You’re not going to get in trouble simply because you didn’t design your pads to comply with the IPC-7351 standard, but it is good to follow standards on land patterns. This important standard provides requirements for SMD pad dimensions in PCB footprints. However, many designers opt for land patterns designed according to the IPC-7351 standard. One common question from new designers is: what should the pad dimensions be? Technically, the only constraints on a PCB land pattern are those imposed by fabricator DFM requirements.
Your components won’t attach to your PCB without land patterns, and it’s up to the designer to create compliant land patterns for components.
