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coBuilder UK helping companies create and distribute accurate data across construction industry

The creation and use of data is about to become part of the day-to-day construction business in the UK. But how is the industry actually going to face the challenges, especially in the context of Building Information Modelling Level 2 becoming mandatory in the UK in April 1st 2016?

This is by all means a huge milestone that is expected to massively revolutionize the whole industry.

coBuilder UK, the sister company of the Norwegian data expert coBuilder AS, is successfully trialling its BIM-enabled software tools in the UK. The company's mission is to support manufacturers in sharing their product data in all BIM formats and help contractors in the collection and distribution of 'as built' product information/data with their supply chains and clients.

The trials being undertaken with some of the UKs largest product manufacturers and contractors are showing how product data can easily and affordably be created and shared in multiple data formats in any language and to any naming convention.

"The construction industry is striving for increased productivity from BIM, which is based on accurate information. There is no way of achieving this goal without 'as built' accurate open DATA that we can all understand," says Nick Tune, CEO of coBuilder UK and openBIM advocate.

"Through our BIM enabled software coBuilder allows the construction industry to create, distribute and use the essential data or DNA of each building or infrastructure, so all actors in the supply chain are able to access the accurate information (data) they require, when they require it.

coBuilder UK, an international member of buildingSmart, is using openBIM standards to develop its software tools and solutions. buildingSMART data dictionary (bSDD) - a mapping tool for semantically defining technical terms - is one of those standards. By using the bSDD, coBuilder allows supply chains to understand different naming conventions regardless of language and to be able to freely and effectively exchange product data in common formats and based on a common technical language.

Since coBuilder UK was established in June of this year, it has already set up trials with most of the major contractors and manufacturers in the UK. One, Alex Lubbock of Carillion says: "Carillion provides facilities management functions across the world and it is vital that the data we receive and distribute during construction is accurate and can easily be used by our teams and our customers to manage their assets."

Another - Neil Thompson of Balfour Beatty, explains: "We are working with coBuilder to see how we can improve the collection and sharing of data with our supply chain partners, so that we can validate that what we have built actually meets our design specifications."

E: [email protected]
W: www.cobuilder.com

25th September 2015