CU Mar-Apr 2020

CAD User 

MARCH/APRIL 2020 

VOL 33 NO 02 

WWW.CADUSER.COM 

Quiet, please! 

Quiet Mark launches Acoustics Academy 

All Part of the plan 

3D Repo win the London Civic 

Innovation Challenge 

The BIM advantage 

WSP collaborates using Tridify's 

BIM Publishing 

GIS in Vectorworks 2020 

Integrating GIS for landscapers and architects 

INDUSTRY NEWS • CASE STUDIES • HARDWARE & SOFTWARE FOCUS • PRODUCT REVIEWS • FEATURES

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CONTENTS 

MARCH/APRIL 2020 

CONTENTS 

GIS IN VECTORWORKS 2020 12 

Incorporating GIS workflows into your 

landscaping and architectural projects can 

bring a new dimension to your work, writes 

David Chadwick 

ALL PART OF THE PLAN 16 

3D Repo have won the Mayor of London's Civic 

Innovation Challenge for their innovative 3D 

solution, PlanBase, which makes the planning 

system more accessible 

KEEPING BIM IN-HOUSE 20 

Scenario Architecture discover that the 

benefits of using Graphisoft's ARCHICAD and 

its BIM capabilities can be applied to a single 

house project 

ACOUSTIC ACADEMY 28 

Noise pollution is second only to air pollution as 

a threat to public health, according to the World 

Health Organisation. Quiet Mark has set up the 

Acoustics Academy to help us understand why 

NEWS................................................INDUSTRY NEWS....................................................................................................6 

• DIGITAL INNOVATION HOLDS THE KEY FOR HS2 • NEW SMART MFP FROM OKI EUROPE 

INDUSTRY FOCUS...........................BENEATH THE SURFACE OF DRAINING DESIGN.............................................14 

• ROB BUTCHER AT ACO WATER MANAGEMENT SHARES HIS TOP TIPS ON INTEGRATED DRAINAGE DESIGN 

CASE STUDY....................................CONCRETE RESULTS..........................................................................................18 

• TRIMBLE TEKLA'S ISMAIL MAKDA EXPLORES FIVE COMMON ISSUES ENCOUNTERED BY CONCRETE CONTRACTORS 

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS....................CITY SCALE DIGITAL TWINS FOR FLOOD RELIEF............................................22 

• BY ROBERT MANKOWSKI, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL CITIES AT BENTLEY SYSTEMS 

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS.....................MAKING AN ASSET OF BIM ...............................................................................24 

• DAVID CHADWICK AND EXCITECH'S DARYN FITZ DISCUSS HOW BIM CAN BENEFIT ASSET OWNERS 

CASE STUDY....................................THE BIM ADVANTAGE.........................................................................................26 

• WSP FINLAND IMPROVES COLLABORATION WITH ONLINE BIMS WITH TRIDIFY 

SOFTWARE RREVIEW......................BUILDING THE CONSTRUCTION CLOUD...........................................................30 

• AUTODESK CONSTRUCTION CLOUD ACCELERATES CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT FOR ENTIRE PROJECT TEAMS 

TRAINING MAP.................................AUTODESK TRAINING..........................................................................................32 

• YOUR GUIDE TO AUTODESK TRAINING 

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS....................DIGITISING PAPERWORK...................................................................................34 

• INTEGRITY SOFTWARE'S MOBILE FORMS GIVES ALL CONTRACTORS THE ABILITY TO SWITCH TO DIGITAL FORMS 

March/April 2020 3

COMMENT 

Editor: 

David Chadwick 

(cad.user@btc.co.uk) 

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Comment 

Water, water everywhere... 

by David Chadwick 

February saw the wettest month on 

record - much of it, it seems, dumped 

on the hills feeding into the River 

Severn, with the consequent floods 

drowning communities along its length. The 

catastrophes that persistent rainfall has 

produced this year, though, have affected 

many other areas both in the UK and 

overseas, including Australia, after months 

of forest fires, South America and some US 

States. Whether attributed to global 

warming or other factors, the frequency and 

intensity of such storms appears to be 

increasing, and they likely to get worse. 

The anguish of those caught in the floods 

is heart-rending, and we can only concur 

with the emotional plea that the flood 

defences put in place are not adequate, and 

that we must throw more money at the 

problem. The problem is 'how much', 'where' 

and 'how we should use it'? 

Putative solutions are being proposed by 

many bodies from, the UK Government to 

developers, explaining how their adherence 

to current flood mitigation requirements 

allow them to contemplate building new 

houses on flood plains. 

The biggest question of all, though, is the 

first one - how much will it cost to protect all 

of those communities that are being hit time 

and time again, both now and in the future, 

when the problem is projected to get much 

worse? The answer, I am afraid, is that the 

amount will be staggeringly large, and that 

any plans to protect one community have to 

be linked in with plans to protect the next 

one downstream, which will be swamped by 

flood waters hitting them faster and fuller. 

The money required to protect every 

community will surpass what can be 

achieved by emotional or social appeals, 

and will need to be submitted to cold 

financial fact. Decisions about what can, 

should, or cannot be protected will need to 

be backed by considerations of the costs 

involved. If you want to protect towns like 

Shrewsbury, which is flooded regularly by 

the River Severn, then you may have to 

sacrifice some of the adjoining land. 

I have nothing against Shrewsbury and use 

this merely as an example to illustrate the 

situation we are rapidly finding ourselves in, 

and to highlight the article in this issue by 

Robert Mankowski, VP, Digital Cities of 

Bentley Systems, who argues that we have 

the resources to quantify the effects of 

extreme weather events, and thus make the 

necessary financial decisions to support 

flood defence schemes, or to discard them 

as hopelessly extravagant. Keep in mind 

that the cost of rebuilding the levees after 

Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans has been 

estimated at $20 billion. 

It's another example of the benefits of 

creating a digital twin of a town, city or even 

country, which brings together all of the 

various quantifiable elements of any given 

area, and allows analyses and assumptions 

to be made about it, including, as you will 

see, its hydrological status and the cost of 

installing flood relief schemes. 

London is perhaps in a more precarious 

situation than Shrewsbury. It already suffers 

from isostatic rebound - an ongoing natural 

occurrence since the shrinking of the Ice 

Age ice caps which is causing the UK 

tectonic plate to tilt, sinking in the South and 

rising in the North. This is exacerbated by 

water extraction and bad planning over the 

last couple of hundred years, and now by 

rising sea levels caused by global warming. 

How soon before the Thames starts cresting 

the embankment? 

The floods knocked Brexit off the front page 

- and now since first writing this comment 

COVID19 has overtaken everything. It’s far 

too early to make assumptions about the 

future of infrastructure and the construction 

industry - or indeed anything else - as the 

state of the pandemic is still too fluid. We will 

no doubt have much more to discuss in 

future issues. 

4 March/April 2020

THE ULTIMATE 

SOFTWARE FROM 

SKETCH TO BIM 

Vectorworks Architect is the versatile solution 

that will save you time and allow you to sketch, 

draw, and model in a fully integrated BIM workflow. 

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT VECTORWORKS.NET/UK/ARCHITECT 

COURTYARD 33 | DESIGN BY 5468796 ARCHITECTURE

INDUSTRY news 

VISUAL INTEGRITY LAUNCH PDF2CAD V12 

pdf2cad, the best-selling 

PDF to DWG converter, is 

now at version 12. The new 

version includes additional 

options for separating and 

working with CAD layers as 

well as merging pages into a 

single drawing. The inclusion 

of an automatic font-mapping 

engine improves text handling, 

and a new option to convert 

password-protected PDF files 

has also been introduced. 

"pdf2cad has been saving 

the day for engineers, architects, 

and scientists for more 

than 20 years.", said Jean 

Haney, co-founder and CEO 

of Visual Integrity. "These new 

features offer advanced 

capabilities and resolve 

incompatibilities between 

PDF and CAD formats." 

www.visual-integrity.com 

NEW SMART MFP FROM OKI EUROPE 

OKI Europe has launched 

the MC883, a versatile A3 

colour smart multifunction printer 

(MFP) that's fully equipped 

to support construction businesses, 

where the ability to 

print and scan documents and 

plans to a professional quality 

at any time is key to keeping 

projects on track and customers 

satisfied. 

The MC883's easy user maintenance 

eliminates the need for 

engineer callouts, ensuring 

documents can be scanned, 

stored, copied or printed at all 

times, including site badges, 

contractor information, delivery 

orders, and health and safety 

certificates. 

Built on the same pprint 

engine as OKI's C800 Series, 

the world's smallest digital A3 

colour printer, the MC883 can 

fit into busy environments 

including construction sites 

where office space can be 

limited. Its media flexibility 

provides the ability to print 

banner paper up to 1.3m long 

in 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, 

as well as the fine details of 

drawings, plans, blueprints, 

and instructions, and signage 

on-site, without the need for 

outsourcing, saving time, 

money and space. 

The MC883 features 

advanced smart document 

management including OKI's 

exclusive SENDYS Explorer, an 

all-in-one software that boosts 

efficiency by digitising, sharing 

and organising all documents 

in a flexible and secure way. 

The software is embedded in 

OKI's printers and can be 

accessed via a web browser, 

enabling partners involved in 

delivering projects to quickly 

access and action plans and 

instructions. 

In addition, off-site, mobile 

printing applications enable 

remote printing directly to OKI's 

MC883 from mobile devices 

over a wireless network, with 

built-in security features including 

IPsec, Encrypted Secure 

Print, and authentications to 

protect confidential data. 

"With its small footprint and 

super-sharp print resolution, the 

new MC883 is ideal for construction 

businesses that need 

to print fine line drawings and 

supporting instructions, as well 

having the requirement for sharing 

plans and information quickly 

with project partners and key 

stakeholders," says Javier 

Lopez, General Manager Vertical 

Solutions, OKI Europe Ltd. 

www.oki.com/eu 

CREATING A SPACE FOR LASER SCANNING 

Pointfuse has launched a 

new toolkit specifically 

designed to make it easier to 

adopt laser scanning within 

space management, planning 

and utilisation workflows. Pointfuse 

Space Creator automates 

the conversion of features such 

as walls, doors and windows to 

BIM LOD 200, and is compatible 

with the latest mobile mapping 

systems that are increasingly 

being used for as-built 

and as-used surveys within the 

facilities management sector. 

Pointfuse software converts 

the millions of individual measurements 

captured by laser 

scanning and photogrammetry 

into useable 3D models. The 

unique ability to classify objects 

within Pointfuse, both automatically 

and manually, has already 

had a huge impact on how asbuilt 

data is used within design 

and construction. With the 

launch of Space Creator, Pointfuse 

can now realise real time 

records for space utilisation 

and optimisation projects by 

deskilling and streamlining 

workflows, thus reducing project 

costs. 

Pointfuse Space Creator 

leverages the core functionality 

of Pointfuse - the segmented 

mesh model; automatically 

converting classified mesh 

models into 'family' groups, 

such as walls, floors, doors, 

windows, etc. for use with 

popular downstream BIM and 

FM software. 

Pointfuse Space Creator data 

can then be exported as IFC 

(Industry Foundation Class) 

parametrised objects while also 

automatically calculating quantities, 

areas and dimensions in 

an easy to read PDF building 

information report. 

www.pointfuse.com 

6 

March/April 2020

Project Information Management. 

For Architects, 

Engineers, 

Contractors 

& Owners 

Smarter, Flexible Project Delivery: 

• Online, collaborative workshare 

• Office 365 SharePoint platform 

• Standardised document control 

• ISO 19650 naming compliance out-of-the-box 

• Workflow productivity with design authoring, 

collaboration and ERP systems 

Atvero ® increases process efficiency, improves quality, reduces risk and time administering 

construction projects. Because it's built on the Office 365 SharePoint in the Cloud, it helps 

organisations efficiently manage and access project contacts, email, document and 

drawing content—wherever and whenever needed. 

Smarter, Flexible Project Delivery at £16 per user per month 

Find out more at www.atvero.com 

Terms and conditions apply

INDUSTRY news 

DIGITAL INNOVATION HOLDS THE KEY TO HS2 

Shareplant is urging the 

industry to tap into efficiency 

gains brought by digital technology, 

to help make ambitious 

infrastructure projects like HS2 

feasible. Mark Watters, founder 

and MD of Shareplant, said: 

"The viability of major projects 

like High Speed 2 hinges on our 

sector's ability to catch up and 

make the same gains in efficiency 

other industries have enjoyed 

by embracing digital technology. 

"Our industry should be hungry 

for every opportunity to 

make savings and deliver more 

cost-effective, leaner schemes. 

If we can deliver these kinds of 

ambitious projects on time and 

on budget, it makes a difference 

not just for us but for the 

whole of the UK that will benefit 

from the new infrastructure." 

Shareplant is a UK-first online 

construction equipment sharing 

& rental marketplace and 

construction management 

software suite for site managers 

and equipment owners, 

bringing the efficiency of the 

sharing economy (services like 

Uber or Airbnb) to construction 

plant and tool hire while 

helping to modernise the management 

and administration of 

construction projects by using 

paperless, cloud-based construction 

software. 

The software and app unlock 

new revenue streams for construction 

firms, making it easier 

to offset depreciation while plant 

is idle during a project and easier 

to cheaply rent plant - leading 

to more efficient and frictionless 

allocation of resources, smart 

use of data and generating savings 

that flow through every 

stage of a project. 

www.shareplant.com 

NEW SUPPORT FOR OASYS MASSMOTION 

Oasys MassMotion has 

received multi-language 

support with a simple Chinese 

interface and user support, 

along with new features and 

capabilities. These include new 

elevator analysis options, conditional 

wait spaces in process 

chains and a range of usability 

enhancements. 

Initially developed for Arup 

engineers to help understand 

the impact of crowding on 

major infrastructure projects, 

Oasys MassMotion is now the 

most flexible, commerciallyavailable 

crowd simulation software 

in the world. It offers 

robust geometry editing and 

BIM import capabilities, flexible 

operations and logic modelling, 

and a wide variety of analysis 

options, including easily implemented 

analysis of vertical circulation. 

It enables the smartest 

agents to react dynamically to 

emerging situations. 

www.oasys-software.com 

BENTLEY SYSTEMS ACQUIRES GROUPBC 

Bentley Systems has 

acquired GroupBC, a 

leading UK SaaS software 

innovator. For over twenty 

years, GroupBC’s and Bentley’s 

software solutions have 

been deployed for complementary 

purposes to improve 

project and asset information 

management. 

Keith Bentley, CTO for Bentley 

Systems, said, "Our iTwin cloud 

services, taking advantage of 

iModel-based solutions for 

interoperability, are ideal for federating 

CDEs. This enables us 

Virtual Surveyor has released 

Version 7.1 of its popular 

drone surveying software, introducing 

functionality to efficiently 

calculate volumetrics in quarries, 

mine pits, retention ponds, 

and other basins that fill with 

water. This new functionality 

complements advanced cutand-fill 

mapping capabilities 

unveiled in late 2019. 

"Virtual Surveyor is now the 

go-to package for managers 

of mines, drainage pits, and 

stormwater retention basins," 

said Tom Op 't Eyndt, CEO of 

Virtual Surveyor nv in Belgium. 

"Volumetric calculations involving 

water bodies can be performed 

much faster and more 

accurately." 

Virtual Surveyor is popular 

among surveyors because it 

bridges the gap between UAV 

photogrammetric processing 

applications and engineering 

to assure that the users of our 

BC SaaS services will benefit 

from further extending the value 

of their project and asset information 

through digital twins. 

"With the help of our new 

GroupBC colleagues, we will 

now be able to better serve 

engineers, contractors, and 

owners by bringing together 

their collective IT (information 

management), OT (operational 

technologies including 

reality modeling), and ET 

(engineering models)." 

www.bentley.com 

VIRTUAL SURVEYOR SOFTWARE FOR DRONES 

design packages. The software 

generates an interactive 

onscreen environment with 

UAV orthophotos/DSMs 

and/or LiDAR point clouds 

where the surveyor selects 

survey points and breaklines 

to define the topography, creating 

highly accurate products 

up to five times faster than 

otherwise possible. 

In Version 7.1, the user can 

apply two new functions called 

Extract Level and Create Water 

to delineate an entire water 

body and represent its surface 

as a single elevation. Delineating 

the water feature can be 

accomplished with a single 

click on a point where the 

water meets the edge of a 

basin, pond or quarry. This 

creates a perfectly flat elevation 

for the water surface in the 

generated surface model. 

www.virtual-surveyor.com 

8 


MARKET focus 

ERP for house builders 

EasyBuild's house building module provides complete marketing and sales progress functionality to 

handle the full range of house purchasing schemes 

In our EasyBuild ERP primer in the 

last issue of the magazine we 

pointed out that Enterprise 

Resource Planning requires different 

solutions within different sectors of the 

industry. One of the areas that 

EasyBuild specialises in is house 

building, or to be more specific, 

supplying software to contractors 

engaged in house building. 

One of the most interesting aspects 

of this is that a typical housing project 

comes with a large number of 

customers rather than just one primary 

client. To make it more complicated, 

there are numerous ways in which 

customers are able to pay for their 

purchase - from outright cash 

purchase to shared ownership, 

government subsidies like 'Help to Buy' 

or schemes such as the ongoing 'Buy 

to Let' program. 

Different schemes have been 

introduced over the last couple of 

years to stimulate different sections of 

the market, some with more success 

than others, in a bid to tackle the 

underlying shortage of suitable houses 

in some areas, and the difficulties that 

younger people now have in acquiring 

their own home. 

EasyBuild's ERP solution therefore 

not only needs the flexibility to be able 

to accommodate each and every 

house purchase scheme but also must 

be able to provide contractors with the 

information they need to calculate the 

risks associated with each of them. 

The essence of ERP is, of course, the 

ability to integrate the construction and 

operational elements of a building 

project with the financial. 

You might think that getting involved 

in the financial side of house 

purchasing would be better left entirely 

to the solicitors and mortgage brokers 

working for each of the clients, who 

should be able to guarantee payment 

of the agreed price once contracts 

have been exchanged, but with more 

and more contractors offering one 

scheme or another and advertising 

such on the building site, the 

mechanics of each needs to be 

factored into the project costs. You also 

have to consider the ratio of affordable 

properties that need to be included in 

large house building projects. 

10 


MARKET focus 

FUNDING YOUR HOUSE PURCHASE 

I thought it would be useful, then, to 

look at the different options available 

to house builders, consider the pros 

and cons of each, and attempt to 

gainsay the UK Government's 

intentions in each area, showing how 

EasyBuild can assist by analysing 

costs against projected income. 

The government is an important 

factor in this equation. Faced with a 

shortage of accommodation and a 

need to stimulate house building, 'Buyto-Let' 

was introduced a couple of 

years ago. Even with deposits of 25% 

and higher rate mortgages, the 

expected return of around 8-9% which 

most were achieving proved popular - 

perhaps a bit too popular, as the 

government's generosity was scaled 

back, cancelling the tax relief available 

to landlords. The demand for such 

properties is still strong though, 

despite it being considered a high-risk 

investment by lenders. 

It was a quick fix which has proved 

very profitable for some builders but 

not so popular for young people, who 

aren't able to buy their own homes 

because of the inflated prices and high 

deposits required. Another government 

initiative was required, Help to Buy, 

which offered first time house buyers 

20% towards the cost of the property, 

which would be returned when the 

property was subsequently resold or 

after a fixed period. 

Variations on multiple tenancy 

purchases have also sprung up. This 

enables two or more people to share 

the cost of purchasing the property, 

subject to a couple of minor 

conditions. A beneficial joint tenancy - 

the term is used whether the joint 

owners are in a freehold or leasehold 

property - means that tenants can't 

resell their share of the property and 

must leave it to be shared amongst the 

other tenants if they leave the property 

for any reason. Tenants in common, 

however, can sell on their share of the 

property to whoever they want. 

To compound the complexity of the 

situation even further, the government 

has stipulated that building projects 

above a certain size must have a 

sizeable proportion of 'affordable' 

homes of lower quality but within the 

price range of local people, who might 

otherwise have to move away from the 

area. It is even being said that blocks 

of houses within some housing 

developments are being bought by city 

councils to rehouse problem tenants or 

Middle Eastern refugees. 

GOVERNMENT STRATEGIES 

The common factor throughout all of 

this is the UK Government which, 

depending on whoever is in power, has 

numerous strategies to motivate house 

builders to construct more houses to 

meet a constantly increasing demand. 

The evidence is the encouragement of 

the Buy-to-Let market, followed soon 

after by Help to Buy. The problem is 

that house builders with finite 

resources and numerous parcels of 

land for development, not to mention 

low margins, must decide which end of 

the market to aim at. Focusing on 

individual target markets influences the 

type, density and kitting out of each 

property - expensive options that 

govern the amount of profit that the 

project could generate. 

Whilst government strategies are 

bound to change on a regular basis, 

each of the house purchase schemes 

currently in place involve different 

levels of risk. Buy-to-Let financing 

takes this into account by requesting 

higher deposits and interest rates, for 

instance, to balance bad tenancies 

and periods of non-occupancy, whilst 

shared purchases probably take into 

account the possibility of earlier 

closure of the arrangement when joint 

tenancies split up. 

EASYBUILD FOR HOUSE 

BUILDERS 

So you can see why EasyBuild has 

included a complete module for house 

builders in its construction 

management software, which includes 

an integrated house sales section that 

provides financial and project 

accounting from setting up a plot to 

post completion. House builders are 

more closely involved in the sales 

process for each property, including 

setting marketing strategies that 

outline the financial schemes available 

to prospective customers, or the scale 

of rent that Buy-to-Let landlords can 

expect on completion. 

The module is also used to track 

progress on each property, assess 

probable completion dates, and 

ascertain expected income and 

expenditure throughout the life of the 

whole project, which is absolutely vital 

in order to balance cashflows, pay for 

supplies and subcontract resources - 

and to fine-tune the projects profitability. 

House builders are as keen to satisfy 

the public demand for houses as much 

as the government, but are reliant on a 

certain amount of stability in the 

markets they should be addressing. 

While this can't be guaranteed, they 

need the resources of a 

comprehensive software tool that is 

flexible enough to handle any of the 

house purchase schemes described 

here, or even future schemes, and 

deliver the operating information to run 

successful house building projects on 

a daily basis. 

www.easybuilduk.com 


SOFTWARE review 


GIS alignment with a CAD data file 


Incorporating GIS workflows into your landscaping and architectural projects can bring a new 

dimension to your work, writes David Chadwick 

If you can integrate your building plans 

or landscape designs with one of the 

main GIS solutions then you have 

access to a wealth of additional tools that 

will add veracity and realism to your 

project. Vectorworks Architect 2020, 

already a comprehensive set of modules 

that allows users to design from terrain 

data through to a finished product, has 

enabled full integration with Esri - a global 

leader in GIS software - to bring its wealth 

of location information to its users. It 

allows project managers to consider many 

other factors when making design 

decisions, such as online mapping, terrain 

characteristics, prevailing weather 

conditions, existing infrastructure, aerial 

imagery, visual aesthetics and much more. 

Esri brings its ArcGIS Online services to 

the partnership with Vectorworks, providing 

quick access to its GIS imagery, data and 

geometry, to the benefit of all modules of 

Vectorworks 2020 software: Vectorworks 

Architect, Landmark and Designer. 

"The process of integrating GIS 

information with a BIM model became 

tremendously easier with the ability to 

incorporate data from Esri ArcGIS Online 

services early in the design process. 

Further, the resulting georeferenced files 

make it easy to collaborate," said 

Vectorworks Landscape Product 

Marketing Manager Eric Gilbey, PLA, 

ASLA. "A broad range of AEC and 

landscape professionals will benefit from 

the new integration including those 

planning with architecture firms or 

delivering government, master planning or 

campus planning projects. They'll notice a 

much more seamless and direct GIS 

workflow that is a huge time saver." 

A couple of new Vectorworks tools have 

been added to provide access to online 

mapping and aerial images, namely 

Geoimage and Geolocate. Geolocate 

uses geographic coordinates and 

projection in a Vectorworks file to 

accurately geolocate properties simply by 

entering an address. If you subscribe to 

the ArcGIS Online services plan you will 

then be able to download more maps and 

other imagery directly into Vectorworks. 

One Vectorworks user who has been 

trying out the software was much 

impressed. "I love how Vectorworks often 

takes a user request to the next level, 

digging deep into the nature of the 

request and planning far ahead to meet 

user needs into the future," said Anna 

Arbetter, licensed landscape architect at 

Futurity, Inc. "As an Esri user, the similarity 

to the ArcGIS environment makes 

Vectorworks even more of an asset for us. 

We use GIS extensively and incorporate it 

into every project. The streaming imagery 

service allows us to instantly assess 

whether our project data has shown up in 

the right location." 

GIS WORKFLOWS IN 

VECTORWORKS 2020 

The GIS features in Vectorworks 2020 - 

Geolocate, Geoimage, GIS Stake, Graticule 

and Great circle - are accessed through a 

new tool, and are all georeferenced. I'll 

explain what the first three of these do 

shortly, but first you need to understand the 

processes that go into ensuring that, when 

you place your building on a piece of the 

Earth, everybody else knows exactly where 

it is. For this you need to know about 

georeferencing and its role in the process. 

Pinpointing a spot on the sphere of the 

Earth and then showing it on the 2D flat 

surface of a map has always been a 

challenge with maps. It encouraged early 

navigators to devise a number of ways of 

achieving this, the most popular 'projection' 

being Gerardus Mercator's, developed in 

1569. To picture this, imagine a cylinder 

wrapped around the earth with a light 

source at the centre of the Earth, etching 

the coastlines of all land areas onto to the 

cylinder, and then unrolling the cylinder and 

laying it out flat. Obviously the extreme or 

polar areas will be much larger than land 

masses near the equator, which is why 

Greenland and Russia appear much larger 

than they really are. 

To produce workable maps, some 

modification was permitted to allow 

individual countries to develop their own 

internal grid systems, based on the 

12 


SOFTWAREreview 

Importing a georeferenced shape file 

IFC file placed in georeferenced location 

Universal Transverse Mercator - which 

basically utilises a cylinder on its side 

instead of vertical. The Earth is then divided 

into 60 UTM longitudinal zones, each 6 

degrees apart, from which individual 

countries have developed their internal 

mapping grid systems. In the UK we use 

the British National Grid, and in Australia it's 

the MGA or Mapping Grid of Australia, 

which incidentally has UTM zones 1000km 

apart instead of 670km - overlapping zones 

in the 45-56 UTM zone region in which 

Australia lies. 

THE GEOLOCATE TOOL 

Clicking on the Geolocate tool in the GIS 

toolset brings up a warning dialogue which 

states that the tool will change the 

geographical location that corresponds 

with the document's - your map's - internal 

origin. If you are happy with that, you can 

then select the coordinate system that you 

want to work in. You have a number of 

options, but the one you should probably 

use is 'Use a common coordinate system 

or enter Well Known Text (WKT)'. If you click 

this it will lead you to the British National 

Grid / OSGB 1936 system, whose default 

location is usually London. As 

georeferencing needs to be set for each 

individual layer of your document, you need 

to go through the Navigation-Design 

toolbox to make sure it has the correct 

georeferencing system and setup. For 

convenience sake, you can also change 

the layer name to Geoimage. 

You have now got to find out where you 

are in the world, and to do this you click 

on 'search for location'. Entering a town or 

place name allows Vectorworks to 

connect to the ESRI server and bring up a 

list of matches. Select the one you want 

and an image of the location is displayed 

and an internal origin is set in your 

document. If your selection is accurate 

then your building site will be near to the 

internal origin. 

GEOIMAGE 

You can then add the location image to 

your document, either in Satellite or Map 

mode, by drawing a rectangular polygon 

which fixes an interactive image within the 

document - becoming, in effect, a window 

into the surface of the Earth. This image 

only displays when you have Vectorworks 

open and you will need to click the 'update' 

button each time you reload Vectorworks. 

GIS STAKE TOOL 

This allows you to place a modified Stake 

object, like a temporary aerial image or 

map, which depicts exactly where you are - 

and as it is interactive, it's coordinates 

reflect those in the georeferenced 

document. You can also then import a 

georeferenced DWG or Shape files file, 

confirming, again, whether they use the 

correct georeferenced settings, and under 

Advanced check its location, scale, 

whether it is 2D or 3D, and whether it is 

aligned with the internal origin. If everything 

is done correctly you will find the new 

images coincide with the rest of the 

information in the working document 

exactly. Adding georeferenced Shape Files 

adds a lot more information to the working 

document, and are used extensively by 

local authorities to check site data: blocks, 

zones, streets, perimeter's etc. 

Typically, adding DWG files is done using 

a shuttle file - creating a secondary file and 

confirming all settings as usual, and 

referencing that from the working 

document, placing a Viewpoint to upload 

when required. 

IMPORTING AN IFC FILE 

You can see the extent to which the GIS 

tools have had to focus on establishing 

precise locations, exact longitude, latitude 

and orientation settings, correct layer 

usage and matching settings throughout, 

until you come to the reason why you have 

done all this - placing your building 

precisely where it should be. 

With a few more tweaks (and there is 

somewhat more behind that laid out 

above) having set your 'user origin' in your 

document and selecting another layer and 

locking it so it can't be moved, you can 

import your IFC file with a few simple 

commands (Building - IFC ) whereupon it 

is imported as a georeferenced model. 

You can then render it in OPenGL, change 

the viewport and view your building 

precisely located where you would like it to 

be. Job done! 

Echoing Anna's earlier comments, once 

you start integrating GIS with your 

Landscape and Architectural documents 

you will get so much more satisfaction 

about the entire process and enjoy 

dropping your designs exactly where you 

want them to be. Impress your clients even 

more than you usually do! 

www.vectorworks.net 


INDUSTRYfocus 

Beneath the surface of drainage design 

Rob Butcher, Design Services Manager at ACO Water Management, shares his top tips for finding the 

right software for an integrated design approach to drainage 

Surface water management is a critical 

consideration in any development, 

and recent flooding events highlight 

the importance of preventing further 

pressure being placed onto existing 

infrastructure. For those tasked with 

designing systems that mitigate the 

damaging effects of flooding, there are 

some key factors to look out for when 

opting for design software. 

1. Usability 

First and foremost, hydraulic design 

software has to be straightforward to use. 

One of the biggest obstacles that many 

face at the design stage is an overcomplicated 

platform that prohibits access 

to some of the most important features. 

Software should be as simple as possible to 

use, seeking to overcome the 

misconception that drainage design is too 

complicated. 

It is equally important that software can be 

used across a range of IT platforms, as this 

will help to reduce the time it takes to design 

surface water management solutions. If the 

construction industry is to tackle the issues 

associated with heavy rainfall and flood 

events, design software needs to be as 

accessible and intuitive as possible. 

2. Application specific 

Design work requires its exponents to be 

detail orientated, and because of this, it 

can be easy to lose sight of the overall 

project. Opting for software which positions 

the end-application front and centre can 

help to overcome this issue, and ensures 

that drainage solutions are matched to the 

specific requirements of the project. 

Pedestrianised surface water 

management projects will require a 

different approach to highways, just as 

industrial drainage will vary depending on 

the focus of the business. Design software 

needs to offer the capability to select 

project type and size at the start of the 

process, in order to produce the most 

accurate results. 

3. Location specific 

Alongside ensuring that design software 

can cater to specific applications, the 

geographical location of a project has 

obvious implications for surface water 

management. Everything from rainfall 

density to topography impacts the way that 

drainage is designed, and it is crucial that 

this is considered at the very earliest stage 

of a construction project. 

The most precise and straightforward way 

to ensure drainage is equipped to deal with 

location specific considerations is to use 

readily available data. ACO QuAD - a freeto-use 

hydraulic design software - is able to 

integrate with Google Maps, meaning 

users can input their exact location and 

automatically receive rainfall intensity for 

that area. 

When coupled with the ability to calculate 

run-off coefficient, based on the 

permeability of the chosen surface and 

surface storage calculation options, 

designers will be able to plan a highly 

accurate hydraulic drainage system in a 

matter of minutes. This should also include 

the ability to factor in angled surfaces, 

which is a crucial part of drainage design. 

4. Integrity 

Surface water management is something 

that requires a collaborative approach, 

and design software's primary purpose 

should be to ensure correct planning of a 

project. It needs to be a design-first 

programme, rather than simply a 

marketing or sales tool, in order to 

produce the best possible outcome. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

There are a number of different tools 

available for drainage design, but it is 

important that accuracy and usability takes 

precedent over commercial 

considerations. Opting for a platform that 

offers location and application specific 

capabilities will ensure that surface water 

management improves, ultimately helping 

to protect against storm and flood level 

events in the future. 

ACO's QuAD software exemplifies the 

above, serving as purely a surface water 

design tool, with designs only being shared 

with ACO if the user makes a conscious 

decision to do so. It has been built on the 

four cornerstones outlined above, 

combining usability and integrity with 

application and location specific 

functionality. It has been created to be 

intuitive to both architects and engineers 

alike, and can be used with ACO's 

Visualiser platform to provide an insight as 

to the look of the finished installation. 

www.aco.co.uk/home.php 

14 


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TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS

CASE study 

3D Repo PlanBase - Planning response (above and right) 

All part of the plan 

3D Repo have won the Mayor of London's Civic Innovation Challenge for their innovative 3D solution, 

PlanBase, which makes the planning system more accessible 

You might think that 3D Repo's 

success in winning the Mayor of 

London's Civic Innovation 

Challenge has been trumped by the 

Government's announcement about the 

suspension of the need to seek planning 

permission for home extensions and 

improvements - but you would be wrong. 

The introduction of 3D Repo's 

innovative 3D solution is still a critically 

important improvement in the way that 

individuals and building owners address 

planning requirements for listed 

properties and adhere to building 

regulations. The somewhat archaic 

processes currently in place are being 

brought into the 21st century and, 

probably more to the point, planning 

issues can be dealt with in real time with 

direct access to planning officers who 

tend to be in short supply and rather 

overstretched, anyway. 

The competition attracted over 125 

entrants offering a variety of solutions to 

address London's most pressing 

problems - an exciting opportunity for any 

young tech company trying to make a 

name for itself in the market. 

3D Repo's winning solution is an opensource 

3D planning portal, PlanBase, 

which is based on their award-winning 

digital construction platform. PlanBase 

operates as a standalone website but can 

also be embedded into existing planning 

portals where residents and planners 

alike can review proposals in 3D and 

comment on them where it matters most. 

The people of London will be able to 

access PlanBase via a web browser and 

drop 'pins' based on a specific topic and 

provide feedback directly in 3D. 

Dr Jozef Doboš, Founder & CEO of 3D 

Repo confirmed the problems with 

current planning applications described 

above, explaining that current planning 

processes struggle to communicate 

properly with the public, and are bogged 

down with applications and Information 

overload with over-reliance on 2D 

architectural diagrams that most people 

cannot comprehend. PlanBase makes it 

easier to digest that information in 3D, 

and the online platform will make it more 

accessible for everyone to have their say. 

A recent survey by Talk London, which 

received over 1,000 respondents, 

overwhelmingly revealed that 87% of 

Londoners care strongly about new 

developments and would want to engage 

with planning if it was easier to do so, 

with 70% of those people surveyed 

suggesting it would ideally be done in 3D. 

As a tech start-up 3D Repo employs 

just 11 people but is already transforming 

how construction projects are designed 

and delivered by democratising data, 

mitigating risk, and reducing complexity 

for architects, engineers, and 

contractors. 3D Repo's collaborative 

online platform has already been used on 

some of the most challenging 

construction projects in the UK, including 

King's Cross station remodelling, Hinkley 

Point C nuclear power station, and 

London's Wood Wharf District. 

THE BASICS OF PLANBASE 

Through its work with GLA, the CIC 

partners and its own research with 

residents and multiple planning 

professionals, 3D Repo has become well 

aware of the issues involved in widening 

informed access to planning processes. 

This points to a lack of understanding of 

proposals presented in 2D formats, 

unreadable textual submissions and a 

lack of opportunity to post comments and 

suggestions. 75% of respondents to the 

Talk London survey expressed their 

dissatisfaction that what comments they 

did make were not acknowledged nor 

considered during planning. From the 

planners' point of view, despite placing 

planning portals online, very few 

comments were being submitted. 

To address the problems, and to provide 

the 'wow factor' and visual narrative that 

were needed to engage with the public, 

3D Repo designed PlanBase, a 3D Repo 

16 


CASE study 

3D Repo PlanBase - Planning overview 

3D Repo PlanBase - Power dashboard 

Digital Construction Platform in the cloud: 

https://3drepo.com. This gives residents 

and planners the ability to review 

proposals in 3D and comment on them. 

Using the interactive 2D Geographical 

Information System (GIS) interfaces in 

PlanBase, users can also drop pins 

based on a specific topic and provide 

feedback directly in 3D. This is a far cry 

from current practices, which require 

residents and objectors to provide written 

submissions or email relevant 

information, for planners to collate, 

analyse and respond to manually - with 

scant discussion with the correspondents 

and extending planning processes by 

weeks or even months. 

Users are instead provided with a 

friendly and accessible solution which 

has been tested by thousands of 

construction workers (not always the 

most tech savvy of users) over the years. 

And, being open-sourced, PlanBase is 

totally free - a business model that 3D 

Repo has been using successfully for the 

past 5 years. Although it operates as a 

standalone website it can also be 

embedded into existing planning portals, 

making it unique amongst the 

competition. It's also AEC ready, with a 

BIM background rather than being built 

on top of a GIS solution, unlike its rivals, 

and can therefore become part of the 

whole lifecycle of a building project. 

PlanBase goes much further, though. 

Developers of large projects can place 

their 3D models in fully rendered 

augmented reality and immersive VR 

environments, where all associated 

issues can be factored into the planning 

process - design, environment, property, 

transport, education, health, community 

and leisure - and make suggestions and 

revise plans, with all changes being 

recorded and subsequently available 

through 3D repo's patent pending 3D Diff 

software, which is able to highlight 

changes between revisions. 

PlanBase will also become the basis of 

a London Digital Twin. Storing all the 

submissions, GLA, 33 London Boroughs 

and British Land will over time build a 

complete, BIM enriched model of the 

whole of London. To support the 

development of such a model, existing 

3D Repo APIs will provide additional 

business intelligence and feedback 

aggregation without any human bias or 

tampering, improving on transparency 

and accountability. 

The involvement of the public does not 

need to stop when the planning 

application is approved. Site managers 

can continue to make the project 

available online, providing an opportunity 

for continuing public involvement 

throughout the construction lifecycle - 

and potentially beyond. 

THE AIM OF PLANBASE 

PlanBase is designed to deliver a better 

understanding of planning proposals and 

the impact of both the finished buildings 

and their construction while also 

providing the ability to comment on 

specific areas and topics throughout the 

entire project lifecycle. It will promote 

better understanding of the wider 

narrative within the context of the whole 

city including public transport, GLA and 

Local Councils, and provide better 

analysis and data mining capabilities 

including the ability to preview 4D 

construction schedules. It also fulfils the 

aims of the National Digital Twin 

Programme required by the Treasury and 

the Centre for Digital Built Britain. 

Developers will also have an improved 

means of promoting their projects to the 

public and other stakeholders. 

THE PILOT METHODOLOGY 

It has to be stressed that PlanBase is 

aimed at promoting a pilot project which 

will test the validity of a full-scale 

application. It has been developed to 

look at user interaction, preview relevant 

project information and collect feedback 

by dropping 'pins' based on specific 

topics of interest. 3D Repo's key 

objective was to increase engagement 

and interactivity while reducing 

unnecessary clutter. 

During the pilot, 3D Repo aims to deploy 

PlanBase on a test scheme with a local 

council so that the interactive user 

interface can be tested with residents en 

masse, evaluating initial input 

requirements gathered with a select 

group of planning professionals from GLA 

and local councils. The entire interface will 

then be evaluated, including user 

journeys for planners, the admin interface 

and integrations for actual deployment, 

and live workshops with willing 

participants will be set up to get early 

design feedback from residents. 

The observation of system interaction 

and usability will help 3D Repo to tweak 

and improve the design even further. 

Finally, a live scheme will be run in parallel 

with the existing planning portal for 

consultation purposes to compare and 

contrast KPIs, and prove the advantages 

of PlanBase. 

https://3drepo.com 


INDUSTRY focus 

Concrete results 

One of the most commonly used man-made materials on earth, concrete is a vital part of the 

construction industry. However, the practicalities of working with structural concrete, whether precast 

or poured, can prove highly complex, especially on large projects with tight deadlines or where 

complex design geometry is required. Here, Ismail Makda, Business Development Manager - 

Concrete at Trimble Tekla UK explores five of the common issues encountered by concrete 

contractors and discusses how incorporating digital technology, including BIM, within their workflow 

could help provide a solution. 

Q: Between the tender process and a 

contract being awarded, 

information such as drawings, 

material take-offs and cost estimates, can 

be lost. How can contractors ensure that 

this information is maintained and 

controlled, avoiding the need for repetition 

or valuable time being wasted? 

A 

: Even at the initial tender stage of a 

project, valuable time, labour and 

resources are dedicated to creating and 

presenting a clear bid and concept. During 

this preliminary phase, concrete estimators 

will often be presented with initial 2D 

drawings in a PDF format, from which they 

will then have to generate accurate material 

quantities and take-offs for project time and 

cost estimations - overall, a very long and 

time-consuming process. 

However, once the contract is awarded 

and the project moves to the Technical 

Design stage, all of the previous data, 

documentation and work can often be lost 

during the transition, essentially meaning 

that the design team will have to start from 

scratch. Incorporating BIM tools, such as 

Tekla Structures, or an information 

management platform within a company's 

processes can help to eliminate the need 

for such repetition and time wasting, 

helping to manage the movement of data 

further down the DPoW and ensuring only 

the relevant data is transferred. 

Q 

: Following on from the subject of data 

sharing, how can concrete 

contractors effectively communicate with 

other project parties? 

A 

: With such a large number of trades 

and contractors working on any project, 

it is a challenge to ensure that all parties 

work together effectively. Indeed, 

collaboration and communication are vital 

in order to ensure that all building elements, 

whether precast and cast-in-situ concrete or 

steel rebar, frames and beams, are not 

designed in isolation but are instead 

considered as a whole. 

The consequences of failing to consider 

the bigger picture and communicate with 

other subcontractors are widely evident, 

with design clashes between structural 

components being a common occurrence 

on construction projects. Discovering such 

issues on site can be hugely detrimental to 

the overall project delivery, resulting in 

additional costs and time delays due to 

rework being required - something that can 

be especially time-consuming when it 

comes to precast concrete or rebar cutting 

and bending. 

So, how can digital technology help? 

Since the launch of Trimble Connect, it's 

great to see that people within the concrete 

industry are still getting excited about the 

benefits a cloud-based platform can 

provide. Enabling teams to view, share and 

reference up-to-date project data, drawings 

and documentation is incredibly valuable, 

encouraging greater communication and 

providing visibility of the project as a whole. 

Such a data-sharing platform also opens 

18 


INDUSTRY focus 

up enhanced communication channels 

between project parties, providing a 

streamlined approach as opposed to 

lengthy email chains. In turn, this will also 

aid problem-solving on a project, as 

concrete contractors can easily discuss any 

potential problems with other contractors, 

being able to pinpoint exactly where on the 

model the issue is, add comments and 

even assign a task to a specific person on 

the project. 

Q 

: Temporary works, including formwork, 

can often be overlooked during the 

design process. How can contractors more 

quickly and efficiently plan, design and 

manage formwork operations? 

A 

: This is a real issue within the 

industry. Indeed, we often hear from 

formwork contractors and suppliers who 

report being brought onto a project last 

minute and provided with limited notice 

and/or information to deliver the formwork 

design drawings. 

It is for this reason that we have been 

working hard over the last few years to 

develop tools within Tekla Structures 

specifically for formwork contractors and 

suppliers, providing them with the ability to 

design formwork in a quick, efficient and 

largely automated manner. From a library of 

ready-made common formwork 

components and the flexible insertion of 

different formwork panels, corners, shoring 

and pouring platforms to the ability to 

automate repetitive tasks, such as the 

placing of formwork ties and clamps, with 

digital processes formwork contractors can 

benefit from intelligent, automatic tools. 

Despite often being overlooked due to its 

temporary nature, formwork can in fact be 

the most time-consuming part of any castin-situ 

concrete construction project. 

Therefore, the ability to design and model 

the required formwork in a way that is both 

quick and highly accurate not only prevents 

project delays due to design errors being 

discovered on site, but also allows for a 

more streamlined process, with the site able 

to be efficiently and successfully prepared 

ready for the concrete to be poured. 

Q 

: Whether coming from the architect's 

office, client or elsewhere within a 

project, last minute design changes are 

extremely common on any construction 

project. However, how a contractor deals 

with such changes can have a significant 

effect on the overall project delivery… 

A 

: Yes, last minute design changes can, 

understandably, result in significant 

consequences for the delivery of a project, 

especially if contractors have not digitised 

their processes or are still working in 2D 

only. Regardless of the building material, 

change management can be a hugely 

stressful challenge, with considerable time 

needed to redesign the component or 

section in question, ensure the new design 

is constructible within the wider context and 

then update all associated precast or rebar 

fabrication drawings. 

Kilnbridge, the concrete contractor, 

experienced exactly this on the Water Street 

Bridge project in Canary Wharf, but as a 

result of its BIM processes the company 

was able to efficiently resolve the last minute 

changes. Two weeks prior to a key concrete 

element being constructed, the permanent 

works engineer noted that the design 

calculations hadn't correctly accounted for 

the loading from a ship impact, meaning 

substantial changes in the concrete 

reinforcement were required. Fortunately, 

Kilnbridge was able to promptly incorporate 

the changes within Tekla Structures and 

confirm that the new design was 

constructible, enabling the corresponding 

fabrication drawings and schedules to be 

generated quickly and efficiently. 

What's more, by linking BIM software to 

Rhino and Grasshopper, concrete 

contractors can even further improve their 

ability to react efficiently to last minute 

changes, as incorporating parametric and 

data driven design within the digital 

workflow makes it even easier to adapt the 

model. Design teams would be able to 

update the parameters of the particular 

concrete component or rebar section with 

the new required figures/data in Rhino, with 

the associated model, along with all 

documentation and drawings, in 

Grasshopper and Tekla Structures 

automatically updating. 

Q 

: Inefficient information transfer, 

incorrect documentation and human 

error at the concrete design, fabrication 

and pouring stage can all prove hugely 

detrimental to a project's delivery. How can 

concrete contractors work to minimise 

such risks? 

A 

: The amount of information and 

documentation contained on any 

construction project will be significant, 

making it difficult to ensure that the correct 

data has been transferred to the correct 

stage or department at the correct time, 

especially if a contractor has not digitised its 

workflow. What's more, with a human 

workforce, the potential for human error has 

to be an expected risk for contractors to 

consider, whether at the formwork design, 

pouring or precast or rebar fabrication 

drawing stage. 

By moving to a digital workflow, this human 

element of risk is, for the most part, 

removed, with features such as clash 

detection, smart information management 

and automation all stepping in. A 

completed Building Information Model will 

contain an immense amount of informationrich 

data, from which all pour, precast 

fabrication and rebar bending drawings and 

schedules can then be generated. This 

provides concrete contractors with the 

assurance that all resulting data and 

documentation will be accurate as it is 

recycled throughout the workflow. 

Q 

: What does the future hold for 

concrete contractors? 

A 

: With technologies moving ahead at a 

rapid pace, many contractors risk 

getting left behind should they not avail 

themselves of all the different efficiencies 

embedded within such technology. Indeed, 

in the current climate, we are seeing an 

increasing number of contractors going 

under due to the growing pressures within 

the construction industry. 

With the emergence of technology such as 

point cloud scanning, augmented reality, 3D 

printing and machine learning, it represents 

a marked change in how contractors can 

obtain, transfer and communicate 

information. Slowly but surely, we are seeing 

the 3D BIM way of working becoming the 

norm, with those who have embraced and 

positively adopted it already reaping the 

project cost savings and the enhanced 

efficiency and profitability. 

For more information, please visit: 

www.tekla.com/uk 


CASE study 

Keeping BIM in-house 

Scenario Architecture discover that the benefits of using Graphisoft's ARCHICAD and its BIM 

capabilities can be applied to a single house project 

We tend to think of BIM being a 

requirement for large scale 

projects as a collaboration tool 

between multiple and diverse disciplines, 

but the process is just as valid in single 

property developments. Small project 

team members can even be inspired to 

share processes and data using 

dedicated software applications like 

Graphisoft's Teamwork - as demonstrated 

effectively by Scenario Architecture, a 

London based practice who tested out 

the hypothesis on a renovation and 

expansion project for their own Victorian 

terraced house. 

Scenario Architecture specialises in 

the high-end residential sector, creating 

homes that are beautiful, functional and 

ideally suited to each client. Since the 

introduction of BIM, and being early 

practitioners of Graphisoft's 

ARCHICAD, the practice has adopted 

and optimised BIM processes for its 

typical residential projects. 

The partners, Maya Carni and Ran 

Ankory, purchased the house to 

completely renovate, expand and adapt 

for their own lifestyle, providing an 

opportunity to fully utilise ARCHICAD 

and test the extent to which BIM 

collaboration can be effective when 

applied to a single residential renovation 

and expansion project. 

Scenario believes the term 'BIM' is often 

used simply as a buzzword to show that a 

company is "not behind on current 

trends," or to describe an ideal, futuristic, 

completely unified - and possibly 

unattainable - construction process. | 

Scenario Architecture distanced 

themselves from both definitions, finding 

them irrelevant for a practice on 

Scenario's scale. They believe, instead, 

that a successful BIM collaboration 

simply means that the entire project team 

works from a single, coordinated and 

frequently updated 3D model from which 

all project data, drawings and 

specifications are obtained. 

They begin each project by 

commissioning an accurate laser scan 

survey, and build a 3D BIM model of the 

existing situation from scratch within 

ARCHICAD using the point cloud data as 

a reference, overlaying it onto their model 

to make sure that it is accurate. 

To make the setup for each project quick 

and easy and to minimise unnecessary 

work, they developed a rather 

sophisticated ARCHICAD template with 

presets, model views, layer combinations 

and graphic overrides optimised in terms 

of project size and complexity. They also 

tested the best translators to export and 

import IFC models, the main format they 

use to communicate with other 

consultants who are not using 

ARCHICAD. The model is used from the 

initial existing building elements, through 

planning tender and construction, all the 

way to "as-built drawings". 

The ability built into ARCHICAD to 

examine the model by cutting through it 

top to bottom and side to side means 

that the model can be more detailed, 

resulting in greater clarity and accuracy in 

the 2D output produced from it. Quantity 

surveyors, contractors and 

subcontractors often commented on this 

to Scenario Architecture, unaware that the 

architects used BIM and ARCHICAD to 

produce the packages. 

A DOWN TO EARTH APPROACH 

Scenario's down-to-earth approach works 

well in practice, using BIM as an everevolving 

process. If a consultant sends 

SketchUp models to the architects for 

coordination it is not considered a 

problem, nor will it hamper BIM 

collaboration. Ideally all parties will use the 

open IFC file format but the main model is 

developed in BIM and issues are 

communicated and resolved in 3D. They 

also create all projects using ARCHICAD 

Teamwork, so that team members can 

work on the same design project 

simultaneously. 

From project to project, Scenario continue 

to improve and refine their template. Their 

in-house BIM knowledge improves as each 

project presents new challenges and calls 

for creative solutions. They also find that 

new consultants joining them need at least 

two projects to truly understand and enjoy 

the benefits of using BIM - it's a continuous 

learning process for everyone involved. 

Early stage discussions are very easy and 

clear when exploring the model together; it 

helps clients, planners, engineers, 

surveyors, sustainability consultants and 

other stakeholders to understand the 

design intent, challenges and the test 

solutions easily through workshop-style 

meetings. Using quick renders, 3D cutouts 

and the 3D document function in 

ARCHICAD, and especially Twinmotion 

and ARCHICAD, they can quickly produce 

high-quality real-time visualisations that 

help everyone involved understand the 

design intent. 

The software's scheduling tools also help 

them to maintain coordinated and up-todate 

information about sanitaryware, 

20 


CASEstudy 

lighting, electrical, windows, doors and 

finishes with less room for mistakes and 

misunderstandings, and their tender and 

construction documents are clearer, 

resolving as many of the technical details 

as possible in 3D. 

DESIGN CHALLENGES 

The main design challenge presented by 

the Scenario House project was to 

physically and visually connect the front 

part of the house with the basement below, 

while producing an open plan 

encompassing living, dining and kitchen. 

An accurate BIM model of the existing 

building was created showing local context 

and correct orientation. It was then solved 

fully within the 3D environment by creating 

a split-level double reception connected to 

the kitchen and garden beyond via an 

angled and glazed rooflight and a 'floating' 

library feature that leads up to the 

bedroom floors. 

The original internal spaces were cramped 

and the living areas had low ceiling heights; 

the only direct connection to the garden, 

the conservatory, was used mainly as a 

storage space. All public activities were 

disconnected from each other and from the 

outdoors and isolated into separate rooms. 

Not much light entered the spaces that 

were used the most, all located on the 

lower ground floor. 

RESOLVING THE BRIEF USING 

ARCHICAD 

Working within a virtual environment helped 

Scenario increase the level of complexity in 

the design geometry, and they came up 

with and designed a split-level, open, 

double reception, connected to the kitchen 

and garden level by an angled, glazed roof 

extension and a 'floating' library feature 

leading up to the bedroom floors. 

Optional solutions were tested to utilise 

every square inch of the house and fulfil the 

brief. These included, for example, the use 

of 'leftover' spaces under the stairs, under 

the eaves, in hallways and limited height 

areas. These spaces are often overlooked 

in traditional 2D design and are much 

easier to spot and resolve in the realistic 3D 

environment ARCHICAD provides. 

Lowering the reception area also presented 

an opportunity for a fun and practical kids' 

area under the stairs, complete with a 

pullout table and bench inviting the kids to 

spend time playing and doing their 

homework and artwork in a connected part 

of the home. 

BIM COLLABORATION 

Early concept models were exchanged with 

the project's structural engineers. Scenario 

Architecture normally use IFC format for file 

exchange, and sometimes FBX, OBJ or 

DWG, depending on what others use. In 

this project, the structural engineers used 

SketchUp, but they created a great level of 

detail, showing everything down to the nuts 

and bolts. Exchanging files using IFC they 

found workshops assisted collaboration, 

supported by emails with quick 

screenshots and annotations. 

As a result of the relatively simple systems 

implemented it was not necessary to 

appoint M&E engineers, and Scenario's 

technical team produced all the information 

needed in-house using ARCHICAD's MEP 

Modeller, which proved very useful in 

plotting a mechanical and electrical design 

and resolving clashes with the architectural 

and structural designs. It also helped them 

refine the design and communicate the 

intentions to the contractor and his 

plumbers and electricians. 

REAL-TIME VISUALISATIONS & 

VIRTUAL REALITY 

Scenario tries to make full use of the latest 

technologies to help them show their 

designs to clients, planners and 

contractors. Two such technologies that 

they believe have the potential to 

completely revolutionise their design 

process are real-time realistic visualisations 

using Twinmotion and Virtual Reality. 

Twinmotion allows them to produce decent 

quality rendered model in which they can 

navigate in real-time. As a design tool it 

also helps them quickly consider the look, 

feel and light conditions of different layouts 

in the initial design stage and compare 

various material finishes during the detail 

design stage. 

Virtual Reality takes visualisations to 

another level. Normally used to create 

expensive and highly polished 

presentations, Scenario previously thought 

it had limited value, but now, even at 

relatively low resolutions, a real-time VR 

experience that does not require an 

expensive setup process can be an 

amazing way to explore early design 

concepts throughout the project design 

stages. In fact it prompted Scenario to offer 

their clients a complementary copy of 

Graphisoft BIMx with stereoscopic view 

mode using Google Cardboard. 

www.scenarioarchitecture.com 


TECHNOLOGY focus 

City scale digital twins for flood resilience 

By Robert Mankowski, Vice President, Digital Cities at Bentley Systems 

Extreme weather events and rising 

populations are straining existing 

(and often inadequate) drainage 

infrastructure in cities around the world, 

leading to flooding that damages 

property and infrastructure, impacts 

human safety, and weakens economies. 

In 2015, the United Nations reported 

that over the previous decade, floods 

accounted for 43 percent of all 

documented natural disasters around 

the world, affecting 2.3 billion people 

and causing US$662 billion in 

damages. And this number is getting 

worse. The Organisation for Economic 

Cooperation and Development 

(OECD) reports that the number of 

flooding disasters worldwide almost 

doubled from 2000-2009 relative to the 

previous decade. 

Climate change, due to its role in 

extreme weather events and rising seas, 

is exacerbating flood risks, especially in 

coastal and low-lying areas. At the 

same time, populations in flood zones 

and the coastal regions continue to 

increase - worsening an already deadly 

and costly situation. There are 

projections that by 2030, around half 

the people in the world will be living 

within 100 kilometers of a coastline. 

In response to these threats, cities are 

striving to improve their flood resilience 

with data-driven planning, 

development, and operations. Some 

cities are accomplishing this through 

the use of digital twins to improve the 

resilience of current infrastructure and 

to support ongoing development and 

future planning. 

DIGITAL TWINS 

A digital twin is a virtual representation 

of a physical asset, process, or system. 

Digital twins of cities provide accurate 

and reliable data to city agencies 

involved in flood risk assessment, 

preparedness, response, recovery, and 

mitigation. They contain information 

that enables users to perform analysis 

and make informed decisions for a 

range of activities, from long-term 

urban planning to time-critical 

emergency response. 

Digital twins are created from (and 

continuously updated with) data from 

multiple sources, which is what 

differentiates them from static, 3D 

models. Also, cities are now taking 

advantage of cloud services, the IoT, 

sensors, RFIDs, and smartphones to 

update digital twins to almost real-time 

status of city conditions. These updates 

enable cities to use digital twins to 

better manage and optimise 

infrastructure assets. 

CREATING FLOOD 

RESILIENCE MODELS 

Creating a digital twin to enable flood 

resilience entails integrating city-scale 

reality modeling, 3D mapping, and 

flood modeling. The resulting flood 

resilience model can be used for 

analysis, simulation, visualisation, and 

communication. 

To start, reality modeling and 3D 

mapping software are used to generate 

a high-resolution, city-scale 3D reality 

mesh by using overlapping photos from 

drones and ground-level imagery, 

supplemented by laser scans where 

needed. The reality model/mesh is 

spatially classified, meaning that the 

individual buildings, parcels, and other 

elements of the meshed cityscape are 

tied to underlying, applicable GIS data. 

The reality model is also natively 

engineering-ready, with sufficient 

resolution and scalability to zoom into 

an area and perform engineering work 

directly off the mesh. And, crucially, the 

reality model includes digital terrain 

data, which is fundamental for any 

hydrological simulation. 

Next, a flood resilience model is 

created by setting up a computational 

mesh for the area of interest, be it the 

whole city or just a fraction of it. This 

computational mesh is then populated with 

22 



data used for flood simulations. Digital 

terrain data can be taken directly from the 

reality model to provide accurate surface 

data for the flood modeling software as 

well as a visually realistic context for 

viewing flood simulations. 

The reality model can also be used to 

identify streets, pavements, green 

spaces, trees, and other information 

required by the flood resilience model. 

The flooding software uses numerical 

models to simulate a range of hydraulic 

and hydrological processes, including 

rainfall, infiltration, surface runoff, channel 

flow, and groundwater flow. This flood 

resilience model can be integrated with 

sewer and stormwater network models to 

dynamically simulate urban stormwater 

flow and drainage, as well as flooding in 

coastal areas due to storm surges. 

It can also incorporate real-time feeds 

relating to new meteorological data, 

current hydrological conditions, and 

operational statuses from existing 

infrastructure assets, for example. These 

feeds might include recent rainfall 

amounts, current river flow rates, working 

status of pumps, and so on. And, given 

the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones 

and social media, there could even be live 

feeds documenting localised street and 

tidal flooding to support flood-related 

crisis management. The model is 

continuously refreshed from multiple 

sources, such as sensors, continuous 

surveying, or GIS updates-to represent 

current conditions. 

USING FLOOD RESILIENCE MODELS 

Flood resilience models support a wide 

variety of activities related to the 

evaluation, prevention, and response to 

floods. The models can be used to 

assess the extent of river or coastal 

flooding, calculate river conveyance 

capacity, test infrastructure resilience, or 

assess current land-use strategies in 

flood zones. 

One of the primary uses of flood models 

is the simulation of what-if scenarios that 

show the impact of flooding on homes, 

properties, streets, and infrastructure. 

These simulations can be used to 

determine flooding risks for existing 

conditions and to evaluate proposed 

mitigation strategies. 

For example, cities can simulate river 

flow during a flood event and analyse 

losses based on extent of flooding 

compared to building data such as 

property value. With this feedback, 

planners can use the software's built-in 

modeling tools to develop mitigation 

measures (such as higher levees, 

increased capacity of a stormwater 

system, or greater use of green roofs and 

permeable paving) and rerun the 

simulation to test the effectiveness of their 

proposed mitigation measures. 

For ongoing operations and emergency 

response, agencies can use operational 

flood models that run continuously to 

anticipate and mitigate the impact of 

floods. These operational models are 

updated with the latest information from 

observed and forecasted weather 

conditions, water levels in reservoirs, data 

from hydrological stations, and radar and 

satellite images. 

Bundling this information into a single 

system and using the flood resilience 

models allows cities to estimate with 

accuracy the conditions in the upcoming 

hours or days. Flood risk mitigation can 

then be achieved using the information 

produced by these operational systems to: 

Take proactive actions such as 

increasing the storage capacity in 

reservoirs by draining them before the 

flood wave arrives 

Take preventive measures such as 

installing temporary flood protection 

devices 

Transmit early warning messages. 

Flood resilience models that show 

simulations in the context of city 

surroundings also help better convey 

information. Communicating and visually 

presenting this information in an easily 

understandable way can help 

stakeholders make decisions regarding 

city planning and infrastructure proposals, 

and also engage citizens for public 

outreach efforts. 

CONCLUSION 

Digital twins represent a comprehensive 

environment that supports flood resilience 

planning, as well as ongoing management 

and operations of the city infrastructure. 

Visually communicating actionable 

information also helps stakeholders make 

more informed decisions prior to costly 

design or construction efforts. Digital twins 

represent a golden opportunity for cities to 

optimise the performance of municipal 

infrastructure assets and take proactive 

steps for flood resilience planning. 

For more information regarding Bentley 

solutions for implementing digital twins 

and developing flood resilience, visit: 

www.bentley.com/en/campaigns/digitalcities/flood-resilience-digital-twin 



Making an asset of BIM 

David Chadwick and Excitech's Daryn Fitz discuss how BIM can benefit asset owners 

David Chadwick: How are 

building and infrastructure asset 

owners benefitting from Building 

Information Modelling (BIM)? 

Daryn Fitz: In the long run, BIM is 

predicted to reduce overall project 

costs and risks, and the UK 

Government has proposed savings of 

up to 20%. So for client/employer 

organisations this is a compelling 

reason to support the transition with an 

understanding that, as the construction 

sector transitions to digital working, 

efficiencies will be delivered that could 

reduce costs for the client/employer. 

Many client/employer organisations 

today may now be embarking on their 

third or fourth BIM enabled project and 

using that overused description that 

they are "on a journey." 

Their first exposure to BIM may have 

been via designers such as architects 

presenting 3D digital models, real-time 

walkthroughs of their proposed new 

building, or photorealistic imagery. On 

a following project, they may have 

been presented with a federated model 

showing all the design consultant's 

designs and references to clash 

detection processes, which also may 

have been experienced both from 

designers and main contractors. They 

possibly may have also been 

presented with a 4D planning 

sequence so they could visualise the 

construction sequence in 3D and 

understand each phase of works. 

These are all good initiatives and will 

of course allow for improved 

communication, understanding and 

better decision making, but for most 

asset owners, the advantage BIM 

offers is an opportunity to improve the 

operational phase and receive useful 

information and data from the project 

team at completion. 

DC: So how is this achieved? 

DF: It starts with the client/employer 

defining what they want from the 

project as an output. This should be 

aligned to the organisation's 

information requirements and is often 

defined in two documents: an Asset 

Information Requirements document 

and an Employer's Information 

Requirements document, which is 

supplied to the project delivery team in 

the early stages of a project. This could 

include the design consultants and 

perhaps later the main contractor when 

employed. These documents will 

typically state what information and 

data is required and when, and how it 

24 



must be formatted, presented and 

shared across the project team. 

So to summarise, on a BIM enabled 

project, the client/employer sets the 

standards and culture of the project. 

My day-to-day work is often spent 

supporting these types of organisations 

in developing their requirements, 

documentation and providing a point of 

contact during project delivery. When 

we consider the information traditionally 

received at the end of a project, this is 

typically provided in hundreds or 

thousands of PDF files in the form of 

maintenance information, operation 

manuals, drawings, etc, and is often 

incomplete or inaccurate. That is a lot 

of information, and it can be very 

difficult to search or locate what is 

required within it. This is certainly not a 

data driven approach. 

DC: Isn't Building Information Modelling 

focused around data? 

DF: Yes, exactly and there is a process 

clients/employers can request in their 

Information Requirements documents 

which is known as COBie which stands 

for Construction Operations Building 

Information Exchange (COBie). It is a 

non-proprietary data format for the 

publication of a subset of BIM, and very 

much focused on delivering asset data. 

If a main contractor at the end of a 

project provides COBie (which is 

typically in an Excel spreadsheet 

format), this can be migrated into a 

client's/employer's Computerised 

Facility Management System (CAFM), 

e.g. Archibus. With a system like 

Archibus, no longer is everything lost 

within PDF's. All the really useful data 

associated with a water pump for 

example is captured, e.g. the 

manufacturer, life expectancy, 

replacement cost, serial number, 

spares, what maintenance tasks are 

required, what tools might be needed 

etc. This data can be migrated into any 

system as required, often supporting 

planned and preventative maintenance 

activities and ensuring statutory 

compliance such as legionella water 

testing or managing spares lists. 

DC: How is the information and data 

generated? 

DF: Designers using BIM authoring 

systems such as Autodesk's Revit can 

include COBie parameters in their 

objects. For instance, with a 3D object 

representing the water pump the 

parameter for the flow rate would be 

inputted. As the project progresses 

once the water pump has been 

purchased, the manufacturer's details 

can be added. Once it is installed, the 

date of installation and warranty 

information can be inputted. 

For systems such as Revit there is a 

free COBie plugin which will allow for 

the automated export of COBie into an 

Excel spreadsheet format, ready for 

migration to a CAFM system or other 

systems as required. 

DC: Is Excel the only way of exporting 

or sharing COBie information? 

DF: No, but this is the easiest format 

and lowest denominator for now 

allowing any organisation, regardless 

of size, to provide the required data. 

Using Excel or CSV files as a 

'connector' is common practice, but we 

are seeing lots of new tools and 

applications supporting the COBie 

process, so this is an area where if you 

came back to see me in five years' 

time, the technology and process I am 

sure would have evolved and become 

increasingly seamless. 

DC: Is COBie widely requested by 

clients/employers and are they getting 

the benefit today? 

DF: For those organisations who are 

perhaps on their third or fourth BIM 

enabled project or have complex 

assets to manage, such as airports, 

hospitals, and process plants, the 

answer is yes with regards to adoption 

rates. However as a percentage of the 

industry as a whole, I suspect it 

remains low but exponentially 

increasing. As an unquantified answer, 

I would estimate that maybe 10% of 

projects are requesting asset data in a 

COBie format at this time. 

Often the requirements can be vague 

and open to misinterpretation, so 

better definition and clearer 

communication of the asset 

requirements including COBie is 

required. On projects where asset data 

in a COBie format is requested, I often 

see an incomplete set of information at 

handover. The data that is there is 

useable but the full advantages that 

BIM and COBie offers to asset owners 

is not being fully realised. 

I must of course point out that I have 

also seen the opposite where excellent 

data at handover has been used to 

support facility management, but these 

are less common. 

DC: So, what advice would you provide 

to asset owner organisations today? 

DF: Firstly, if you believe we are moving 

increasingly to a digitally led economy 

and ways of working then on your next 

project you should request BIM 

workflows from your supply chain. 

Secondly, if you are an asset owner 

who has to maintain a portfolio then 

consider requesting COBie from your 

suppliers, and if you already have an 

existing CAFM system or are thinking 

of investing in one, definitely request 

COBie, so your supply chain is 

capturing data now ready to populate 

it. And finally, you utilise third party 

expertise within your team or employ 

someone to be your Information 

Manager and ensure they are in place 

from the start to the end of the project. 

The last item is very important. Many 

projects start off with the best 

intentions, but unless there is 

ownership and someone monitoring the 

process on a regular basis at the end 

of the project, the information, data and 

outputs expected may not delivered. 

There is a fantastic opportunity for the 

construction sector to reinvent itself via 

digitisation and it all starts with the 

client/employer organisations leading 

the change. 

You can discover more about 

Excitech's complete range of solutions 

at the website below. 

www.excitech.co.uk 


CASE study 

The BIM Advantage 

WSP Finland improves collaboration with online BIMs with Tridify's BIM Publishing cloud service 

As one of the world's largest 

professional services firms with 

around 50,000 employees, WSP 

provides engineering, architect and design 

services to clients in various industries, 

including Transportation, Infrastructure, 

Buildings, Environment and Energy. From 

the tallest towers to the deepest stations, 

WSP's experts plan, design and deliver 

complex projects, drawing on over 130 

years of technical excellence. 

BARRIERS TO SHARING BIMS 

WSP Finland always takes advantage of 

the latest technologies and applies its 

culture of innovation when tackling 

projects. The firm wanted to find new ways 

to share BIM models in the early design 

phase of architecture, transportation and 

infrastructure schemes, often with clients 

or colleagues who 

didn't have any BIM knowledge and who 

could be anywhere in the world. 

Working in disparate teams and trying to 

collaborate using BIMs is often a problem 

for anyone involved with BIM. This is 

mostly due to traditional methods requiring 

all stakeholders to download a specialist 

application and become familiar with how 

to use it, before they can receive and view 

a BIM file. 

Roope Syvälahti, construction consultant 

and project manager at WSP Finland, 

explained: "To show clients or colleagues a 

BIM model, previously we might have a 

Skype or physical meeting but often this is 

simply not practical and not very effective. 

And unless all those involved are BIM 

experts, the software needed is too 

complex to use." 

26 


CASEstudy 

NEW WAYS OF WORKING 

WSP Finland decided to use Tridify's 

BIM Publishing cloud service and soon 

realised it was a perfect fit. By simply 

uploading BIMs into Tridify as IFC files, 

BIM models are now published to the 

web in just a few clicks. WSP simply 

chooses which 3D models to publish, 

either one type of model on its own, or 

a combination of models such as 

structural, HVAC and electrical, all 

combined in the same view. 

"As soon as we saw the Tridify service 

we knew it was what we'd been waiting 

for," commented Syvälahti. "Being able 

to rapidly publish BIM models to the 

web opens up new ways of working. 

This ease of use is impressive, with no 

barriers to adoption. Clients or 

colleagues can easily view models 

when they want, on any device and it 

also solves the problem of involving 

stakeholders who are not accustomed 

to specialist design software." 

"Clicking on a URL or QR code allows 

them to interact with 3D models and 

intuitively wander around. Another 

bonus is the very low cost of the Tridify 

service so there's no risk of investing 

heavily in an expensive new solution. It 

only costs us $90 per month which 

provides enough capacity for 

several projects." 

BETTER COLLABORATION 

One of the main success factors of the 

Tridify service has been how it 

improves the way teams work in the 

early design phases. Now anyone 

involved in a project can engage with 

a 3D model, as Karoliina Lehtonen, 

BIM Coordinator at WSP Finland, 

highlighted: "Now all parties can easily 

visualise a space, see how it looks 

and understand how everything is 

going to function. 3D models are 

obviously far superior to 2D plans 

when communicating in the early 

phases of any project, helping people 

to understand what something is 

going to look like. Now we share more 

models but without having to use 

specialist design software, so users 

can be from Finance, Marketing or 

Contracts." 

WSP has also found that users who 

are not familiar with BIM models aren't 

scared of using them anymore, as 

they simply open the URL and drag, 

zoom and pinch the visualisations on 

their phone - an interface that 

everyone is comfortable with. 

"Clients now have the opportunity to 

understand a design better as, using 

Tridify, 3D models are more readily 

available and meetings are more 

efficient. Overall, everyone has the 

opportunity to be more engaged and 

involved, from project managers to 

building users, as they have the same 

3D information as the designers. Client 

teams can also see the changes in a 

design faster and they can see the real 

impact of changes in the model," 

Lehtonen continued. 

To date, WSP has used the Tridify 

service on commercial buildings and 

transportation projects, including 

underground stations, but will soon be 

adding healthcare to this growing list. 

A clear benefit here will be allowing 

medical staff such as doctors and 

nurses to see how a new hospital will 

function. "It's invaluable to be able to 

give 3D models to anyone who is 

involved in the use of a building so 

they can give vital, initial feedback," 

commented Syvälahti. 

BENEFITS TO CLIENTS 

WSP is always exploring how 

digitalisation can improve its 

productivity by updating existing 

processes. By removing the barriers to 

using BIM models more often and with 

a wider audience, workflows are 

becoming more efficient. 

"Tridify allows us to share the benefits 

of 3D models with more people, 

earlier, which improves collaboration 

and accelerates the understanding of 

what a project looks like and how it will 

function. Streamlining this part of the 

process saves time, reduces the 

chance of any miscommunication and 

delivers valuable benefits to clients," 

concluded Lehtonen. 

www.wsp.com 


CASE study 

Quiet, please! 

Noise pollution is second only to air pollution as a threat to public health according to the World 

Health Organisation. Quiet Mark has set up the Acoustics Academy to help us understand why 

It may not have quite the same impact 

on the environment and people's lives 

as global warming, CO2 emissions or 

air pollution, but noise pollution can be an 

aggravating intrusion which can seriously 

impact one's mental health. It is not a new 

phenomenon, either, as the Noise 

Abatement Society has been an active 

campaigning charity bringing the 

damaging effect of noise pollution to the 

fore since 1959. On the other hand, 

properly controlled sounds can add to the 

enjoyment of musical or theatrical 

performances. With all of the other 

disturbances we are currently 

experiencing it might seem perverse to 

add yet another, but an understanding of 

the effect of noise on our lives will pay 

benefits for us all in the long run. 

One organisation that understands noise 

and its effects is Quiet Mark, associated 

with the Noise Abatement Society. They 

have been engaging with the construction 

and manufacturing industries, consumers, 

retailers and influencers over the last eight 

years, encouraging them to establish 

noise reduction and acoustics as a key 

element in product design, which has led 

to them becoming an internationally 

recognised champion of noise reducing 

technology and processes. Quiet Mark's 

purple 'Q' symbol is now used by global 

brands to demonstrate products that are 

the 'quietest' in their class. 

To further its aims, Quiet Mark launched 

the Acoustics Academy at the Surface 

Design Show in London in February to 

showcase expertly verified acoustics 

solutions for building sector materials for 

architects, designers, contractors, tradebuyers 

and the wider building sector, and 

to educate the industry on the complex 

technical details of acoustic design 

solutions, making them more accessible, 

better understood and of higher quality - 

and to encourage design responsibility for 

health and wellbeing. 

Acoustics Academy has been developed 

in partnership with Quiet Mark's expert 

acoustic teams, which includes worldrenowned 

acoustic consultants; Anderson 

Acoustics, Head Acoustics and Intertek, 

using leading sound measurement 

expertise to review products and sort out 

the complex data to be able to compare 

products. It looks at specialist products, 

materials and technologies, covering 

every type of acoustic solution for all 

building application scenarios. These 

include acoustic glazing; sound barriers; 

panels; pumps; acoustic doors; 

insulation; commercial ventilation; 

acoustic plasters and surfaces and much 

more. Building application areas include 

residential, commercial, industrial, 

schools, offices, healthcare, hospitals, 

restaurants and public spaces. 

NOISE IN THE BUILDING SECTOR 

Sound measurement is complicated. It's 

almost impossible to know how building 

or interior designs will sound with so many 

foundational material elements involved, 

and building professionals typically don't 

know enough about which acoustic 

products are best to meet their needs or 

to suit their project budgets. As a result, 

sound design can often be low on the list 

of priorities. Products and materials are 

selected without understanding their 

acoustic performance. This leads to poor 

acoustics in buildings, which are 

detrimental to human health. 

Noise in our built environment can cause 

short and long-term health problems, 

including stress, sleep disturbance, 

increased risk of hypertension and 

cardiovascular disease, as well as hearing 

impairment. Our bodies are not designed 

to cope with these constant aggravations 

and they take their toll. The World Health 

Organisation defines noise pollution as 

the biggest threat to public health after air 

pollution. This is especially true for those 

with autism, dementia and people of any 

age with sensitive hearing, who need help 

to find solutions to protect hearing and 

prevent hearing loss. 

The importance of acoustic design 

cannot be underestimated, then, 

especially when open plan living means 

sound bounces around and quickly 

amplifies in the absence of absorbing 

surfaces. 

Poppy Szkiler, Founder and Managing 

Director, Quiet Mark comments: 

"Acoustics Academy is our new online 

platform to serve the Building sector by 

further equipping and empowering 

architects, designers and industry with 

expert-approved acoustic materials, 

products and solutions. Our buildings 

must evolve to embrace responsible 

sound design to transform living spaces 

into harmonious soundscapes that deliver 

excellence in acoustic design and support 

our desire for quieter living." 

28 


CASE study 

COLYER-FERGUSSON HALL 

A proper understanding of acoustics is not 

only about sound supression. It can also be 

used to enhance the quality of sound in 

concert halls and similar venues. It's a 

complex situation, as optimum sound 

levels and quality must be achieved in all 

corners of the hall for a range of 

performances, from a single musician to a 

full orchestra. This was demonstrated with 

the Colyer-Fergusson Hall in the University 

of Kent in Canterbury. 

The Colyer-Fergusson music building, 

situated in the Kent University campus in 

Canterbury, is a unique and charming 

venue for musical performances or 

academic conferences. It consists of one 

large hall with adjustable and retractable 

seating, plus a foyer area on the ground 

floor. On the first floor there are two more 

rooms holding twenty five people which are 

ideal for small breakout sessions from the 

main event in the hall. Colyer-Fergusson is 

next to the Gulbenkian Theatre and Cinema 

where there is a second larger foyer area, 

which makes a great location for 

registration desks and attendees to mingle 

during lunch and other breaks. 

Thanks to a generous donation from Sir 

James Colyer-Fergusson and The Colyer- 

Fergusson Charitable Trust, the new centre 

for Music Performance opened in 

December 2012, creating an Arts complex, 

and housing a wide range of music-making 

at the university. More than any other 

discipline, acoustics figure here to prevent 

a complete cacophony of sound 

emanating from rehearsals, breakout 

sessions and the performances in the main 

hall itself. To achieve the results they 

required, all of the doors of the mainly 

wooden hall were provided by Enfield 

Doors, who are Quiet Mark awarded and 

are members of the Acoustic Academy. 

Proof that the acoustics work was 

provided by one well-known British group, 

the Brodsky Quartet, who said ''The feeling 

on stage is close to perfect, with that 

beautiful warm wood all around and the 

dimensions are just right: spacious but still 

intimate. The acoustics are just fantastic: 

one can hear a pin drop and comfortably 

explore the extremes of dynamics.'' 

The hall was designed by Tim Ronalds 

Architects, along with a team of 

consultants including Arup Acoustics and 

Carr & Angier. With adjustable acoustics 

and retractable seating able to 

accommodate everything from intimate 

chamber recitals to large-scale choral and 

orchestral concerts, the hall is able to 

offer, when functioning at full concert 

capacity, seating for 400, a 200-strong 

chorus, and (up to) an 80-piece orchestra. 

As a flat-floor space, the hall can 

accommodate up to six hundred audience 

and performers combined. 

CONCERT HALL 

Two large, first-floor practice rooms house 

25 and 40 people respectively, ideal for 

chamber ensemble or orchestral sectional 

rehearsals; there are also two smaller 

ground-floor practice rooms for individual 

practice and music lessons, as well as a 

soundproofed room for band rehearsals. 

With the foyer space affording a 

dedicated rehearsal and performance 

space on the Canterbury campus, the 

building will also be available to hire as a 

venue for rehearsals and performances, 

workshops and music courses and 

conferences, which will appeal to a range 

of local, national and international music 

organisations. 

SOUND MEASUREMENT IS AN ART 

Sound measurement is undeniably 

complicated. It's almost impossible to know 

how building/interior designs will sound if 

acoustics are not carefully considered with 

many foundational material elements 

involved, and architects don't know enough 

about which acoustics products are best to 

meet the bespoke needs that each building 

project requires, leading to bulidings with 

poor acoustics which can be detrimental to 

the human health. 

Acoustics Academy simplifies the 

complex world of sound design, helping 

the construction industry understand and 

compare the most reliable and best 

performing products on the market for 

specific projects or developments. The 

information that they have assembled, 

collated, analysed and categorised has 

been organised into a master directory for 

their performance, design, sustainability, 

suitability and cost-effectiveness. 

And here's a simple test you can perform 

yourselves. The next time you venture into a 

large office space, or a public venue like a 

concert hall, pause for a few minutes to 

savour the sound ambience and consider 

whether it has achieved its aims, or if it is 

detrimental to the enjoyment of its function. 

www.quietmark.com 



Building the Construction Cloud 

Autodesk Construction Cloud brings integrated construction management for entire project teams 

several steps forward, towards a totally unified software solution 

The trend in all industries has 

always been towards greater 

integration of processes, data and 

resources, governed mainly by the rate 

of technology required to support it. 

Nowhere is this more evident than the 

latest releases from the main players in 

the construction industry, bringing 

together all elements involved in a 

project from its design, right through to 

operation, and throwing in an element of 

AI to finesses the result. 

The latest release from Autodesk 

introduces the Autodesk Construction 

Cloud, which combines advanced 

technology, a unique builder's network 

to connect people and data throughout 

a building's lifecycle, bringing together 

Autodesk's construction solutions 

Assemble, BuildingConnected, BIM 360 

and PlanGrid. Collaboration and 

productivity is increased by connecting 

head and site offices and field teams 

through the cloud. 

Besides greater integration of products 

providing access to critical data by all 

project members, Autodesk has also 

included 50 new product 

enhancements, and introduced artificial 

intelligence functionality aimed at 

identifying and mitigating design risks 

earlier in the construction process, 

which will reduce delays and reworks, 

as well as costs. 

TECHNOLOGY, NETWORK, INSIGHTS 

Focusing on three core elements - 

Technology, Network and Insights - 

Autodesk believes that Autodesk 

Construction Cloud will give its users a 

competitive advantage in the industry. 

With the quality of the software and the 

latest collaboration tools as a given, I 

would prefer to use this article to 

highlight Construction Cloud's builder's 

network and predictive tools as the most 

important elements of the release. The 

former brings the industry's largest 

network of owners, designers, builders 

and trades into a data and process 

sharing environment - that's one million 

subcontractors using BuildingConnect - 

while predictive insights are being used 

by AI to analyse current and previous 

projects to predict outcomes, establish 

causes and reduce risks. 

The challenge within the industry has 

been to handle the massive increase in 

information that BIM and collaborative 

data sharing has unleashed. The 

problem is exacerbated by attempting to 

provide access to that data by widening 

its availability to all project members 

without complicating working processes 

and overloading teams with 

unnecessary information. Autodesk 

believes it has now addressed that 

particular problem. 

"Despite the tremendous challenges 

construction companies face to connect 

huge volumes of data and people, no 

one has delivered on the promise of 

unified construction from design to 

operations - until now," said Jim Lynch, 

vice president and general manager, 

Autodesk Construction Solutions. "With 

Autodesk Construction Cloud, we're 

introducing a new era of connected 

construction and offering unrivaled 

integration between headquarters, office 

and field teams. We've never been more 

dedicated nor clearer in our mission to 

empower designers, contractors and 

owners to meet the world's rapidly 

expanding construction needs, while 

helping to make building more 

predictable, safe and sustainable." 

Predictive insights are also seen by 

Autodesk users as a critical element of 

the new release. The current global 

situation provides a stark reminder of a 

failure to learn from previous mistakes. 

The containment of the SARS virus 

outbreak some years ago within the 

Asian continent should have 

encouraged the rest of the world to ask 

a few 'what ifs' and planned accordingly. 

I take no pleasure in mentioning the 

current crisis in this article, but I live 

within the Hinckley Point catchment 

area, and have noticed that their bus 

service is still picking up locally housed 

contractors - the construction industry is 

still working despite the lockdown. 

Emphasising that point, Jenny 

Moshea, head of technology at Sellen 

Construcion in America, said, "We need 

to be able to measure ourselves, look to 

the future and anticipate project risk. 

This insight is what's missing today, and 

is a key driver in moving the industry 

forward." Jenny continued, "Autodesk 

Construction Cloud brings together 

advanced technology, underpinned by 

30 



predictive insights. This is the next 

evolution, the connected tissue that 

brings it all together so the construction 

lifecycle is no longer disjointed." 

AUTODESK ENAHNCEMENTS 

As part of the launch of Autodesk 

Construction Cloud, the company is 

unveiling more than 50 new product 

enhancements that span the entire 

building lifecycle from design through 

operations. Some of these are already 

available, but the rest will be rolled out 

over the next few months. 

They include an extension of the 

support within Assemble for the latest 

versions of Autodesk design tools 

AutoCAD, Revit and Navisworks. 

Assemble is, as the name suggests, a 

tool for bringing together BIM data and 

assigning it to workflows - design 

reviews, take-offs, change management, 

estimating etc. It's a web based 3D 

application that allows users to extract 

metadata, or to add their own coding to 

enhance the information they are getting, 

improve decision making and forward 

planning. It empowers subcontractors to 

immediately quantify 2D views in 

BuildingConnected Bid Board Pro, the 

automated online tool for responding to 

bid invites, saving hours a week for 

estimators. It also enables bids to be 

grouped together for easy tracking. 

Enabling greater collaboration, field 

teams can now take videos directly 

within PlanGrid, construction 

productivity software that enables 

contractors and project managers to 

collaborate on civil engineering, 

infrastructure and other projects more 

effectively. Along with improved photo 

management, teams are able to provide 

richer commentary from the jobsite. 

Autodesk has also enhanced all BIM 

360 modules, along with deeper feature 

integrations, such as between 

Construction IQ and BIM 360's design 

review capabilities - Design Risk 

Management - which helps reduce the 

likelihood of RFIs and change orders 

originating from design issues. 

Construction IQ is a set of machine 

learning algorithms that take data from 

Classic BIM 360 Field and the Next 

Generation Field Management and 

Account Admin modules, and applies 

analytical techniques and machine 

learning to transform that data into 

simple and actionable insights. It 

already has a wealth of data behind it, 

having been trained with data from 

30,000 building projects. Construction 

IQ uses its algorithms to prioritise the 

highest risk projects, subcontractors 

and issues that need attention during 

the build phase, and gives teams the 

insight and confidence to make 

informed decisions and build right the 

first time. 

For example, according to Autodesk's 

data science team, more than 70 

percent of RFIs in construction are 

attributed to design issues or 

documentation errors, which often 

escalate into costly change orders and 

even larger litigation disputes. Design 

Risk Management applies Construction 

IQ's machine learning capabilities to the 

design review process within BIM 360's 

Document Management module, 

enabling GCs to easily identify and 

predict the design and constructability 

issues that may turn into costly RFI's. 

Further AI enhancements, helping 

construction teams identify and mitigate 

risks before problems occur, are 

provided by TradeTapp, which arms 

general contractors with subcontractor 

risk analysis during the planning phase. 

It's a SaaS platform that assists general 

contractors in collecting, analyaing, and 

vetting the companies they hire to do 

the actual building. 

Autodesk Construction Cloud and its 

comprehensive range of integrations 

empowers construction teams to work 

together in a totally collaborative 

environment that provides the entire 

construction team with access to crucial 

data whenever it's needed. 

The final word is provided by Michael 

Murphy, digital construction operations 

manager at BAM Ireland. "Autodesk's 

end-to-end system for the entire building 

lifecycle - from design through to longterm 

maintenance - is giving us a 

competitive advantage. Using the 

advanced technology and predictive 

insights of Autodesk Construction 

Cloud, we achieved a 20 percent gain in 

quality and safety on a high profile 

project. Autodesk Construction Cloud is 

bringing us one step closer to a unified 

solution with all our data in the same 

platform, so that information is no longer 

in a silo or lost. We're strongly aligned 

with Autodesk in pursuit of better 

construction across the globe." 

www.autodesk.co.uk 


YOUR GUIDE TO 

4 

5 

8 

6/10 9 7 1 

14 

15 

16 

17 11/13 18 20 

33 

2/12 

35/41 

40 32 

23/42 

21 

25 26/19 

30 

3 

42 

31 

22 

29 

24/27 

28 

*Location guide 

not 100% accurate 

SCOTLAND 

GLASGOW 6 

CADASSIST 

Contact: 

Gordon McGlathery 

Tel: 0141 354 8993 

Fax: 0141 353 9315 

training@cadassist.co.uk 

www.cadassist.co.uk 

ACDEGHIJKLMNOPQTX 

FIFE 7 

GlenCo Development 

Solutions 

Contact: Jack Meldrum 

Tel: 01592 223330 

Fax: 01592 223301 

jackm@glenco.org 

www.glenco.org 

ACMK 

ABERDEENSHIRE 8 

symetri 

Contact: Craig Snell 

Tel: 01467 629900 

training@symetri.co.uk 

www.symetri.co.uk 

ABDHIJKMNOPSX 

ABERDEEN 1 

TMS CADcentre 

Contact: Craig Hamilton 

Tel: 01224 223321 

info@thom-micro.com 

www.tmscadcentre.com 

ACELHO 

LARBERT 9 

TMS CADcentre 

Contact: Craig Hamilton 

Tel: 01324-550760 

info@thom-micro.com 

www.tmscadcentre.com 

ACELHO 

GLASGOW 10 

Excitech Ltd 

Contact: Alan Skipp 

Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01922 807574 

info@excitech.co.uk 

www.excitech.co.uk/cut2015 

ABCDEHKLMNQSX 

IRELAND 

DUBLIN 4 

Paradigm Technology Ltd 

Contact: Des McGrane 

Tel: +353-1-2960155 

Fax: +353-1-2960080 

dmcgrane@paradigm.ie 

www.paradign.it 

ACMGKL 

SOUTHWEST 

BRISTOL 2 

Excitech Ltd 


Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01992 807574 



A B C D E H K L M N Q S X 

NEWBURY 3 

RWTC Ltd 

Contact: Richard Willis 

Tel: 01488 689005 

Fax: 01635 32718 

richard@rwtc.co.uk 

www.rwtc.co.uk 

A M 

BRISTOL 12 

Micro Concepts Ltd 

Contact: Peter Hurst 

Tel: +44 (0) 8432 898162 

training@microconcepts.co.uk 

www.microconcepts.co.uk 

A B D I J K M N O P S T X 

N.I 

BELFAST 5 

Pentagon Solutions Ltd 

Contact: Tony Dalton - Training 

Services Manager 

Tel: +44 (0) 2890 455 355 

Fax: +44 (0) 2890 456 355 

tony@pentagonsolutions.com 

www.pentagonsolutions.com 

ACDEGKL 

TRAINING COURSES OFFERED KEY: 

AUTOCAD AND LT: 

AUTOCAD P&ID TRAINING: 

AEC/BUILDING SOLUTIONS: 

3D MODELLING $ ANIMATION 

AUTOCAD ARCHITECTURE: 

FM DESKTOP: 

GIS/MAPPING: 

REVIT: 

VAULT FUNDAMENTALS 

AUTODESK VAULT FOR INVENTOR USERS 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

J 

VISUALISATION: 

AUTIDESK CIVIL: 

INVENTOR SERIES/MECHANICAL: 

NAVISWORKS TRAINING: 

PRODUCT UPDATE COURSES: 

INVENTOR PUBLISHER: 

GOOGLE SKETCHUP: 

CHARACTER ANIMATION: 

AUTODESK SIMULATION: 

FACTORY DESIGN SUITE: 

AUTOCAD ELECTRICAL: 

K 

L 

M 

N 

O 

P 

Q 

R 

S 

T 

X 

For further information about authorised CAD training or to advertise on these pages please contact: 

Josh Boulton on 01689 616 000 or email: josh.boulton@btc.co.uk

SOUTH/EAST 

GUILDFORD 22 

Blue Graphics Ltd 

Contact: Matt Allen 

Tel: 01483 467 200 

Fax: 01483 467 201 

matta@bluegfx.com 

www.bluegfx.com 

ADRK 

HERTFORDSHIRE 23 

Computer Aided 

Business Systems Ltd 

Contact: Gillian Haynes 

Tel: 01707 258 338 

Fax: 01707 258 339 

training@cabs-cad.com 

A C D E K H 

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 42 

Causeway 

Technologies Ltd 

Contact: Sue Farnfield 

Tel: +44 (0)1628 552134 

Sue.Farnfield@causeway.com 

www.causeway.com 

A C D E K 

LONDON 24 

CADASSIST 

Contact: Gordon McGlathery 

Tel: +44 (0)208 622 3027 

Fax: +44 (0)208 622 3200 




BERKSHIRE 26 

Cadpoint 

Contact: Clare Keston 

Tel: 01344 751300 

Fax: 01344 779700 

sales@cadpoint.co.uk 

www.cadpoint.co.uk 

A C D E K 

CENTRAL LONDON 27 

Excitech Ltd 


Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01992 807574 




TRAINING 

NORTH LONDON 28 

Excitech Ltd 


Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01922 807574 



ABCDEHKLMNQSX 

OXFORDSHIRE 25 

Man and Machine 

Contact: Robert Kenny 

Tel: 01844 263700 

Fax: 01844 216761 

training@manandmachine.co.uk 

www.manandmachine.co.uk 

A D I J M N O P Q X 

BERKSHIRE 30 

Mass Systems Ltd 

Contact: Luke Bolt 

Tel: 01344 304 000 

Fax: 01344 304 010 

info@mass-plc.com 

www.mass-plc.com 

A E F 

HAMPSHIRE 31 

Universal CAD Ltd 

Contact: Nick Lambden 

Tel: [44] 01256 352700 

Fax: [44] 01256 352927 

sales@universalcad.co.uk 

www.universalcad.co.uk 

A C M E K H 

MILTON KEYNES 21 

Graitec - Milton Keynes 

Contact: David Huke 

Tel: 01908 410026 

david.huke@graitec.co.uk 

www.graitec.co.uk 

ABCDEGHIJKLMNOPQSTX 

HIGH WYCOMBE 19 


Contact: Kerrie Braybrook 

Tel: +44 (0) 8432 898162 




THE NORTH 

MIDLANDS 

MANCHESTER 11 

CADASSIST 

Contact: 

Gordon McGlathery 

Tel: 0161 440 8122 

Fax: 0161 439 9635 




MANCHESTER 13 

Excitech Ltd 


Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01922 807574 



ABCDEHKLMNQSX 

NORTH EAST 14 

symetri 


Tel: 0191 213 5555 



ABDHIJKMNOPSX 

YORKSHIRE 15 

Graitec Bradford 

Contact: Isobel Gillon 

Tel: 01274 532919 

training@graitec.co.uk 



NOTTINGHAM 33 

MicroCAD - Nottingham 


Tel: 0115 969 1114 




NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 32 

AIT Spatial Ltd 

Contact: Philip Madeley 

Tel: 01933 303034 

Fax: 01933 303001 

training@aitspatial.co.uk 

www.aitspatial.co.uk 

A C D E F G K L 

BIRMINGHAM 35 

NORTH EAST 16 

Graitec - Durham 


Tel: 0191 374 2020 




LANCASHIRE 17 

QUADRA SOLUTIONS 

Contact: Simon Dobson 

Tel: 01254 301 888 

Fax: 01254 301 323 

training@quadrasol.co.uk 

www.quadrasol.co.uk 

A C M K 

YORKSHIRE 18 

symetri 


Tel: 01924 266 262 



ABDHIJKMNOPSX 

SOUTH YORKSHIRE 20 

THE JUICE GROUP LTD 

Contact: Sarah Thorpe 

Tel: 0800 018 1501 

Fax: 0114 275 5888 

training@thejuice.co.uk 

www.thejuicetraining.com 

A C D E K R 

CHESHIRE 41 

Excelat CAD Ltd 

Contact: Vaughn Markey 

Tel: 0161 926 3609 

Fax: 0870 051 1537 

Vaughn.markey@ExcelatCAD.com 

www.ExcelatCAD.com 

B N 

CHESHIRE 41 

Excitech Ltd 


Tel: 01992 807500 

Fax: 01992 807574 




SOUTHHAMPTON 42 

CAMBRIDGE 29 

Riverside House, Brunel Road 

Southampton, Hants. SO40 3WX 


Tel: 02380 868 947 





Contact: Emily Howe 

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 716200 




Armada Autodesk 

Training Centre 

Contact: Steven Smith 

Tel: 01527 834783 

Fax: 01527 834785 

training@armadaonline.co.uk 

www.armadaonline.co.uk 

A D E M K H

TECHNOLOGYfocus 

Digitising paperwork 

Integrity Software's Mobile Forms module gives all contractors the ability to switch to digital forms, 

thereby eradicating error-prone paperwork, writes David Chadwick 

Which human skills are going to 

become redundant with the 

growth of digital technology? I 

ask that having jotted down a list of the 

benefits of upgrading handwritten 

forms and documents and making 

them available on mobile devices, in a 

notebook adjacent to my laptop, 

finding that on subsequent reference to 

the document I couldn't even read 

some of my own words! 

Small chance then that a quickly 

written statement on a Health & Safety 

related incident, compiled in foul 

weather on a building site and stuck in 

a pocket to be unearthed at the end of 

the shift and attached to the rest of the 

day's dockets and stuff, will be legible 

to the appropriate office staff when it 

gets there. 

It seems incredible, therefore, that 

many organisations - and the 

construction industry is not alone in 

this, although some claim that it is 

actually falling behind - have not taken 

advantage of the capability of today's 

mobile technologies to record critical 

information as it occurs or becomes 

available, and to update a project's 

centrally located model where it is 

immediately available for analysis or to 

support management decisions. 

It gets worse! Paperwork is often 

produced in response to H&S or site 

rules and regulations, and the 

information subsequently filed. It is 

then typically only unearthed from the 

filing cabinet when it needs to be 

scrutinised by legal staff for use at 

medical tribunals. 

If the information is available in real 

time it can be analysed immediately, 

trends spotted, and risk assessments 

made sooner. If two similar accidents 

are reported as separate incidents they 

are filed separately and may not be 

linked until it reaches the courts, with 

devastating consequences for the 

contractor's defence, resulting in a 

hefty fine. Preventative measures can 

be put in place and breaches to Health 

and Safety regulations and practices 

eliminated. 

Why are digital forms not more widely 

used? I would suggest it stems from 

the apparent effort needed to transfer 

the forms into a digital format, making 

them smartphone capable. The task is 

actually quite straightforward when you 

use Integrity Software's Mobile Forms 

module. Users can simply digitise the 

paper forms that they are already using 

on-site and overlay different field types 

on the PDF or Word Doc of their 

existing form using the software's form 

designer. This converts the physical 

form to a digital one, ready to be 

completed on-site. 

As soon as a form is digitised it is 

entered on the system and the form is 

available for all members of a project, 

either at home, on-site or in the office, 

and the data is available for 

subsequent analysis. Forms can be 

completed on smart devices even 

when not online, and then uploaded 

when devices are again connected to 

the network. 

STORE RELEVANT FORMS WITH 

CONTRACTS 

Furthermore, on completion forms can 

be attributed to particular contracts or 

jobs, and time isn't wasted with 

contract managers looking for lost 

paperwork. Forms can also be 

enhanced with supporting information, 

such as photos and witness statements 

to identify risks on a risk assessment 

form, or to record H&S related 

incidents. On even the most carefully 

run building sites accidents will still 

happen. It is even more important then 

to demonstrate that all rules and 

regulations have been adhered to, and 

that the contractor maintains a secure 

and comprehensive system. 

DIGITAL FORMS IN PRACTICE 

Digitising forms on-site can actually 

help Contract Managers to spend less 

time completing paperwork. It is 

quicker and easier to complete a digital 

form, with suitably laid out digital forms 

prompting for the answers required, 

and uploading requiring no more than 

a few clicks, rather than filing it for 

submission to the office at the end of a 

shift. Physical forms also need printing, 

replenishing, storing and transporting 

back to the office. The less time it takes 

to complete paperwork, the more likely 

it is that it will be completed every time. 

Furthermore, there is little to no 

maintenance when it comes to digital 

forms, aside from ensuring your smart 

device is charged up. 

Confirming the Mobile Form modules 

benefits, Sam Creasey, Professional 

Services Manager at Integrity Software, 

said: "Using our Mobile Forms module, 

customers are now getting real time 

information of risk assessments, site 

incidents and daily checklists. Any 

issues that arise on these documents 

can now be quickly identified and 

resolved, keeping their businesses up 

to date with ISO standards." 

www.integrity-software.net 

34 


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