CPA and NBS - Product Information Report

This week saw the publication of the CPA and NBS Product Information Report. The report was, in part, a look at the challenges set out in Chapter 7 of the Hackett Report, which relate to communicating construction product information in a clear and unambiguous way.

CPA and NBS report

In terms of what information 'users' of construction product information require, there were some clear requirements:

• Technical product information to complete the specification
• Third party certification
• Suitability information - in particular if the product forms part of a system
• Currency/availability information
• Supporting guidance

It was also very clear that users want information digitally. The only significant requirement for 'physical' information was product samples and delivery of in-person CPD. This is a huge change in a decade where printed literature was once common place.

There was also a difference in understanding between what users wanted and what providers thought they wanted.

Focus more on:

• Making product information more accessible from search engines
• Making product information more accessible from online product directories

Focus less on:

• Brochures
• Sales reps
• Trade shows
• Promotion through social media

Clearly, the provision of well-structured, comprehensive and accurate product information is an area the industry must improve on.

However, the report also highlighted industry bad-practice around product substitution. This was found too often to be (a) badly documented and (b) not following approval mechanisms.

Certainly a few things to think about. Some screenshots from the key findings below...

The key information required from provider and user perspectives

Do product substitutions follow an agreed process and get documented

Are product substitutions always approved

How can accurate manufacturer product information be insisted on

Download the report for free below:
- https://www.constructionproducts.org.uk/news-media-events/news/2019/november/construction-industry-takes-first-steps-at-improving-product-information/

Uniclass 2015 - Resources

At the weekend one or two people on Twitter asked if I could post some of the NBS videos demonstrating how to use Uniclass 2015 so they can use them when explaining classification to others.

So, here are some links to resources that some may find useful.

If you do download them and use them - then please credit NBS (theNBS.com/Uniclass) for use of the content and put a tweet out to help spread the word :)

Short video files showing the concepts:
These have been exported to WMV format so they should work fine when embedded in a Powerpoint. Download below:
- Google Drive Folder containing videos

01-Uniclass2015-IntroductionSequence.wmv

02-Uniclass2015-ClassifyingSpecifications.wmv

03-Uniclass2015-ClassifyingDrawings.wmv

04-Uniclass2015-ClassifyingData.wmv

Explainer article:
In addition to these videos, there is also a good 'What is Uniclass' explainer article from NBS Head of Classification Sarah Delany:
- https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/what-is-uniclass-2015

What is Uniclass 2015?

Download the tables:
...and of course there are the classification tables themselves. Download them for free or quickly query them using our online widget at:
- thenbs.com/uniclass

Download the tables and play with the widget

Construction Project Information - Old School

I got handed some old project documentation today that was used to help inform the development of the very first National Building Specification in 1973.

This is from 1971 and I assume the original authors of the NBS took lots of 'best practice' examples to look through (such as that below) to standardize a national template structure.

Click on the photographs for a larger version...

Hand written specification from 1971

Think about the physical item, draw it, add the spec code, write the spec, work out the quantities - simple

CI/SfB codes - still used by many for work packages/drawing numbering to this day

Good old BS 1186

As everyone knows, BS 1186 was updated in 1971 and then again in 1990

It's 1971 and we need to invent a product that will bridge the communication gap between designer and contractor

Who needs Revit/ArchiCAD to generate schedules - it was so much more fun in 1971!

...and along came NBS in 1973.

Anyone else with nostaligic items from the past - feel free to send photographs through :)

Twenty years

In the first week of September in 1999 I took my first job after leaving university to work on software products. These software products were for a company called NBS. We were taking paper based workflows and digitising them.

Twenty years later - I am still very much working on defining the next generation of software products for NBS.

Back in 1999 it was a small research centre (Construction Informatics Research Centre) that was connected to Newcastle University. In September 2002 this research centre moved into the NBS business to become the R+D department.

The old CIRC building on Claremont Road

Of the team that moved down, Andrew B, Emma H, John M, Mark W and myself are all still with NBS. AT NBS, we also still work with Richard Watson and Kay Rogage (Northumbria University) and Steve Lockley (co-founder of BIM Academy) on projects and they are very much part of the North East BIM Community.

The newly formed NBS R+D team

Richard Waterhouse who led the digital developments for NBS back in 1999 and who brought us down in 2002 is now CEO of NBS and my boss. Helen Whitfield was part of the finance team back in 1999 and is now an Exec Director at NBS. It's been fantastic to have some great continuity over the years,

Since 1999 I have worked on pretty much all of the NBS software products - from NBS Specification Manager to NBS Plus to NBS Create to NBS National BIM Library to NBS Chorus. But the first development I worked on was called NBS Office - it never got fully released, but a part of that project was NBS Scheduler which did - and I've dug out some screenshots from an early beta release I worked on the code on.

The branding changed slightly prior to the first release - so these screenshots from the 2000 beta have never been seen before :)

NBS Office - for all of the needs of an architectural office

A new innovative method of browsing specification content from standard drawings

Using new web technologies to offer users drop down suggested values when specifying

As a twenty something starting off as a software developer it was a great time with new technologies coming out each year and the internet really starting to take off. I'd say the first ten years were about changing our information delivery products to be web based, the second ten years have been about integrating work flows and then moving information production products to be web based and collaboration. Let's see what the next twenty years bring.

Some highlights of the twenty years have included:

• Launching the new improved NBS Plus from the top of the Gherkin
• Winning awards for how our products fit into the BIM workflow
• Getting our cloud developments featured on the main stage in front of 10,000 at AU Las Vegas

...and a web cam picture from 1999 of three of the developers who worked on the code
(and had the occassional game of 5aside/ beer/ night out)

The team back in 2004 working on Building, Scheduler and NBS Plus

So - that is 1999-2019 in a blink of an eye. Let's hope there are many more interesting products to work on over the upcoming years!

Connecting specifiers and construction manufacturers

At NBS we have been refreshing our messaging around our offerings lately.

I particularly like the new videos...

If you are a specifier
Find out about intelligent construction specification, in the cloud at:
- theNBS.com/Chorus

If you are a construction product manufacturer
Find out how you can get the exposure no other marketing channel can match at:
- theNBS.com/Manufacturers

NBS use on a real life projects

A few weeks ago I did my fourth Autodesk University class. This one was in London and I had the pleasure of co-presenting with Alistair Kell from BDP.

It's always good to co-present with someone who can give real-life project example. It adds a bit extra over and above the theory of how it should work. The two examples in question where both BDP projects in Scotland - one a huge railway station project and another a smaller new build primary school project. It was interesting to see the commonality between the two projects with respect to digital structure and process.

To watch the full presentation on the AU website click the first link below.

To watch a few 60 second snippets and read a bit of an overview, click the second link to go to the NBS website.

Watch the full class at the AU website

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Producing-Coordinated-Project-Information-Digital-World-2019

If you are short on time - catch a summary on the NBS website

https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/producing-coordinated-project-information-in-a-digital-world

Intelligent specification, in the cloud

Over recent years, using the cloud has allowed me to connect applications and data together inside and outside work.

Looking at examples from outside work, it's so easy to embed a youtube video within Facebook - or transfer the data from a fun run from Garmin to Strava - or buy a book on the Amazon App and then see it on my Kindle. The cloud has revolutionized the way we interact in our daily lives.

When working on NBS Chorus, as a cloud based tool we expected that this would transform the way the industry interacted with specifications. We were aware of some immediate transformational benefits such as (1) functioning on other devices other than PCs (Mac, Tablet, Chromebook etc...), (2) the ease at which contributors can be added to a project and (3) the end to problematic installation of software and content on local machines/networks.

However, now that Chorus has been released - it's great to see some additional cloud benefits.

A special shout out here to Rob Jackson from Bond Bryan Digital (plug below - check out their services) for tweeting a few of the workflows he has managed to get Chorus linking to open data methodologies.

Credit to Bond Bryan for screengrabs below - check them out at https://bondbryan.co.uk/digital

One click access from collaboration tool BIM Track

Linked specifications from Graphisoft ArchiCAD

Specification connections coming through into the IFC export and viewed in Solibri

Going the full pro 'Information Manager' and ticking all of the boxes with NBS one-click links in Airtable data dashboard on Mac and smart phone!

It's great to see NBS now so accessible - the days of NBS on the PC only are a thing of the past.

- Follow Rob from Bond Bryan Digital on Twitter

UK BIM Alliance - BS EN ISO 19650 Guidance - Part 1

Edit (24/12) - Blog post on Part 2 now added

A free guide to the BS EN ISO 19650 series is now available:
- https://www.ukbimalliance.org/stories/information-management-according-to-bs-en-iso-19650/

UK BIM Alliance - BS EN ISO 19650 Guidance

This guide has been produced by UK BIM Alliance in association with Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) and BSI.

The guide sets the scene of why digital information management is important and what the rationale for the 19650 series was. It then looks at the legal and security implications and in particular signposts the CIC BIM Protocol and the PAS 1192-5 standard.

The second half of the publication looks at the information delivery cycle and provides some practical examples.

It's good to see references to NBS resources. In particular:

• Secton 6.5 looking level of information need. The guide references the work in progress here at a CEN level and also the free-to-use LOD and LOI guides on the NBS BIM Toolkit.
• Section 6.6 gives a good overview on how to classify information and uses examples from Uniclass 2015.
• Finally, Section 7 looks at the National Annex to BS EN ISO 19650-2 and provides guidance on the naming of information containers and associated metadata with respect to information delivery using common data environments. I blogged on a similar subject earlier in the year and NBS colleagues have been in discussions with the UK BIM Alliance team on this topic.

With respect to the National Annex, expect further alignment between the Form of Information and Roles Tables in Uniclass in the next month or two.

So - a good publication - great to see that support such as this is being produced for free for the industry and well done to those that have given up their time to contribute.

Download it from the link below:
- https://www.ukbimalliance.org/stories/information-management-according-to-bs-en-iso-19650/