NBS Keynote Files

When annotating drawings there are a number of options available. The best of these is to use a specific NBS software solution. There are plug-ins now to both ArchiCAD and Revit. This allows annotations to be made that are relevant to the particular project. For example, it is extremely unlikely that there would only be one type of door specified.  So it is better to annotate from the project specification “L20/480 Doorset Type C” as opposed to the more vague “L20/480 Doorset”.

Equally with the software functionality annotations can be verified prior to issuing packages of drawings, schedules and specifications to check for any coordination issues.

More information on these software plug-ins may be found at:
- http://www.thenbs.com/products/coordinatingDrawingsSpecifications/

That said, we recognise that a number of practices would still like to work with the “keynote” style functionality on certain projects. At NBS we are happy to provide this to industry. Two downloads are available below:

• NBS_UK_CAWs_2012.txt (462 KB)
  This file has all Common Arrangement listings and clause numbers. A screenshot is shown in Figure 1 below. This is two levels deep, for example L and then L10, the intermediate level of L1 is not included.
• NBS_UK_Uniclass2_2012.txt (270 KB)
  This file has all Uniclass 2 Work Result listings and clause numbers. A screenshot is shown in Figure 2 below. This is three levels deep. In addition, only system outline clause titles and manufacturer product clause titles are included. This makes the file more concise as workmanship clause titles are excluded.

Figure 1 - Using CAWs for keynoting

Figure 2 - Using Uniclass 2 Work Results table for keynoting

The Keynote files here are tab separated ASCII text files. They can be opened in Microsoft Excel and converted to other formats to work with a user’s CAD platform of choice.

More information on CAWs and Uniclass2  can be found at:

• http://www.cpic.org.uk/ 

The Importance of Specification

One blog post that is definitely worth a read is the guest post on specification by Adrian Williamson The NBS: the Woes of a Specifier on Su Butcher's blog - it's a warts-and-all view on using NBS Building.

Adrian Williamson

One issue discussed by Adrian was:
"...do you write or edit individual sections clauses as you are producing the working drawings or complete the spec once you’ve have a full set of complete drawings and then cross reference them against the NBS? I’ll let you decide on what’s the preferred route; we opted for the latter."

At NBS, we do offer some assistance here. At the most basic level, you can export your clauses to "annotation" database. You will get a little exported database with the clause references and titles from your project spec or office master. These will slot into the AutoCAD or Microstation or Vectorworks CAD system and allow you to simply pick from them to annotate your sections and elevations.

So if you are annotating a window, you can quickly pick from your list of clauses. For example picking a reference such as "L10/350A PVC-U Windows Type A" or "L10/350B PVC-U Windows Type B"?

However, with the growth of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the task of putting together a coordinated set of drawings has became even easier. It is a far more robust process. At NBS, we currently have BIM plug-in tools for Graphisoft ArchiCAD and will soon be releasing one for Autodesk Revit. We also are in discussions with Vectorworks, Tekla and Bentley about integrating within their systems. In the example below I have attempted to demonstrate the benefits of the linked data models using a basic example.

Consider a design-and-build job where an architect is putting a performance specification for the client (what maybe could be considered a COBie drop 2A). If we look at a simple internal partition system, it is likely that the architect will not specify the individual products. It is likely that architect will not specify the workmanship. But they will specify the system's overall performance. The screen-shots below shows a typical project specification and the associated guidance. Key metrics such as structural, acoustic and fire performance are specified, whilst leaving the design of the system to the lead-contractor. In addition to these performance requirements, the testing requirements and submittals to verify the performance are specified.

Fig 1 - Specifying the performance of an internal partition system

Fig 2 - Pages and pages of detailed guidance and reference documents supporting the specifier

And now it's a simple job for the architect to link the "object" in the central BIM representing the partition with the "object" in the specification model also representing the same partition. The clever plug-in looks directly into the specification and allows the user to easily pick out the correct clause.

Fig 3 - Using the NBS plug-in to link objects in central BIM and specification model

Where this process has particular robustness is the ability to check that all annotations are correct prior to issuing any drawings and specifications from the complete BIM.

Fig 4 - Using the NBS plug-in to report on any coordination issues between drawings and specification

Now I could not have picked a more simple example above - imagine the performance requirements of an air conditioning system or of a complex curtain wall system. Being able to specify this in a tool like NBS Create and then link the spec to the drawings/BIM is crucial. Also, consider a fully specified system with all of the products specified (DPC, frame, plasterboard, fasteners, finish, cavity fire barriers...) and the plug-in becomes even more useful. Click the picture below to see each object in a full specification (not just performance) to see the scope of content for just a simple system:

Fig 5 - A fully designed system in NBS Create

So hopefully this article demonstrates how the links between drawn information and detailed specification information is really improving. Finally, going back to the original post that prompted this blog post, I think that Andrew Brown's summary of thoughts making the case for a well-written, robust, specification is probably the best I have ever read:

Andrew Brown

"...there really is no alternative to allowing adequate time to write the specification whatever system is used. The specification is an essential document in communicating the design intent to the contractor and should not be considered as a painful-but-necessary add-on to the drawings. As I’ve been saying for many years … when did you last hear someone say 'Are we covered on the drawings?' when something goes wrong, it’s always 'Are we covered in the specification?'. There are many times when a picture is not worth a thousand words, but a handful of carefully chosen words are worth several thousand megabytes of drawings."

Andrew Brown - 35 years experience with the likes of BDP and Sheppard Robson

National BIM Library

On Friday we announced the launch of The National BIM Library. This will be a collection of free-to-use generic BIM objects. It will also be followed by proprietary manufacturer BIM objects. It seems to have caused a little bit of interest so far on the web. The full press release is below - keep looking back to this blog for further updates...

NBS to launch National BIM Library

NBS is pleased to announce the development of a National BIM (Building Information Modelling) Library for the UK construction industry.

The National BIM Library, which will be accessible online and free of charge, will enable architects, contractors, interior designers and other construction professionals to locate and download generic and proprietary BIM objects for a comprehensive range of systems and products such as walls, windows, doors, foundations, cladding and roofs.

The service, which will go live in November with the first set of objects, will be built up to become the primary source of standard and proprietary BIM objects.

By also publishing property definitions for all systems and products, NBS will establish a common approach to quality standards across the construction industry, with a view to encouraging consistency and collaboration.

The development of the National BIM Library is the latest step in NBS’s efforts to provide, share and maintain quality information for the built environment and by extension, support the growth of BIM as an information-rich database and highly effective business process. It also supports the launch of their new NBS Create specification tool, which truly brings specification into the BIM arena.

Stephen Hamil, Director of Design and Innovation and Head of BIM at NBS commented,
“For the last 40 years NBS has been developing and maintaining a national master specification for UK construction best practice. We are perfectly placed to make the next step and extend our building information to include geometry and create a fantastically rich resource for the industry.
Crucially, we will maintain the National BIM Library in line with changes to standards and best practice and ensure that the library truly represents UK industry best practice. We know that our industry is crying out for high-quality, maintained BIM resources and we are the right organisation to deliver this.”

Richard Waterhouse, Chief Executive of RIBA Enterprises Ltd, said:
“The effective use and exchange of information is at the heart of BIM and will dictate the overall impact it will have on the construction industry. By establishing a National BIM Library, NBS will increase access to the information construction professionals need to make the right decisions at the right stage of the building process.
By providing free access to NBS’s high quality BIM information, we can also play our part in ensuring all organisations can take advantage of the latest intelligence and huge benefits of BIM.”

To develop the generic BIM objects, NBS has engaged the BIM Academy, which was launched in June 2011 by Northumbria University and Ryder Architecture, to support the industry‘s take up of BIM by establishing a centre of excellence for related research and education.

The generic models will initially be delivered in IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) and Autodesk Revit formats with the intention of making content available through a variety of alternative formats as soon as possible.

Peter Barker, Operations Director at BIM Academy, said:
"BIM Academy are delighted to be working with NBS on this exciting initiative. With the rapid escalation in BIM adoption over the last few years, there is now a compelling need for consistency in library content and quality. Equally important is the need for these libraries to be available in all common software formats, structured to suit UK construction practice and linked more closely to specification data. We look forward to applying our industry experience and expertise in IFC classification and BIM technologies to help NBS realise this ambition and deliver real efficiencies to the industry through the National BIM Library."

Information and the opportunity to register for updates about the National BIM Library can be found by visiting www.theNBS.com/NBL

NBS and Bentley Architecture - Software Tutorial Video

Many thanks to Brenden from Bentley UK for providing us with a Flash software tutorial showing how to link the clauses in an NBS project specification to a CAD model in Bentley Architecture.

To view this please go to our BIM mini site and then scroll to the "Useful links" section at the bottom of the page.

- http://www.theNBS.com/BIM

A few screenshots below...

1. Export the keynotes database from NBS Building (or the Annotator tool)

2. Pick the relevant keynote from within Bentley Architecture

3. Associate the relevant keynote with the CAD object

ecobuild

I'll be presenting some of the NBS Building Information Modelling developments to date and a preview of what is to come at ecobuild on Tuesday 1st March and Wednesday 2nd March as part of the Design Technology Programme (N131).

I'm really looking forward to it and it'll be a pleasure to present alongside the following people from the construction industry.
- http://www.unlimited.com/ecobuild/

South and West Yorkshire Local Authority Training Consortium

I had the pleasure of delivering a CPD session to the South and West Yorkshire Local Authority Training Consortium on BIM yesterday evening. We discussed what BIM is, some case studies and then looked at how the data in the NBS specification model could be integrated with the data in the CAD model. (and in between there was some time for some lovely pie, chips, gravy and mushy peas :)).

There were loads of questions and some real interest on the subject. Useful links on the subject below:

• The NBS BIM research:
  http://www.thenbs.com/topics/BIM/articles/What_BIM_is_and_how_it_is_being_used.asp
  
  
• Tutorials on the different methods of linking the CAD model with NBS:
  
  https://www.thenbs.com/support/softwaresupport/knowledgeBase/KB10168spec.asp
  
  
• Paul Morrell’s BIM presentation:
  http://www.bsria.co.uk/services/design/bim/bim2010/
  
  
• A recent article I have authored on the “rapid acceleration of BIM”:
  http://www.thenbs.com/topics/BIM/articles/rapidAccelerationOfBIM.asp
  
  
• The buildingSMART/BSI publication making the case for BIM (including some good case studies):
  http://constructioncode.blogspot.com/2010/07/bsi-spells-out-case-for-bim.html
  
  
• The NBS BIM Blog:
  http://nbsbrightsparks.wordpress.com/

Thanks to Clinton to inviting me down - look forward to doing it again some time.

Free web seminar on NBS and CAD

Our training team are running a web seminar on NBS and CAD on Friday 18 February 1pm.

Visit our website below to sign up for it:
http://www.thenbs.com/training/onlinetraining/

NBS BIM Survey 2010

On Thursday 2nd December I will be one of the speakers at the CIBSE BIM conference.
http://www.cibsetraining.co.uk/conferences/single/1975
“What BIM is and how it is being used”

At NBS we are very interested in BIM and are looking to develop our specification data into a rich information model that can sit alongside the CAD model. We’re members of buildingSMART and the IFD project and currently have two research projects looking at regulatory compliance and carbon impact and cost.

We have recently sent out a survey to construction industry professionals to see how BIM is being used. We sent it to over 6,500 UK architects, quantity surveyors and engineers and were delighted to get over a 6% response rate.

At the conference I’ll present this research which will give an insight into:

• How many people are using BIM today and what software packages are they using to support them
• What aspects of BIM are people taking advantage of.
• For those not currently using BIM, but who intend to, when do they expect to take their first steps into using it.
• How do those using BIM within CAD connect this data to other information models such as specification, regulations and standards.
• For those using BIM, what are their thoughts on interoperability and object reuse.

Our Market Research team at NBS are currently analysing these results and following the CIBSE conference we will publish these results and then run this survey annually to see trends.

NBS and Autodesk Revit - Software Tutorial Video

There is now a software tutorial video showing NBS Building and Autodesk Revit interoperating.

It is titled NBS Specification Software - NBS Building and Autodesk Revit and can be found at the webpage:
- theNBS.com/support/softwareSupport/softwareTutorials/

Topics covered are:

1. Annotating elements (windows) within Revit from NBS clause references
2. Automatically generating schedules within Revit that reference the NBS keynote
3. Annotating materials (brick, plasterboard, block, insulation) within Revit from NBS clause references

Fig 1 - The same objects exist in the CAD model and the spec model

Fig 2 - Generating a schedule from the CAD model and keynote references

Update (11/11/10):

Nice little mention on Simon Gillis's Autodesk blog thanks Simon!
http://thesustainabledesigntoolbox.typepad.com/blog/2010/11/nbs-and-revit.html

Note:

For information on NBS interoperating with other CAD packages please see:

• Graphisoft ArchiCAD
• Nemetchek Vectorworks

NBS at the Vectorworks 2011 Conference

I spoke at the Vectorworks 2011 Conference in London yesterday.

The presentation was in two parts. The first part gave a little bit of a history behind NBS and the benefits of using our master specification system. The second part of the presentation looked at using NBS project specification information within the Vectorworks Notes Manager system. A number of delegates spoke to me over lunch commenting on how they liked the development. The “Reconcile Notes” feature was particularly well received. The presentation can be downloaded by selecting the graphic below:

The Annotator component that allows the export of specifications to VW NotesManager is a free download from:
- http://www.thenbs.com/NBSTools/

Almost half of the Vectorworks community are Mac users. At the end of the presentation the new NBS Domestic Specification product was discussed in the Q&A session. NBS Domestic Specification works through a user’s web browser so it works equally well on both PC and Mac. Over lunch I felt there was a real buzz about this product and must have received over ten business cards from Mac users requesting more information about this development.

Preview of NBS Domestic Specification functionality:
- http://constructioncode.blogspot.com/2010/09/nbs-domestic-online-coming-soon.html

Scope of content of NBS Domestic Specification:
- http://constructioncode.blogspot.com/2010/09/nbs-domestic-specification-draft-scope.html

NBS Domestic Specification will be launched at the RIBA Guerrilla Tactics conference in November as part of the "Tools and Tactics" part of the CPD presentations:
- http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/Conferences/2010/GuerrillaTactics2010.aspx

NBS Link featured at ArchiCAD Summer School 2010

The NBS plug in to ArchiCAD went down very well at the ArchiCAD Summer School 2010 at Nottingham last week. Around 60 people attended and many then had one-to-one sessions getting more detailed demonstrations of the software in action.The main features are the ability to create annotations from NBS clauses directly from within ArchiCAD. It is then possible to report, locate and correct any broken annotations prior to issuing your documentation. A video of this in action may be viewed at:
http://constructioncode.blogspot.com/2010/05/annotating-archicad-models-from-nbs.html

The pictures below shows Simon Gilbert from Graphisoft UK demonstrating to delegates.

Nice little mention on Planet Vectorworks

The recent enhancements to Annotator, part of the NBS Tools, gets a nice little mention on Planet Vectorworks...

http://planet.vectorworks.net/2010/09/nbs-annotator-now-supports-uk-vectorworks-architect-users/

NBS on the road

Over the next few months NBS will be on the road at a few CAD/BIM events.

• I will be at the BuildingSMART summit week in Denmark at the start of September. It's always fascinating to see what is happening around the world with interoperable building information models. Hopefully this will give us at RIBA Enterprises some further inspiration into BIM. It will maybe help influence our thinking in our research products with Northumbria University on this subject.
  
• The NBS Link tool linking ArchiCAD and NBS will be featured at the ArchiCAD Summer School in Nottingham. Unfortunately this clashes with the BuildingSMART summit. But NBS will be represented there.
  
• Finally I will be presenting at the Vectorworks Annual Conference in London in early October. So if anyone wants to see the NBS export to Vectorworks Notes Manager format - please register for that.

Vectorworks Notes Manager Export Now Available

The latest update of NBS Tools now includes the export to Nemetschek Vectorworks Notes Manager format.

http://www.theNBS.com/NBSTools

NBS Link Plug-in for ArchiCAD Press Release

The NBS Link plug-in for ArchiCAD features on the front of the Graphisoft International website. The press release is below...

www.graphisoft.com

Link your NBS project specification information to your ArchiCAD Building Information Model

LONDON, July 27, 2010

GRAPHISOFT today announced that ArchiCAD™, its award-winning architectural design software, can now link directly with NBS specifications. This capability continues the company’s innovation in model-based design collaboration by offering an easy-to-use, yet powerful connection with documents produced with the UK’s industry-standard master specification system.

The connection delivers productivity improvements to architects and other specifiers by providing a quick and easy-to-use method within ArchiCAD for creating links between the information modeled in ArchiCAD and that modeled in NBS. Clause titles and references can be added with a single mouse-click; NBS guidance can be viewed in context to assist decision making; and the specification details can be easily reviewed and revised, with an automated link ensuring the details in the specification and ArchiCAD models remain in sync.

This latest ArchiCAD plug-in from GRAPHISOFT links to specifications written in any of NBS specification systems, including NBS Building, NBS Engineering Services, NBS Landscape and NBS Scheduler.

“Building Information Modeling (BIM) has created an unprecedented potential for improving the coordination and quality of design and construction documentation,” said Simon Gilbert, ArchiCAD Product Manager at GRAPHISOFT. “With this connection between ArchiCAD and NBS, architects and designers can be assured that the specification details in their designs are accurate and, perhaps just as important, the effort required to place and maintain specification details has been reduced hugely.”

Dr Stephen Hamil, from the research and development department of NBS, echoed Simon’s comments. “Bringing the information held in project specifications and that held within the CAD model closer, and providing the user the ability to maintain these relationships in this way, is an important development in the evolution of BIM. The road to integrated coordination of project information will be made up of small but significant steps like this, and we are pleased to have supported GRAPHISOFT in the UK to be able to make this innovation available to users of ArchiCAD and NBS.”

Nick Greenwood, of Mouchel Business Services, who has been trialing the new connection, commented, “Marking up the architectural model with specification references is a very important part of preparing high quality construction documentation but it is also very tedious and repetitive work. And, of course, if it’s being done manually from paper specifications it’s easy to make a mistake when transcribing a specification number. This connection makes it really simple and quick to apply specification details to any view or document in the design and it’s really great having such a simple method to check that the details are up to date. This is an enormous time saver for us both in applying the specifications in the first place and ensuring that the correct specification details are on the final documentation.”

A movie showing the scope of NBS Building, how this is connected with ArchiCAD, and how specifications can be reviewed and revised in ArchiCAD, is at www.tinyurl.com/nbslink

Availability

The ArchiCAD to NBS connection is available immediately and can be obtained from Accredited ArchiCAD Centres in the UK and Ireland. These Centres can be located at www.graphisoft.com/purchase

About NBS

Since the 1970s, architects have turned to NBS master specification systems to produce technically robust, up-to-date project specifications. NBS also provides tools for project administration, online access to technical and regulatory information, and learning services to keep construction professionals' skills and knowledge current. It is also the official publisher of the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations. Further information, can be found at www.theNBS.com. Further media requests can be made to James Sykes at james.sykes@theNBS.com

About GRAPHISOFT

GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry first BIM software for architects. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world’s first real-time BIM collaboration environment, and the GRAPHISOFT EcoDesigner™, the world's first fully integrated building energy modeling application. GRAPHISOFT’s innovative solutions have fundamentally changed the way architects around the world design and collaborate.

Exporting NBS annotations to Vectorworks Notes Manager format

In the next two or three weeks we'll do an update to the Annotator that will allow users to export to Vectorworks Note Manager format.

It will work in pretty much the same way as the Autodesk and Bentley exports. The screenshots below give an indication of the process.

Fig 1 - Export the annotations from your project specification/schedule of work

Fig 2 - The exported file is a tab separated file that can be amended to suite

Fig 3 - Annotations can then be made off this file within Vectorworks.

Annotating ArchiCAD models from NBS

Earlier this year I posted about how the NBS Annotator had been developed to be embedded in other software applications.

Over the last few months Graphisoft UK have been developing a plug-in that makes it possible for the NBS Annotator to work from inside of ArchiCAD.

Graphisoft have prepared a short video demonstrating this plug-in working that is displayed below:
(0.00 Introduction and benefits, 2.00 Overview of NBS Building, 5.50 Annotating the ArchiCAD BIM model)

I also include some screenshots from the movie below.
(This plug-in is not released yet - but stay tuned to this blog for further information.)

Accessing the Annotator directly from the ArchiCAD menu

Prior to issue, updating the annotations where they have been modified in the spec

From the Archives - Annotation Manager 1996

With the recent release of the Annotator as part of the NBS Tools it is worth looking back a few years in time.

In 1996, Annotaion Manager from NBS was a plug in for AutoCAD AEC5. NBS provided this and released a library of annotations to accompany each library update of the NBS work sections.

A few screenshots below show this in further detail...

Fig 01 - Spec Man 3

Fig 02 - Picking an annotation from the NBS library

Fig 03 - AutoCAD

Fig 04 - Viewing the guidance and linking to CIS

To go further back in time to 1973 see my earlier blog post. Check out the diagram showing the specification, the drawings and the bill of quants.

Journal Article - NBS Specification Software Enhancements

A copy of the article I have written for the up and coming NBS Journal is below.

The NBS Journal contains specially-written articles on specification, and is available twice a year. The current edition and all previous NBS Journals are available to all as PDFs from the NBS website.
http://www.thenbs.com/resources/journals/

NBS Building, Landscape and Engineering Services Software Improvements

The recent 2010-1 update of NBS Building, Landscape and Engineering Services includes a number of significant software enhancements, following over a year of development work. Head of NBS Software Development, Dr Stephen Hamil, presents these in this article.

1. Integration between the specification and CAD

At NBS, one of our main priorities is to develop our existing products in-line with our customers’ needs. To prioritise these enhancements to the software we have a number of customer focus groups and we also have a yearly customer satisfaction survey.

One of the most requested features has been to make it easier to annotate a CAD model from clauses in a project specification. The Annotator application is now installed with your NBS software as part of the NBS Tools suite of the software. This application allows you to quickly access the clause number and title from your project specifications when making annotations in your CAD model.

The Annotator application works through copy and paste; this means it will sit alongside any CAD software such as ArchiCAD, Microstation or AutoCAD. Subject to having a valid NBS licence, you can access NBS technical guidance using the Annotator. This allows you to browse the general guidance in work sections at early design stage to benefit from this comprehensive and trusted NBS information.

Figure 1- Using the Annotator from NBS

In addition to the Annotator, it is now possible from within the NBS software to export to keynote format. This allows you to work with project specification keynote references within AutoCAD, Revit or Microstation. Using this method of working, within CAD you can annotate an element type once and then quickly access this same annotation from all of the matching element types within your model.

This work is very much seen as a first step towards further CAD integration and we are currently researching and prototyping methods to take this integration further.

2. Publishing enhancements

A number of enhancements have been made to the publishing engine. The way the headers and footers are generated has had a complete overhaul. It is now possible to have mixed styles, a separator line and for the text to grow to fill the available space. This is demonstrated in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 – Improved headers and footers

Another key improvement to the published document is the ability to clearly indicate how clauses have been revised when re-issuing a specification or a work section. The screenshot below shows two clauses that have been revised, one has been removed and one has been added as new. This helps communicate any changes made to the specification clearly to the other members of the project team. Figure 3 below shows an extract from the re-issued specification.

Figure 3 – Revisions to the specification

3. A new search facility

It is now possible to search NBS libraries, project documents and office standards from within the software. Initially, this is useful when you are creating a specification and do not know exactly where to find the content in the NBS libraries. For example, how many customers know where to find fascias and soffits (G20) or underslab insulation (E20)? This search facility allows you to preview the clause and view the guidance prior to adding the work section to your specification. This search facility can be launched through clicking on the search button on the main toolbar.

In addition to searching for content in NBS you can also search for content in your project specifications and contract preliminaries. Once you have found the clause that you have searched for, double click on it to open for editing in the main software window.

Figure 4 demonstrates the user searching a project specification for a particular manufacturer. It can be seen that all of the product clauses in which this manufacturer is specified are returned and can be quickly previewed. 

Figure 4 – New search facility

 4. Financial summary

For smaller projects without a bill of quantities, it is now possible to publish a financial summary at the back of your specification for the contractors to price. Rather than the contractors providing a lump sum cost based on the specification and drawings, the project can be broken down to allow improved analysis of the tender costs and a clearer demonstration to the client of how money will be spent.

Like the Annotator application, the Cost Tracking application is installed as part of the NBS Tools suite of the software. This application also enables the creation of a spreadsheet to allow costs to be tracked through the construction phase of the project.

Figure 5 displays a tender analysis report generated within the Cost Tracking application. Contractor prices are arranged from lowest to highest against a pre-tender estimate. The variations in costs for each priceable item are clearly shown.

Figure 5 – Tender analysis within the Cost Tracking application

5. Further integration with CIS and Building Regulations

The final major enhancement to the NBS software is the facility to seamlessly link with The Construction Information Service and NBS Building Regulations. If you are a subscriber to these services, you can enter your user name and password once and then immediately click through from the NBS guidance to the relevant technical information.

Figure 6 - External links within the NBS Guidance

Figure 7 - Seamless links through to The Construction Information Service

Larger practices can securely enter a company username and password to these services in their NBS office settings file. All users of the NBS software in the office can then immediately click through and download documents such as British Standards, BRE publications and Building Regulations without the need to log on individually each time.

6. Further information

• Video showing these improvements at: http://www.thenbs.com/update
• Free NBS Tools download: http://www.thenbs.com/nbstools  

How the Annotator Tool from NBS was Developed

The suite of free NBS Tools has just passed testing and will go live next week for download. NBS Tools contains the three applications (1) Annotator, (2) Viewer and (3) Cost Tracking. Further details on each of these will be posted to this blog over the next few weeks.

This blog post details how the Annotator was developed.

Stage 1 - Back of an envelope sketch

The scan below shows a sketch that was done a little while back in a pub in London after a lunchtime discussion with one of our Advisory Panel members. The event was on a completely different subject, but the topic of annotating CAD from NBS had cropped up over a cup of coffee.

All of the main concepts can be seen in the notes on the sketch. The three customer names who had pushed for this development have been blurred out of the sketch to the bottom right. Note how the concept that this could also be released so third parties could integrate it into their software (API) is scribbled at the top of the page.

Stage 2 - Prototype
The next stage was setting one of our software developers away on developing a rapid prototype. This is shown below:

The basic functionality is in place here. This prototype was then demonstrated to get some early feedback and to help develop a brief for our software design team.

Stage 3 - Brief
The main feature list was then developed with the aid of further sketch designs and an MS Word document. The concept of embedding the guidance and the manufacturer information is now in the sketch. The ability to export to different formats such as CSV and keynotes is there too.

Stage 4 - Detailed Designs
Our Design Team then worked their magic in Fireworks to draw up exactly how the application would look (note it must be pixel perfect) - also detailed was the functionality and the user journey in an MS Word document.

The branding changed a little following these sketches, but what is shown in the screenshot above is pretty much how the final application turned out.

Stage 5 -Develop the Application
Our Software Development team then wrote the code to make the application work (hopefully) perfectly. QA tested it and along the way our Beta Testers had the chance to have an early look at this too.

And now it is finished and ready for release.

Related posts:

- Working with the exported keynote file with AutoDesk/Bentley products
- How software developers can integrate the Annotator into their own products