokens, and keep internet connected while using paid commands.
Frequently asked questions
- Can NB Engineering Tools be used without AutoCAD?
- No. The current version is an AutoCAD-based engineering productivity suite.
- Which AutoCAD and Windows versions does it run on?
- This Online v0.6.5 pilot installer targets AutoCAD 2024 x64 on Windows 10/11 64-bit. Other AutoCAD versions need a separate compatible release.
- What is an NB Credit (Token)?
- NB Credits, also called Tokens, pay for specific operations. The online edition records purchases and spending in one website wallet; view the synced balance in NB ONLINE → Wallet.
- Does a licence come with credits?
- An admin sets any opening or promotional token offer. The offer confirmed in your order or account applies; a fixed token allowance is not guaranteed with every licence.
- Can I buy a custom number of credits?
- Choose a licence and token pack in Account → Licenses & Wallets and submit payment. Contact support for a custom amount.
- How do approved token purchases reach AutoCAD?
- Payment starts pending. An admin or super admin approves it and the selected licence’s wallet is credited once. Check your website account, then use NB ONLINE → Sync Now in AutoCAD. Retrying the payment or approval does not credit tokens again.
- How do the Single machine, 3-PC and 5-PC office licences differ?
- They permit up to 1, 3 and 5 connected computers respectively. Confirm each PC separately. PCs on the same licence share one wallet; the wallet balance is not multiplied by the number of PCs.
- Can paid commands run without internet?
- This online release requires internet for first activation, sync and paid engineering commands. An older offline edition has a separate wallet; its tokens require a verified migration before entering the online wallet.
- Do my credits survive a Windows reinstall or format?
- Your confirmed online balance stays on the website. Reconnect with the same account and licence; support can verify or reset the device if needed. Ask support to reconcile any pending sync or reserved tokens.
- What if I only uninstall AutoCAD?
- Your online balance stays on the website. Reinstall and reconnect with the same account and licence. Keep existing wallet data.
- Does an engineer have to check the software’s output?
- Absolutely. NB Engineering Tools is an automation and productivity aid; the final engineering responsibility rests with the qualified engineer.
Engineering responsibility: The software automates design and drawing, but the final engineering decision, design verification, code compliance, structural safety and drawing accuracy remain the responsibility of a qualified engineer. No automated result should reach a construction decision without being checked against the project’s code, loading, soil information and design assumptions.