Construction Project Information Committee

Production Information
Front cover of Production Information: a code of procedure for the construction industry
Author(s)	CPIC
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Publisher	CPIC
Publication date	First Edition 2003
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	152
ISBN	ISBN 0-9512662-6-8

CPIC is the Construction Project Information Committee, responsible for providing best practice guidance on the content, form and preparation of construction production information, and making sure this best practice is disseminated throughout the UK construction industry. The Committee is formed from representatives of the major industry institutions which ensures that the guidance which CPIC provides has a solid foundation within all branches of the industry.

Research has shown that many problems on site are caused by poor or missing production information. The evidence shows that improvements in the quality of production reduce the incidence of site quality problems and lead to significant savings in the cost of construction work. Modern CAD systems can contribute greatly to the quality and clarity of drawn production information and, if used in a collaborative way by the whole design team, will result in benefit for all the concerned: clients, designers and constructors. The Avanti approach proved that the use of CPIC materials would improve the quality of the construction project and would considerably reduce project costs.

Code of Procedure for the Construction Industry

Effective communication of high quality production information between designers and constructors is essential for the satisfactory realisation of construction projects. This is addressed by the CPIC code of procedure, the essential reference on production information, which sets out principles and procedures based on the use of computers and offers a pragmatic approach in providing guidance to users of widely used 2D CAD systems. The guidance on specification is also based on the use of the dominant computer systems. In a move that reinforces the close relationship between the drawings and specification, the code combines the original drawing and specification documents into a single guide. This has been extended to cover use of CAD and to take into account the use of schedules of work. It provides pragmatic guidance on use of drawings, specifications and schedules of work and the methods used to co-ordinate the information contained within. Key themes that appear in the code are standardisation, information re-use and information management. The starting point for the guidance in the code is the creation of standards. From project inception, all parties should agree the methods and protocols of exchanging information. This includes not just CAD and specification, but also spreadsheets and word processing documents. Standardisation removes any barriers to exchange and improves the communication process. The new BS 1192 relies heavily on the guidance in this code.

Uniclass

Uniclass is a new classification scheme for the construction industry, the full name of which is "Unified Classification for the Construction Industry". It is intended for organising library materials and for structuring product literature and project information. It incorporates both CAWS and EPIC (Electronic Product Information Co-operation), a new system for structuring product data and product literature.

Uniclass comprises 15 tables, each of which represents a different broad facet of construction information. Each table can be used as a "stand alone" table for the classification of a particular type of information, but, in addition, terms from different tables can be combined to classify complex subjects.

Common Arrangememt of Work Sections (CAWS)

The purpose of CAWS is to define an efficient and generally acceptable arrangement for specifications and bills of quantities for building projects. It consists of a set of detailed work section definitions, all within a classification framework of Groups and Sub-groups. The CAWS classification down to the level of work section titles forms one of the fifteen tables of the Uniclass classification scheme. Different titles often mean different things in different industry documents and to different groups of people. CAWS provides the detailed definitions in order to reduce needless variations and conflicts between documents and even within the same document. In practice this means concentrating on the boundaries to ensure that gaps and overlaps between sections are eliminated. CAWS includes about 360 work sections. They are derived from close observation of current practice, following the pattern of sub-contracting in the industry.

CPIC Members

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)
Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
Construction Confederation (CC)

Current documents published by CPIC

Production information: a code of procedure for the construction industry
Uniclass: unified classification for the construction industry
Common Arrangement of Work Sections for Building Works

External links

• CPIC