diff --git a/src/drc/drc/built-in-macros/_drc_complex_ops.rb b/src/drc/drc/built-in-macros/_drc_complex_ops.rb
index 9296d2a98..1c1f6845d 100644
--- a/src/drc/drc/built-in-macros/_drc_complex_ops.rb
+++ b/src/drc/drc/built-in-macros/_drc_complex_ops.rb
@@ -1055,12 +1055,16 @@ class DRCOpNodeWithCompare < DRCOpNode
   attr_accessor :reverse
   attr_accessor :original
   attr_accessor :lt, :le, :gt, :ge, :arg
+  attr_accessor :ne_allowed
+  attr_accessor :mode_or
   
   def initialize(engine, original = nil, reverse = false)
     super(engine)
     self.reverse = reverse
     self.original = original
     self.description = original ? original.description : "BasicWithCompare"
+    self.mode_or = false
+    self.ne_allowed = false
   end
   
   def _description_for_dump
@@ -1076,12 +1080,12 @@ class DRCOpNodeWithCompare < DRCOpNode
       self.le && (cmp << ("<=%.12g" % self.le))
       self.gt && (cmp << (">%.12g" % self.gt))
       self.ge && (cmp << (">=%.12g" % self.ge))
-      return indent + self.description + " " + cmp.join(" ")
+      return indent + self.description + " " + cmp.join(" ") + (self.mode_or ? " [or]" : "")
     end
   end
 
   def _check_bounds
-    if (self.lt || self.le) && (self.gt || self.ge)
+    if ! self.mode_or && (self.lt || self.le) && (self.gt || self.ge)
       epsilon = 1e-10
       lower = self.ge ? self.ge - epsilon : self.gt + epsilon
       upper = self.le ? self.le + epsilon : self.lt - epsilon
@@ -1123,6 +1127,20 @@ class DRCOpNodeWithCompare < DRCOpNode
     return (self.original || self).dup
   end
   
+  def !=(other)
+    if !self.ne_allowed
+      raise("!= operator is not allowed for '" + self.description + "'")
+    end
+    if !(other.is_a?(Float) || other.is_a?(Integer))
+      raise("!= operator needs a numerical argument for '" + self.description + "' argument")
+    end
+    res = self._self_or_original
+    res.mode_or = true
+    res.set_lt(other)
+    res.set_gt(other)
+    return res
+  end
+  
   def ==(other)
     if !(other.is_a?(Float) || other.is_a?(Integer))
       raise("== operator needs a numerical argument for '" + self.description + "' argument")
@@ -1477,6 +1495,7 @@ class DRCOpNodeCheck < DRCOpNodeWithCompare
     self.other = other
     self.args = args
     self.description = check.to_s
+    self.ne_allowed = true
   end
 
   def _description_for_dump
@@ -1516,12 +1535,16 @@ class DRCOpNodeCheck < DRCOpNodeWithCompare
       if res
         if self.check == :width || self.check == :notch
           # Same polygon check - we need to take both edges of the result
-          and_with = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_edges(res)
+          other = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_edges(res)
         else
-          and_with = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_edge_pair_to_first_edges(res)
+          other = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_edge_pair_to_first_edges(res)
         end
         res_max = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_edge_pair_to_first_edges(max_check)
-        res = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_geometrical_boolean(RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::GeometricalOp::And, and_with, res_max)
+        if self.mode_or
+          res = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_join([ other, res_max ])
+        else
+          res = RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::new_geometrical_boolean(RBA::CompoundRegionOperationNode::GeometricalOp::And, other, res_max)
+        end
       else
         res = max_check
       end
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/doc/manual/drc_runsets.xml b/src/lay/lay/doc/manual/drc_runsets.xml
index 3b2927d78..cfca61a1e 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/doc/manual/drc_runsets.xml
+++ b/src/lay/lay/doc/manual/drc_runsets.xml
@@ -399,6 +399,9 @@ output(w, "width violations")</pre>
       <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#enclosure">enclosure (enc)</a>,
       <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#overlap">overlap</a>
     </li>
+    <li>Universal DRC (see below):<br/>
+      <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#drc">drc</a>
+    </li>
     <li>Boolean operations:<br/>
       <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#&amp;">&amp; (and)</a>,
       <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#|">| (or)</a>,
@@ -767,6 +770,139 @@ overlaps = layer.size(0.2).raw.merged(2)</pre>
   </table>
 
 
+  <h2>Universal DRC</h2>
+  <keyword name="DRC"/>
+  <keyword name="Universal DRC"/>
+
+  <p>
+  Starting with version 0.27, the DRC language got a new feature which is "universal DRC".
+  </p>
+
+  <p>
+  On one hand, this is a more convenient way to write DRC checks because it allows 
+  specifications using natural compare operators. For example, the following plain width check
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  drc_w = input(1, 0).width(0.2)
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  can be written as:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  drc_w = input(1, 0).drc(width &lt; 0.2)
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  The <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#drc">drc</a> method is the "universal DRC" method.
+  It takes an operator. In the simple case, this operator is a simple constraint of the 
+  form "measurement &lt; value", but it supports a number of different variants:
+  </p>
+
+  <ul>
+  <li>
+    <tt>drc(</tt> measurement <tt> != </tt> value <tt>)</tt></li>: 
+    renders markers where the dimension is not matching the value
+  </li>
+  <li>
+    <tt>drc(</tt> measurement <tt> == </tt> value <tt>)</tt></li>:
+    renders markers where the dimension is matching the given value
+  </li>
+  <li>
+    <tt>drc(</tt> measurement less_op value <tt>)</tt></li>:
+    ("less_op" is <tt>&lt;</tt> or <tt>&lt;=</tt>)
+    renders markers where the dimension is less than or less or equal to the given value
+  </li>
+  <li>
+    <tt>drc(</tt> measurement greater_op value <tt>)</tt></li>:
+    ("greater_op" is <tt>&gt;</tt> or <tt>&gt;=</tt>)
+    renders markers where the dimension is greater than or greater or equal to the given value
+  </li>
+  <li>
+    <tt>drc(</tt> lower_value less_op measurement greater_op upper_value <tt>)</tt></li>:
+    renders markers where the dimension is between the lower and upper value
+  </li>
+  </ul>
+
+  <p>
+  "measurement" is "width", "notch", "isolated" ("iso"), "separation" ("sep"), "overlap" or "enclosure" ("enc"). They have the 
+  The last three checks are two-layer checks which require a second layer. The 
+  second layer is specified together with the measurement like this:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  l1 = input(1, 0)
+  l2 = input(2, 0)
+  drc_sep = l1.drc(separation(l2) &lt;= 0.5)
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  Options are also specified together with the measurement and follow the same notation
+  as the plain methods. For example to specify "projection" metrics, use:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  drc_w = input(1, 0).drc(width(projection) &lt; 0.2)
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  However, the universal DRC is much more: it offers a number of options to further process
+  the results. The functionality behind the universal DRC function is basically a kind of 
+  loop over all primary shapes (the ones from the layer the "drc" function is called on).
+  The operations in the drc function's brackets is executed on each of the primary shapes
+  where the neighborhood of that single shape is considered. This scheme is more efficient
+  and enables applications beyond the capabilities of the plain layer methods.
+  </p>
+
+  <p>
+  For example, the boolean "&amp;" operator implements a "local" boolean AND inside this 
+  loop. This allows to efficiently check for both space and width violations:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  drc_ws = input(1, 0).drc((width &lt; 0.2) &amp; (space &lt; 0.3))
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  The boolean AND is computed between the edges on the primary shape and returns these
+  parts where both space and width violations are flagged. The boolean operation is 
+  more efficient than the plain alternative:
+  </p>
+
+  <pre>
+  ...
+  drc_ws1 = input(1, 0).width(0.2).edges
+  drc_ws2 = input(1, 0).space(0.3).edges
+  drc_ws = drc_ws1 &amp; drc_ws2
+  ...
+  </pre>
+
+  <p>
+  The reson is that performing the boolean computation in the local loop can be 
+  shortcut if one input is empty and it does not need to store a (potentially big)
+  layer set with edges as produced by the plain-method implementation. Instead it
+  will work with a temporary and local edge set only and free the memory space as
+  soon as it moves on to the next primary shape.
+  </p>
+
+  <p>
+  The universal DRC function is a rich feature and offers filters based on 
+  polygons or edge properties, polygon or edge manipulation, conditionals
+  and a lot more. For more details see the <a href="/about/drc_ref_layer.xml#drc">drc function documentation</a>.
+  </p>
+
   <h2>Logging and verbosity</h2>
   <keyword name="Logging"/>
 
diff --git a/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_1.drc b/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_1.drc
index 3bbb96f4b..51649495a 100644
--- a/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_1.drc
+++ b/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_1.drc
@@ -27,4 +27,6 @@ l1.drc(1.5 <= wcheck).output(107, 0)
 l1.drc(wcheck == 1.5).output(108, 0)
 l1.drc(1.0 <= wcheck <= 1.5).output(109, 0)
 l1.drc(1.0 < wcheck < 2.0).output(110, 0)
+l1.drc(wcheck != 1.5).output(111, 0)
+l1.drc(wcheck != 1.0).output(112, 0)
 
diff --git a/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1.gds b/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1.gds
index 8b1e44020..8ffc55a48 100644
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diff --git a/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1d.gds b/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1d.gds
index 3e467d9dd..d3eb185b1 100644
Binary files a/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1d.gds and b/testdata/drc/drcGenericTests_au1d.gds differ