NBS Create - Finding the correct content

We have recently been releasing more enhancements to NBS Create. It’s been a pretty busy year at NBS and as an R+D Team we have been splitting our time looking at fixes, performance enhancements and also new functionality. I've got a series of five blog posts that look at some of these enhancements. This is the second of the five posts.

One consistent bit of feedback we have received from customers throughout this year is that working with systems is fantastic. It allows specifications to be started earlier in the project timeline and the choice of performance and full specification is of great help with different procurement routes. However, sometimes a designer thinks of a product first and not necessarily its parent system. Prior to the version 1.3 software it was sometimes hard to find the parent system for a particular product in order to add it to a job.

In Figure 1 below it can seen that the user has used the “quick search” feature in the Resources window to find where to specify “floor boards” *. They have then selected the “Add to Job With” feature. Figure 2 shows that the user then is provided with a list of potential system clauses that invoke this product clause. In this example a number of options are presented such as “Battened timber board floating floor system” and “Direct-fixed wood floor system”.

Figure 1 - Find a product within the NBS Resources window

Figure 2 - Quickly add the product to the job as part of its parent system

This same process is shown below by searching the technical guidance to the right of the screen. The search engine within the guidance is more advanced than the “quick search” in the Resources window. Figure 3 shows that the user has searched for “solar collectors” and the results include both “Evacuated tube collectors” and “Flat plate collectors”. Figure 4 shows that once the guidance page has loaded there is now an option to add the clause to the job through the “Add to job” hyper-link  Figure 5 shows the reuse of the window from the previous example that lists the potential parent systems “Indirect hot water storage supply system” and “Solar heating system”.

Figure 3 - Search for the product to specify in the guidance window

Figure 4 - Select the "Add to job" option

Figure 5 - Select which parent system the product is part of

In both of these examples it can be seen that the child product is now within the specification and is referenced correctly by their respective parent system. This is demonstrated in Figure 6. Within the context of the parent system, potential sibling products are offered to the user. In the example of the timber boards the user may now specify insulation, underlay, fasteners and seals. In the example of the solar collectores the user may now specify pumps, water treatment, pipelines and valves.

Figure 6 - Both products are in the job as part of the correct systems

* One bit of functionality that may be missed is the ability to filter what sort of clauses you are searching for. Right clicking anywhere in the Resources window when looking at search results allows this as shown in Figure 7 below:

Figure 7 - Filter the content you are searching for

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  

Searching NBS

The enhancements for the 2010 NBS Building, Engineering Services and Landscape software include a new search function that allows the user to search NBS libraries and also office standards and specifications.

Fig 1. The NBS work section and prelims libraries can be searched. Items may be previewed and then used to create a project specification

Fig 2. User specifications and office standards may also be searched. Items found may be previewed and opened for editing

I asked our Technical Team what are the most common items that users cannot find in NBS. Here is the list below. The new search tool will make it very easy to find these items and add them to your project spec.

• Line marking
• Road marking
• Fire stop pipe sleeves
• Steel frame systems
• Fascias and soffits
• Underslab insulation
• Fall arrest systems

2010 Software now with Beta Testers

The NBS Beta Testers now have their preview version of the 2010 software. This will be with customers in March 2010. I'll blog more about each of the enhancements in detail over the coming months, but for now here are some screenshots as tasters...

1. Searching and previewing the clause content of specifications, office standards and NBS libraries:

2. The NBS Annotator, allowing clause references to be easily added to CAD models and schedules:

3. Printing and publishing improvements such as highlighting of revised clauses in the printed document:

4. The ability to add a tender summary and then work with these costs through the construction phase

5. Seamless links to The Construction Information Service - no need to enter username and password each time:

6. Interoperability so that a single project specification can be produced with prelims, building fabric, landscape and engineering work sections:

Update 13 April 2010 - This 2010 software is now being dispatched to all customers. Please note that the interopability work did not make it into this release. However all of the other features did. Interopability will be considered for a future release.