NBS Create - Prelims, Project Management and Costs

All of my blog posts to-date on NBS Create have been on the creation of a project specification and the functionality surrounding this. However, as with NBS Building and NBS Scheduler, NBS Create also allows the creation of contract preliminaries.

The first improvement with NBS Create is that sections may be added to your job prior to knowing what construction contract will be used. The screenshot below shows the New Job Wizard and sections such as "Project definition", "Works terminology" and "Works contract procurement" that are selected for addition from the start.

Fig 1 - New Job Wizard - sections common to all construction contracts

With the section editor, the experience is familiar to existing NBS specification users. A number of pre-written clauses are presented to the user and these can be completed with the assistance of technical guidance and suggested values.

Fig 2 - Section editor

Assistance is given to the user when selecting a contract. In the example in the screenshots below, the user has specified that the job is for a commercial client, in Scotland and there are contractor design portions. They are then offered a selection of contracts appropriate to this work.

Fig 3 - Assistance with selecting of the contract

Fig 4 - Relevant contracts are presented to the user

Once the contract is selected, all relevant sections are highlighted for addition to the job. The user may unselect any sections that they do not wish to add.

Fig 5 - The sections that are relevant to this contract

Another screenshot is included below to show the improved section editor from within NBS Create. All existing prelims behaviour is supported such as excluding clauses, adding user clauses, synchronised guidance and drop down suggested values. In addition to this, it is possible to quickly report on all reference documents and also it is easy to add office guidance notes and office drop down suggested values.

Fig 6- Completing the contract preliminaries and project management sections

One improvement with NBS Create that we believe will be very well received is the ability to include both project management sections and specification systems within the same document. This allows the project team to work on a combined single document. The screenshot below shows the content for the job all together. An advantage of this is that the cost consultant can see exactly what the design intent is for all of the systems in the job. This will help with team-working and also building-up informed cost estimations from an early stage. In addition, a single coordinated specification for the job can easily be published.

Fig 7 - Specification and project management content in the same document

At any time, the systems from within the job may be exported to a spreadsheet for use in the free Cost Tracking tool. The screenshot below shows an example export. The cost consultant is adding estimated costs against these systems based on the early outline descriptions provided by the designers. This tool may be used throughout the design phase and then the spreadsheets can be compared to perform a tender or a budget cost analysis.

Fig 8 - Costing the systems from the specification

NBS Create is launched next month with Engineering Services content. I'll continue to do monthly blog posts. If anyone has any topics they'd like me to cover - please add a comment to this article.

For all previous articles on NBS Create click the "NBS 2012" label.

To join our Beta Testing Program and help us develop this product, please see:
- http://www.thenbs.com/support/betatesting

NBS Create - Specifying construction products

This is the latest in my series of posts on our upcoming new specification product, this month the topic is "specifying construction products". Previous posts have been on Outline and Performance Specs (May), Improved Data Structure (June), Adding your Practice Knowledge (July).

1. Descriptive specification
NBS may be used to describe the construction products that you require on a job without naming the manufacturer or product reference. The NBS guidance and drop down values provide "most likely" values and the very latest links to reference documents such as key construction standards. The example below shows the specifier giving the product selection choice to the contractor but describing the required specification.

The specifier can see an instant "on-screen" report that details precisely where in the specification decisions have been left for the contractor or where the contractor has been required to submit proposals.

2. Proprietary specification (NBS Plus)
Within NBS there are over 20,000 proprietary product specifications from over 600 construction manufacturers. When a product clause is selected, then the available products are displayed to the user to the right of the screen. This is functionality that current NBS specification users are familiar with.

The screenshot below shows that now the available manufacturers are also available to select from the manufacturer drop down.


Once a manufacturer is selected then the available relevant products from that manufacturer are shown against the "Product reference" keyword.

The user may then simply select a product and the NBS generic options within the clause change to the relevant specification options that are required to specify that particular product. These have been pre-authored by NBS technical staff in partnership with the manufacturer.

3. Proprietary specification (user defined)
If the specifier would like to specify products from manufacturers not yet in NBS Plus they may select "Other manufacturer". This allows details for the manufacturer and the product reference to be added as shown below...

4. Reporting on the manufacturers and products
As with the Contractor Design "on-screen report" feature, it is also possible to navigate the specification by the proprietary products that have been specified. This is shown below...

Finally, all on screen reports may also be published to PDF. The example below shows that all of the products from all manufacturers are grouped. The manufacturers' contact information is also displayed in a concise report...

Further reading...
For all blog articles on NBS 2012 - click the NBS 2012 hyperlink to the right of this page.
To join our Beta Testing Program and help us develop this product, please see:
- http://www.thenbs.com/support/betatesting

NBS Create - Adding your knowledge to NBS guidance and suggested values

Our major new specification product is not far away. In May I blogged about being able to create outline and performance specifications and in June I blogged about how the specification is now a rich information model forming part of a fuller building information model. This month I am going to look at how soon you will be able to add your information to supplement the NBS guidance and suggested values.

When completing your NBS specification you are presented with a part-complete template specification clause. Expert technical guidance is provided to the right of the editor window. Clicking the drop down arrows in the clause offers a number of suggested values for you to pick from. You can select one of these or type your own.

Where an office has information they'd like to supplement NBS with they may now add guidance notes against any part of the NBS guidance. For example, below, the user has more information they'd like to add to the Image quality keyword of a performance clause for a CCTV system.

The screenshot shows the user adding their information. Once complete, the user selects whether this guidance note will be available on all future jobs or for a specific job only. They also select whether this note must be visible to all users in the office or just a personal note.

This guidance note now appears inline within the NBS guidance at the appropriate context. Who added the note and when they added it is displayed and this note may be modified at any time.

Within a company it will be possible to control who can add this information through the software permissions model. As the NBS data will be delivered across the web, this information can be shared across sites, so if a company has offices at Newcastle, Glasgow and London - then all users of the system (including home-workers) will see this guidance.

As part of customer focus group activities over recent years, a common request for improvement has been to allow users to supplement not just the NBS guidance, but also the suggested values. The screenshot below shows the user selecting the option "Edit Office Values List...".

The user may then add additional values that will appear on all future jobs and be available to all users within a company.

The screenshot below shows the clause now with the new office values appearing in addition to the NBS suggested values. We believe that the ability to customise these values and the ability to supplement the technical guidance makes will help offices centralise and share their knowledge and make best use of this on their construction jobs.

Further reading...
For all blog articles on NBS 2012 - click the NBS 2012 hyperlink to the right of this page.

To join our Beta Testing Program and help us develop this product, please see:
- http://www.thenbs.com/support/betatesting

NBS Create - The specification as a rich information model

Last month I blogged about how our new "NBS 2012" specification product allows outline, performance and full specifications to be created.

This month, the article below looks at how the project specification will no longer be simply "words on paper", but it will be made up of objects with pre-authored relationships and constraints that describe the building.

1. Starting with Systems
The screenshot below shows that the project specification is made up of the systems in the job, for example, biofuel supply system, solar heating system, natural ventilation system. This example uses engineering services systems, but it could equally apply to architectural systems such as windows, doors, walls and floors.

Each of these can be opened in the editor to display an outline of the products that make up the system. The screenshot below shows the solar heating system being described in terms of its components such as the heat source, pipelines and insulation. Against each of these NBS have pre-defined the links to the most likely candidate products. For example, against the Thermal insulation component the user may pick from three different types of insulation products.

Alternatively, the user may specify this system in terms of its performance, this was looked at in last months blog post.

In addition to the products that make up the system, at the base of each system outline clause there are pre-authored relationships to clauses describing the execution and completion of the system. For example, what the installation, documentation and servicing requirements of the system are.

2. Products

Moving down the system editor, the products clauses that have been included in the job are defined. The example below shows the definition of a flat plate collector for the solar heating system. This is familiar to users of current NBS.

However, the principle of parent and child relationships is also continued here. The screenshot below shows the relationship between the flat plate collector and its corresponding installation clauses.

The example installation clause is shown below... 

3. Visualising the system
In this example, the project specification now describes the the systems (and the spaces they belong to), their child products and their installation and completion requirements for these. Behind the scenes this is a very rich data model that allows some great functionality that will provide better efficiency and accuracy to the user. This is a rich information model describing the building.
One immediate benefit of this is the ability to visualise the system, to see all of the child items and the relationships. This is shown below. As well as a simple visualiser, this view also works as a navigator to open the clauses in the job and the technical guidance also synchronises.

4. Reports
Over the coming months I will blog about the great functionality that this now allows. But to finish this post off, a screenshot of one of the automatically generated reports is shown. The user has clicked to see a report of all items in the job that the contractor has design duties. The user has clicked on an item that is "contractor's choice" and the software has then jumped to the correct item.
Other types of instant reports include manufacturer products, reference documents and user note reports. The user will also be able to define their own reports and it will be possible to publish these reports.

Further reading...

For all blog articles on NBS 2012 - click the NBS 2012 hyperlink to the right of this page.

To join our Beta Testing Program and help us develop this product, please see:

- http://www.thenbs.com/support/betatesting

NBS Create – Specification through the project timeline

At NBS we are currently working on our new specification project. We are delighted to announce that previews of this are now available of this now on our beta test server.

Each month now I shall be blogging about features of the new product to try and encourage current NBS users to join our Beta Test program and help us influence developments.  This month my article is on specifying through the project timeline through outline, performance full specifications.

1. Outline specification
The current RIBA Plan of Work does not mention NBS until Stage F, “Action F212: Select from the library of standard specification clauses (NBS recommended)”. With our NBS 2012 product the NBS specification process will start at Stage C.

The project specification will be created by adding systems, such as walls, roofs, windows and doors, from the NBS library. A short description can be added to each system to produce an outline specification. The screenshot below shows a typical outline specification created using NBS 2012.

2. Performance specification
Next Generation NBS is a “wizard-led” specification process, where the specifier adds just the clauses they need at the appropriate time. No longer is the user presented with a long list of clauses as a “checklist”.

The screenshots below shows the “system outline clause”, the drop-down pre-authored NBS options and the expert technical guidance allows the user to specify what they need.

Each system has comprehensive performance content that reference the latest standards and regulations.
The user may write a true system performance specification (for instance for a client on a D&B job).

They can also mix and match system performance content with partially completed product specifications (for instance planning submissions).

3. Full specification
Next Generation NBS can of course be used to create tender specifications and these may be updated throughout the construction phrase to hand over a record specification to the client once the building is complete.

Content from the specification model can be published by system or in traditional work section to assist with procurement and dissemination of the information to sub-contractors.

Further reading…
For all blog articles on NBS 2012 – click the NBS 2012 hyperlink to the right of this page.

For articles written by members of our technical team on this up and coming product please see NBS Head of Specification Ian Chapman’s recent article and NBS Head of Content Development John Gelder’s recent article.

To join our Beta Testing Program and help us develop this product please see:
- http://www.thenbs.com/support/betatesting