Information Systems Panel Briefing Sheet

Collaborative Production of Architectural,

Engineering and Construction
Information: BS1192:2007

This BS1192:2007 briefing sheet has been prepared in
conjunction with the This BS1192:2007 briefing sheet has
been prepared in conjunction with the RICS QS &
Construction IT Business Group and the ICE Information
Systems Panel.
Summary
The new version of British Standard BS 1192 is now
available. Its official name is BS 1192: 2007, with a new
title Collaborative Production of Architectural,
Engineering and Construction Information. The previous
version dated from 1998 and provided a guide for the
structuring and exchange of CAD data. The new version,
with its emphasis on collaborative production, has a
clearer focus and has also been upgraded to a Code of
Practice.
For the first time the new standard offers definitive
guidance on how to implement collaborative work, as well
as the technicalities of how to use well-structured names
for the directories, files and layers. Now it is a Code of
Practice, the design team will need a very good reason
not to implement it.
The standard establishes the methodology for managing
the production, distribution and quality of construction
information, including that generated by CAD systems,
using a disciplined process for collaboration and a
specified naming policy. The standard is applicable to all
parties involved in the preparation and use of such
information throughout the design, construction, operation
and deconstruction of projects and throughout the supply
chain. The standard also acts as a guide for developers
of applications to enable them to support the
implementation of this standard through the provision of
configuration files or application add-ons.
BS1192 emphasises the importance of effective
collaboration between the participants in construction
projects on order to enable data to be reused accurately
and knowledgeably so that the full benefits can be
achieved. The new standard provides guidance to firms
in order to effectively share data and enhance the
productivity of the whole project team, while also reducing
costs.
Introduction
Collaboration between the participants in construction
projects is key to the efficient delivery of facilities.
Currently, many projects are increasingly working in new
collaborative environments in order to achieve higher
standards of quality assurance and the re-use of existing
knowledge and experience. A major constituent of these
collaborative environments is the ability to communicate,
re-use and share data efficiently without loss,
contradiction or misinterpretation.
Each year considerable resources are spent on making
corrections to non-standard data, training personnel in
data creation techniques, coordinating the efforts of
subcontractors and solving problems related to data
reproduction. If the implementation of standards is not
adequately addressed, there is the likelihood of significant
impediments to both the productivity of project teams and
their profitability.
BS1192:2007
BS1192 has been rewitten and justifies its new name by
the much needed inclusion of guidance on the processes
that should underpin the creation and management of
project data. Those familiar with the Construction Project
Information Committee (CPIC) and AVANTI guidance will
recognise the BS 1192:2007 guidance as a useful
distillation, but may still wish to refer to the supporting
CPIC and AVANTI documentation. The new version of
BS 1192 includes recommendations for implementation of
BS EN ISO 13567-2, the international CAD layering
standard, but it supersedes that standard and is much
wider in scope. The new Code is also compatible with
IEC 82045 family of metadata standards:
IEC 82045-1:2001: Document management - Part 1:
Principles and methods an international pan-
industry document management standard that is
perhaps most useful for its exhaustive classification
of the many metadata attributes that may be
associated with documents (containers of
information), surprisingly high number of which are
applicable to construction
IEC 82045-2:2004: Document management - Part 2:
Metadata elements and information reference model
which, as it sounds, contains a XML data model
which would probably bemuse readers that are not IT
professionals
ISO 82045-5:2005: Document management - Part 5:
Application of metadata for the construction and
facility management sector which contains modest
and down-to-earth recommendations concerning the
Briefing sheets are provided free of charge to help increase knowledge and awareness. They may be freely copied. Care is taken to
ensure information is correct, however readers are advised to consult source documents for authoritative information.
Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA Registered Charity No. 210252

metadata attributes of most interest to construction
industry professionals.
The take-up of old versions of BS 1192 was surprisingly
high. If the new version is equally well received, aside
from better processes, there may be greater consistency
in file naming within the industry. Naming files according
to the standard permits other project team members to
determine what is likely to be included in a file, or other
named container of information, simply by interpreting its
name. When composing a file name, name fields are
populated with codes taken from list of standard or project
specific codes and hyphen character (-) is used to
separate these field codes. Clearly, if a document
management system or project extranet is employed, its
facilities for assigning metadata would also be used, but
there are many good reasons to adopt a sensible and
consistent naming strategy.
If BSI do not publish a wall chart matrix setting out BS
1192:2007 naming conventions for folders, files, sub-
models and layers, industry firms will probably make their
own. It is very natural thing to do and a good way to
come to grips with the standards recommendations.
The table for file naming alone would look something this:
The fields and associated codes for Suitability and
Revision are used together to track the status of a file
when the repository (e.g. a document management
system) is not capable of tracking file status by other
means, i.e. the assignment of document attributes. In
general, when dealing with CAD files and referencing it
is probably best to include these name facets within files
themselves rather than file names as any changes are
liable to break reference links.
Some will argue that the new BS 1192:2007 Code is
meant to support large multi-disciplinary project working
(which it is), but much of it is equally applicable to
projects of any size, and has evolved and been tested
over many years. Unfortunately, standards tend to be
short on the explanatory text needed to win people over.
However, much supporting documentation is available via
the web under the auspices of CPIC and AVANTI.
In the same vein, one should still be able to obtain copies
of the PIX documentation from the Building CentreTrust.
PIX is described as a negotiated communications
protocol for construction projects that seeks to find the
best fit between the information systems of the client and
its advisors, the project team and supply chain involved in
the project. Dont let this dismay you, but rather think of
it as the source of a useful checklist of common sense
things that should be agreed at the start of a project.
If you do visit the CPIC site, it is worth reading the
guidance sections on specification. They deserve
an award for their clarity and overall excellence.

Links
To download BS1192:2007
http://www.bsi-global.com/en/Shop/Publication-
Detail/?pid=000000000030163398
Construction Project Information Committee (CPIC)
http://www.productioninformation.org/
Coordinated Project Information guidance can still
be downloaded free of charge at
http://www.productioninformation.org/final/contents
.asp
AVANTI: ICT enabled collaborative working
http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/ceavanti/
The Building Centre, Store Street, London, WC1E
7BT http://www.buildingcentre.co.uk


Erik Winterkorn, BCIS
ewinterkorn@bcis.co.uk
Jeff Stephens,
VINCI Construction UK Ltd
jeff.stephens@taylorwoodrow.com

March 2009
Briefing sheets are provided free of charge to help increase knowledge and awareness. They may be freely copied. Care is taken to
ensure information is correct, however readers are advised to consult source documents for authoritative information.
Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA Registered Charity No. 210252