Greenbuild 2007
November 15, 2007Building Systems Design has just returned from an exhilarating visit at the Greenbuild 2007 conference and expo that was held in Chicago on November 7-9th. BSD sent four people to occupy our booth during the exhibit; a total of 21 hours over two and a half days! There were over 21,000 people in attendance, a 62 percent increase from the 13,000 who attended last year's show in Denver.
Traffic at the BSD booth was great. We spoke to hundreds of attendees and ran out of BSD SpecLink tote bags after we had already given away 250 of them. The attendees ran the gamut from flower children to dedicated "green" architects to governmental agency representatives; we found plenty of people who wanted to hear about the green features that have been built into BSD SpecLink. We also spoke with many of our customers, some of whom were unaware of our many LEED features- like the checklist sections and the automatic LEED submittals report.
We have already signed up for Greenbuild 2008 in Boston,November 19-21, which promises to be even bigger and better. We'll see you there!
BSD to Receive Construction Technology Award from CSI
May 21, 2007Atlanta, GA, and Alexandria, Va. - Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD), developers of the automated construction specification system BSD SpecLink®, will receive the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Construction Technology Award on Wednesday, June 20, 2007, during the Opening General Session of The CSI Show in Baltimore. The Construction Technology Award is presented to an individual, team, firm, or organization, for: Development or use of new materials, methods, technology or project delivery systems; or development or use of existing materials, methods or technology in a new or innovative manner. BSD is being recognized for creation of its product BSD SpecLink, a guide specification system that offers up-to-date content and the ability to switch the specifications for any project between the 1995 and 2004 editions of CSI/CSC MasterFormat™ with a single mouse-click.
BSD is also one of nine industry education partners presenting education sessions at The CSI Show this year. BSD will present "Specifications and Corporate Memory" on Wednesday, June 20, at 11am, and "Letting CAD and BIM Write the Specifications" on Friday, June 22, at 9am. Visit BSD in booth #221 in The CSI Show exhibit hall!
About BSD: Building Systems Design, Inc. develops and sells innovative software tools for the architecture/engineering/construction markets of North America. The company was founded in 1983 and creates, maintains, and provides technical support for advanced cost estimating and specification writing products in use by thousands of design professionals and contractors nationwide. Learn more at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
About The CSI Show: The 51st Annual CSI Show & Convention and pre-convention events will take place June 19-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center. In addition to the more than 110 education sessions offered, CSI will present tours, exhibits, and other events so participants can network, and explore new products. The Annual CSI Show & Convention is the only event covering the entire facility life cycle, and it attracts all members of the project team, including: designers, engineers, specifiers, contractors, suppliers, facility managers, and owners. For more information or to register, visit < href="http://www.thecsishow.com">www.thecsishow.com or call 800-689-2900.
About CSI: CSI is a national association dedicated to creating standards and formats to improve construction documents and project delivery. The organization is unique in the industry in that its members are a cross section of specifiers, architects, engineers, contractors and building materials suppliers. The organization has 146 chapters and more than 15,000 members. Monthly Chapter meetings allow members the opportunity to communicate openly with their counterparts and exchange information for successful project management. CSI is renowned in the industry for its rigorous certification programs for professionals seeking to improve their knowledge of accurate and concise construction documents. CSI provides continuing education, professional conferences, and product shows. For more information, visit www.csinet.org, or call 800-689-2900.
We've moved!
May 14, 2007Atlanta, GA -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) has moved to new, larger offices. Our new space is located about a block away and across the street from our original location in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. Visitors to our new office will find it as conveniently situated as our old location, with many hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues within walking distance. It is four blocks from the Buckhead MARTA station, so visitors will still be able to take the train from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport and avoid car rentals and expensive taxi rides. The local business association also sponsors the free bus--the Buckhead Uptown Connection (BUC)-–which stops right in front of the entrance to our building, at just a 10 minute ride from the station.
Our new space has been custom-designed for us and we are enjoying
a less cramped, more efficient layout and an invigorating environment.
The new dedicated training room accommodates 12 students without
crowding and features a ceiling mounted projection system for better
viewing. We also have a more centrally located library, three
conference rooms, and a cafe and shaded courtyard right in the
complex. Our telephone numbers will remain the same, and our
address as of May 14 is:
Building Systems Design, Inc.
Two Piedmont Center, Suite 300
3565 Piedmont Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
BSD completes PerSpective® purchase
September 1, 2006 Printer-friendly versionAtlanta, GA, and Alexandria, VA -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) of Atlanta and The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) of Alexandria announced today the completion of BSD’s acquisition of PerSpective®, a software tool for creating building performance specifications. BSD developed PerSpective® for a joint venture formed by CSI and the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) and has been managing the product for the last five years. Under the new agreement, BSD now owns the PerSpective® intellectual property and maintains a strategic marketing relationship with CSI.
Originally a separate product, PerSpective® has been integrated into the database of BSD SpecLink®, a software tool used by thousands of architects, engineers and other design professionals nationwide to produce and maintain detailed construction specifications. The PerSpective® portion of the SpecLink® database is used for producing performance specifications at the earliest stages of a building project, in addition to short form specifications for intermediate stages of project development. Detailed guide specifications for use in preparing final construction documents make up the remainder of the SpecLink® database. Based on an underlying relational database structure, BSD SpecLink® is unique in its breadth of content and its applicability to different methods of project delivery, including design-build. Updated quarterly, the product is sold to design professionals by annual subscription or on the basis of a metered account, which deducts the price of each document as it is printed.
Under the new agreement, CSI will continue to be involved with PerSpective® and BSD SpecLink® as a strategic alliance partner of BSD, working cooperatively to advance the technology and quality of building construction and to better serve the needs of CSI members and BSD customers. CSI will also provide resources for ongoing product review and maintenance, participating in a technical review committee of industry peers.
About BSD: Building Systems Design was founded in 1983 and currently produces the BSD SoftLink® suite of software applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market. In addition to BSD SpecLink®, which now includes PerSpective® for preliminary and performance specifications, BSD’s line of products includes BSD CostLink®/AE and BSD CostLink®/CM for project budgeting and cost estimating.
For further information on BSD SpecLink®, see www.bsdsoftlink.com or contact Bryant Hendricks at bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com or 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).
About CSI: CSI is a national association of specifiers, architects, engineers, contractors, building materials suppliers and others involved in commercial and institutional building design and construction. The organization has 145 chapters and more than 16,000 members. CSI provides technical information and products, continuing education, professional conferences, and product shows to enhance communication among all disciplines of building design and construction, and to meet the industry's need for a common system of organizing and presenting construction information. For more information visit www.csinet.org or call Teresa Sullivan, CSI, at (703) 706-4744.
Access Construction Reference Standards Direct from Specifications
September 1, 2006 Printer-friendly versionAtlanta, GA, and Englewood, CO -– Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) of Atlanta and IHS Inc. (www.ihs.com) announced today the release of the Fall 2006 edition of BSD SpecLink®, which includes thousands of additional hyperlinks to the IHS Standards Store.
Latest BSD SpecLink® update includes 5,300 more hyperlinks to the IHS Standards Store, enabling users to view and purchase referenced documents directly. In the current SpecLink® release, an additional 5,300 hyperlinks have been inserted at paragraphs where the standards are actually mentioned. In most cases, a synopsis of the standard is available on the IHS website where the document itself can be purchased and downloaded online for immediate viewing through this single site. Under a previous agreement with IHS, BSD provided hyperlinks to most of the 2,300 referenced documents from the complete citation in each specification section via the IHS Standards Store. Only about 300 standards are not available through IHS, and in those cases are available via the sponsoring organization’s website, and in a few cases the documents are free.
BSD SpecLink® is a software product used by thousands of architects, engineers and other design professionals to produce and maintain detailed construction specifications nationwide. Built on an underlying relational database structure instead of word processing, SpecLink® includes guide text for hundreds of building product categories and references to thousands of construction industry standards. SpecLink® references these industry standards instead of repeating relevant content, keeping the guide text and edited project specifications more concise. Until the latest product release, architects and engineers who needed access to the actual reference standards from one or more of the 186 organizations whose documents are included had to acquire them by contacting each organization separately.
Because BSD SpecLink® is comprehensively updated each quarter and IHS maintains both current and previously issued editions of the standards in its databases, SpecLink® users are assured that their construction specifications are up-to-date and synchronized with the appropriate reference standard editions. For further information on BSD SpecLink®, go to www.bsdsoftlink.com. For further information on IHS products, services and solutions, including the IHS Standards Store, go to www.ihs.com or contact Tim Stack, IHS, at 303-397-2359.
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is a leading global provider of critical technical information, decision-support tools and related services to customers in a number of industries including energy, defense, aerospace, construction, electronics, and automotive through two operating segments, Engineering and Energy. We serve customers ranging from governments and large multinational corporations to smaller companies and technical professionals in more than 100 countries. Our customers rely on our offerings to facilitate decision making, support key processes and improve productivity. We have been in business for more than 45 years and employ more than 2,300 people around the world.
For further information on BSD SpecLink®, see www.bsdsoftlink.com or contact Bryant Hendricks at bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com or 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).
BSD SpecLink® Data to Provide Manufacturer Lead Service
March 26, 2006 Printer-friendly versionAtlanta, GA -- Building Systems Design (BSD) announced today the launch of a new lead service for building product manufacturers. Available by subscription, this lead service provides manufacturers with specific project information about how particular specification sections in the BSD SpecLink® product are being used nationwide, including which manufacturers have been specified on each project. The new service is in addition to an existing quarterly statistical report that has been available to participating manufacturers for several years.
BSD gathers data automatically from the computers of SpecLink® subscribers that enable the company to compile reports on the frequency of use of specific sections and the number of times particular manufacturers have been specified. The original statistical data does not identify particular users or projects, so it is of interest primarily as a trend indicator and a tool to determine the relative popularity of specific products. BSD also uses this data to help determine which sections should receive more maintenance attention.
With the current spring release of BSD SpecLink®, architecture and engineering customers have the option to release specific project information to BSD for use in the new, more detailed lead service, which provides monthly reports to participating manufacturers that are organized by specification section, state, architect/engineer, and project. Data for these more detailed reports is provided voluntarily by SpecLink® users, and the type of information gathered includes project name and location; owner’s name; and facility type, size, approximate cost, and approximate completion date. To encourage users to provide this data, the software includes the same information on optional cover sheets for the administrative reports that are automatically generated by the specification system for use during the construction phase of a project.
A checkbox at the bottom of a dialog box for project information allows BSD to publish and release specific project data to participating building product manufacturers. Clicking to remove the checkmark will prevent the specific project data from being included in the lead service reports until the architect/engineer rechecks the box.
Mr. Robert Paul Dean, AIA, CSI, President of BSD, believes this new lead service will work to the advantage of all parties. According to Mr. Dean, “Timely release of project data will ultimately result in greater competition between specified manufacturers, benefiting both the project owner and the architect/engineer. Manufacturers will be able to obtain better and timelier data on projects for which they have been specified, allowing them to prepare more competitive proposals. And because of the low cost of electronic data gathering, BSD is able to offer its services to all parties at extremely attractive prices.”
Construction Specifications Now Available by Metered Account
December 1, 2005 Printer-friendly versionAtlanta, GA -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) today announced the release of the winter 2005-06 edition of BSD SpecLink®, which introduces a new metered account purchase option. Previously, all construction guide specification systems sold in the United States had been offered only through annual subscription, so the new metered sales capability makes the BSD specifications product available to a broader market.
BSD SpecLink® is a software tool used nationwide by thousands of architects, engineers, and other design professionals to produce detailed construction specifications for a wide variety of commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings. For many design firms, the unlimited use permitted by an annual subscription makes that option the best choice. However, a significant percentage of smaller firms complete a limited number of projects per year and find that the cost of an annual subscription exceeds their specifications budget. In addition, some BSD SpecLink® subscribers from time to time would like to have the use of a small number of sections that are not included in their current subscription catalogs. The new meter account addresses both situations by allowing customers to buy only what they need at a particular time.
To take advantage of the new meter account capability, users must have an Internet connection. After downloading the product from the BSD website (www.bsdsoftlink.com) and installing it, customers pay by credit card for an initial meter amount. They then enter a unique Electronic Invoice ID (EID) in the software, which initializes the account for the purchased amount and allows access to the entire database of guide specifications. Subsequently, a predetermined charge is automatically deducted from the meter account whenever a final document is printed. Users may edit any document and may print unlimited copies of draft documents, which bear "Draft Copy" watermarks that do not obscure the text. An automatic Table of Contents and a number of automatically generated reports -- such as required shop drawing submittals and a list of all manufacturers specified -- also may be printed at no charge.
A meter account costs $490 and may be replenished for the same amount at any time. SpecLink® construction document sections cost $7 each to print. PerSpective design criteria documents cost $21 each, and Short Form sections cost $35. Up to 50 users can use a single meter concurrently. When a meter reaches $0, printing ceases and all sections become unavailable until the meter is replenished. Meter customers who also have a valid subscription to a portion of the database may continue to print documents within the catalogs included but will be unable to print documents that fall outside that range.
For further information on BSD SpecLink®, see www.bsdsoftlink.com or contact Bryant Hendricks at bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com or 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).
Construction Specifications for All Project Phases
September 1, 2004
Alexandria, VA, and Atlanta, GA. -- The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) announce the immediate availability of a new version of BSD SpecLink® with an expanded PerSpective® database and a global MasterFormat™ translation switch.
As partners in a venture to provide better specification tools for the construction industry, CSI and BSD collaborated on the design and execution of the new software, which combines two previously separate products and adds unique automation features. Previous versions of BSD SpecLink®, a subscription product in use by thousands of design professionals, were used primarily for producing up-to-date construction specification documents. CSI, in a joint venture with the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), had previously developed PerSpective®, a performance-based specification system intended initially for design-build projects. By combining the two separate products into a single application, BSD and CSI have produced the first specification product that can be used during all building project phases and for all project delivery methods.
The new BSD SpecLink® database is organized on three tabs that correlate to project phases. The PerSpective® tab comprises performance specifications that can be used at the very earliest project stages, before any design work has occurred. Any material selections made in PerSpective® are linked to the Short Form tab, pre-editing abbreviated material specifications that are useful at the schematic design and design development phases. Selections made on this tab, in turn, are linked to the SpecLink® data on the third tab, which is typically used to produce detailed construction documents and automatic administrative reports that are useful during construction administration. The linking feature causes decisions made at each phase to pre-select text for use during subsequent phases, improving coordination and minimizing editing time.
Another major feature of the new product is an automatic MasterFormat™ switch. A system for organizing construction information and specifications, MasterFormat™ is widely used within the construction industry and has recently undergone a fairly radical restructuring. In developing MasterFormat™ 2004 Edition (MF04) with wide participation of the construction industry, CSI expanded it from 16 to 49 divisions, moved and renamed some topics, and changed the section numbering scheme from five-digit numbers to paired six- or eight-digit numbers. Although some observers have predicted a period of confusion in the construction industry -- because not everyone will be willing or able to apply the changes in MasterFormat™ immediately -- the new SpecLink® product will allow all users to switch any project back and forth between the two formats at any time, with a single mouse click.
According to Dr. Karl Borgstrom, Executive Director of CSI, "This new specification product is an exciting advance in specifications technology and a significant contribution to the improvement of communications within the construction industry." Mr. John Witherspoon, BSD's CEO, said "BSD is extremely pleased to partner with CSI in making this state-of-the-art software available to design professionals nationwide."
For further information on BSD SpecLink®, see www.bsdsoftlink.com or contact Bryant Hendricks at bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com or 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638). For more information about CSI's MasterFormat™, go to www.csinet.org.
TCA adds another member benefit
August 25, 2004
Atlanta, GA. -- In a continuing effort to enhance and increase benefits available to its membership, the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) has embarked on a relationship with Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) - a firm that provides software and data products to architects, engineers, and contractors worldwide. Through this relationship, the TCA worked closely with BSD to revise the BSD SpecLink® language for Section 03470 - Tilt-Up Precast Concrete, beginning with the fall 2004 update. TCA now endorses BSD SpecLink®'s Section 03470 as a favorable Tilt-Up specification guide and will provide further assistance in the maintenance and updating of future releases. BSD's product will carry the TCA logo accompanying a statement endorsing the content.
Part of the relationship forged with BSD includes the opportunity for the TCA to receive quarterly reports enumerating the projects that use the Tilt-Up Precast Concrete section, as well as hyperlinks from appropriate locations within the section to specific pages on TCA's website. The Tilt-Up section of the program has been reviewed by TCA and includes content from the TCA Guideline Specifications. One of the continuing benefits of this collaboration is TCA's opportunity to submit new information and recommendations for improvements to the section on a quarterly basis. TCA members will be able to purchase a subscription to BSD SpecLink® at a 15 percent initial discount and a five percent renewal discount.
Founded in 1983 with the mission to provide industry standard software for the architectural/engineering/construction (A/E/C) industry, BSD today offers a number of groundbreaking products. BSD SpecLink® is a construction specification writing, management, and production system with built-in intelligence designed to help users dramatically speed up editing tasks and reduce specification production time while minimizing errors and omissions. SpecLink® contains the industry's most comprehensive and up-to-date database of master specifications, and includes lists of relevant building product manufacturers, appropriate reference standards, LEED/environmental issues, product selection guidance and more. It includes more than 700 sections covering all Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Divisions, and the latest release includes a global switch that allows subscribers to switch any project between the current 16-division format and CSI's brand new MasterFormat™ 2004.
"We are excited about this new relationship established with BSD," said Jim Baty, TCA's Technical Director. "The Tilt-Up section of the program has been thoroughly reviewed by our staff to add valuable language directly from the TCA Guideline Specifications. The ability to provide more guidance, education and quality for Tilt-Up projects through our involvement is a primary goal of the TCA and one we are glad to have the opportunity to cultivate through our relationship with BSD."
According to Robert Paul Dean, AIA, CSI, president of BSD, "TCA's participation in this new program is an affirmation of BSD's commitment to providing our construction industry subscribers with the most current, technically correct guide specifications in the most sophisticated software available. We are very pleased to have TCA as a partner in that ongoing effort."
For more information about BSD SpecLink®, visit www.bsdsoftlink.com or call (888) BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638) to speak with a sales representative.
BSD SpecLink® First with MasterFormat™ 2004
May 24, 2004
Atlanta, GA -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces that BSD SpecLink® -- its flagship automated specification production software -- will be the first commercial information product to incorporate the new MasterFormat™ 2004 when it is published jointly by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) later this year.
BSD SpecLink® is used by thousands of architects and engineers across North America for preparing up-to-date construction specification documents. Because SpecLink® is built on a relational database, instead of conventional word processing files, BSD will simply add new data fields, allowing its subscribers to choose between the 1995 MasterFormat™ and MasterFormat™ 2004 and to switch easily back and forth between them with mouse clicks.
MasterFormat™ is a system for organizing construction information and specifications that is widely used within the construction industry. For decades, MasterFormat™ has comprised 16 divisions organized around basic construction materials (e.g., Division 3 - Concrete; Division 4 - Masonry). These divisions have been further divided into sections identified by 5-digit numbers (e.g., Section 03300 - Cast-In-Place Concrete; Section 04200 - Masonry Units). After a three-year revision process that has involved many sectors of the construction industry, CSI and CSC have announced that the new MasterFormat™ will be expanded from 16 divisions to 50 divisions -- actually 49 divisions plus a new Division 0. Among other changes, mechanical and electrical systems have been moved from Divisions 15 and 16 and the number of topics greatly expanded. In addition, the familiar 5-digit numbering scheme has been replaced by paired digits in a 6- or 8-digit format. Finally, many section titles have also been changed. In short, under MasterFormat™ 2004 every section will have a new number, and many sections will also have a new title.
Many observers anticipate a period of confusion after MasterFormat™ 2004 is published this summer, because not everyone will be willing or able to make the switch immediately -- or simultaneously. To maintain maximum flexibility while continuing to offer its users state-of-the art capabilities, BSD has demonstrated a new MasterFormat™ global switch, similar to its current units of measure switch that permits display of inch-pound and/or metric units in the data. This global switch will allow the user to work in one MasterFormat™ and switch to the other MasterFormat™ for final printing, or to maintain an office master project in one format and edit it for a particular client in the other. Users will even be able to print a table of contents that includes the alternate section numbers in parentheses, for cross-reference purposes.
Building Systems Design was founded in 1983 and currently produces the BSD SoftLink® suite of software applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market. In addition to BSD SpecLink®, the SoftLink® suite includes PerSpective® for preliminary and performance specifications (a CSI-DBIA product), plus BSD CostLink®/AE and BSD CostLink®/CM for project budgeting and cost estimating.
For more information about any of the SoftLink® products, call Bryant Hendricks at 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638) or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com or visit www.bsdsoftlink.com.
For more information about CSI/CSC's MasterFormat™, go to www.csinet.org.
Specifications software now retrieves usage information
September 2, 2003
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of an unprecedented method of reporting the names of manufacturers specified in architects' and engineers' construction specifications. Called the "Specified Manufacturers Log," this report is featured in BSD's groundbreaking specifications software product, BSD SpecLink®. Available in September 2003, the Specified Manufacturers Log makes BSD the only provider of construction industry information offering direct feedback to building product manufacturers on the relationship between being listed and being specified.
BSD SpecLink® is used by thousands of architects and engineers across the United States for preparing up-to-date construction specification documents for tens of thousands of commercial, institutional, and industrial projects each year. One of the new features of the Summer 2003 edition of SpecLink® is an automatic summary by specification section of all acceptable manufacturers included in the edited project specifications of all SpecLink® subscribers. The first Specified Manufacturers Logs will include project data from June 1, 2003 onward, sent automatically to BSD by the software from the subscribers' servers. Privacy concerns prevent BSD from revealing firm names or project names or locations, but the report does list all manufacturer names listed, all sections specified, the number of projects involved, and the number of firms/organizations involved. The new report makes use of a special ML (manufacturer listing) data tag to identify paragraphs naming acceptable manufacturers. All manufacturers in the SpecLink® master database have been tagged, but users can also attach ML tags to manufacturers they have added. Microsoft® Dot.Net technology is used to collect and send the summarized information to BSD.
BSD SpecLink® includes several other features designed to complement the Specified Manufacturer Logs. To obtain additional information on any of the hundreds of manufacturers in the master specification database, SpecLink® users can now click on over 1800 hyperlinks that connect directly to the manufacturers' websites. Live hyperlinks have been added in the Master Note attached to each manufacturer listed in SpecLink®. Websites appear in a separate Explorer window, allowing users to browse the manufacturers' information, copy relevant text, and paste it directly into the open SpecLink® document. For an additional fee, building product manufacturers can customize the Notes to include their logo, a brief description of their products or other promotional text, and multiple hyperlinks to web pages relevant to the product selection process.
Building Systems Design was founded in 1983 and currently produces the BSD SoftLink® suite of software applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market. For more information about the Specified Manufacturer Logs and other services for building product manufacturers, contact Susan McClendon at 888-273-7638 or smcclendon@bsdsoftlink.com. In addition to BSD SpecLink®, the SoftLink® suite includes PerSpective® for performance specifications, plus BSD CostLink®/AE and BSD CostLink®/CM for cost estimating. For more information about any of BSD's products, contact Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com. Information and software demonstrations are also available at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Building cost modeling makes estimating easy for architects and engineers
September 2, 2003
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of 70 built-in cost models in the latest release of its innovative BSD CostLink®/AE software for design professionals. Based on data from RS Means, a division of Reed Construction Data, these models make it possible for architects and engineers who are not cost estimating specialists to quickly generate detailed cost estimates very early in a project. Furthermore, the estimates produced by the cost models can be refined easily as the project design is developed, since all the assemblies and quantities used by the models can be accessed and modified as required.
The RS Means models included in CostLink®/AE are constructed of up to 75 separate assemblies, and each assembly comprises 1 to 25 tasks and/or material components. The models operate through use of a series of formulas that calculate the quantity of each assembly and the quantity of the member tasks in each assembly, based on a small number of key parameters such as gross building area and number of floors. These parameters, which are adjustable by the user, are used by the formulas to project assembly quantities such as exterior closure area, slab on grade area, roof area, etc. In practice, the user chooses a model category (Commercial, Industrial or Institutional), selects a specific model from that category, then chooses one of the exterior closure and framing alternatives offered by the software. Next, the user enters an estimated building size and length of perimeter. The other major building parameters can then be reviewed and adjusted, if necessary.
Each model has an associated set of possible "Additive" items, which may or may not be appropriate for a particular project. The user simply enters a quantity for each item to be included. Another tab allows the user to select any of 700 different U.S. locations, enter an appropriate sales tax, and adjust contractor markups and other cost assumptions, such as the architect's fees. When this data has been appropriately adjusted, the preliminary cost information for the project is complete, and the user can print or preview a summary or a detailed cost estimate. It's also easy to add assemblies and cost items using any of the RS Means Assemblies and Cost Items provided with the software. The user can also experiment with alternative assemblies and building elements to investigate the effects on project cost.
Building Systems Design, Inc. is the only company that provides the RS Means modeling capability integrated with a full-featured estimating system. Founded in 1983, BSD currently produces the BSD SoftLink® suite of software applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market. In addition to BSD CostLink®/AE, the SoftLink® suite includes PerSpective® for design criteria, BSD SpecLink® for construction specifications, and BSD CostLink®/CM for professional cost estimating. For more information about any of BSD's products, contact Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com. Information and software demonstrations are also available at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Building Product Manufacturers Featured in Specifications Software
January 7, 2003
Atlanta, GA -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of a new version of its groundbreaking specifications software product, BSD SpecLink®. Released in December 2002, the new SpecLink® edition features a number of enhancements that focus on building product manufacturers.
BSD SpecLink® is used by thousands of architects and engineers across the United States for preparing up-to-date construction specification documents. One of the new SpecLink® features is a report that automatically lists by product type all acceptable manufacturers included in the edited project specifications. To obtain additional information on any of the hundreds of manufacturers in the master specification database, SpecLink® users can now click on over 1800 hyperlinks that connect directly to the manufacturers' websites. Examples of ARCAT SpecWizard sections have also been included in the new release. These proprietary sections, which are based on products from sponsoring manufacturers, feature graphic notes to assist in product selection and checklist editing that produces a customized specification section automatically.
SpecLink®'s new report, called Manufacturers Listed in Project, uses a special ML (manufacturer listing) data tag to identify paragraphs naming acceptable manufacturers. When the user is finished editing the project specifications, a mouse click generates a report that lists by product category every manufacturer named in the spec documents. All manufacturers in the SpecLink® master database have been tagged, but users can also attach ML tags to manufacturers they have added.
Live hyperlinks have been added in the master note attached to each manufacturer listed in SpecLink®. Websites appear in a separate Explorer window, allowing users to browse the manufacturers' information, copy relevant text, and paste it directly into the open SpecLink® document. Over 1,800 manufacturer hyperlinks were added in this release, and the links lead directly to the manufacturers listed, instead of to an intermediate website. In addition, hundreds of hyperlinks to ARCAT's website(www.ARCAT.com) have been added at the Manufacturer headings in Part 2 of most product sections, allowing SpecLink® users to easily find other manufacturers for most product types.
The SpecWizards included in the winter release comprise a short checklist that precedes the master specification text for selected sections. Notes attached to the checklist options include photographs, diagrams, and other graphics that clearly illustrate product features. Links from the checklist options automatically select appropriate specification paragraphs, resulting in a specification section that is pre-edited by choices made in the checklist.
Building Systems Design was founded in 1983 and currently produces the BSD SoftLink® suite of software applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market. In addition to BSD SpecLink®, the SoftLink® suite includes PerSpective® for performance specifications, plus BSD CostLink®/AE and BSD CostLink®/CM for cost estimating. For more information about any of BSD's products, contact Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com. Information and software demonstrations are also available at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
BSD CostLink®/AE: Cost Estimating for Designers
August 26, 2002
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) is pleased to announce the immediate availability of BSD CostLink®/AE, a cost estimating system developed especially for design professionals. Although just introduced, CostLink®/AE is based on time-tested BSD CostLink®/CM, BSD's premier detailed cost estimating system. The AE version is a simpler product designed to appeal to architects, engineers, and other design professionals for whom cost estimating is important but not the primary job function. Positioned as a companion product to BSD SpecLink® and PerSpective® specification writing software, CostLink®/AE is a subscription service that includes integrated R.S. Means cost data and unlimited technical support. Updated annually, the cost databases include over 11,000 systems and assemblies, 20,000 line items, and cost indices for over 700 U.S. locations.
To keep things simple, all costs in AE are installed costs that include material, labor, and equipment components, in addition to pre-computed subcontractor overhead and profit. The user can adjust the default general contractor markups and other factors such as architect's fees and a contingency budget. To construct an estimate in CostLink®/AE, the user drags and drops (or copies and pastes) entire building systems, assemblies, and line items from the Means data into a project, then inserts quantities. The organization of the project estimate is totally flexible. CostLink®/AE provides templates based on UniFormat II and MasterFormat™, but the user may also construct a unique hierarchy or copy another project as the starting point. At any point in the estimate development process, reports can be previewed or printed that break down the total cost into whatever level of detail is desired.
CostLink®/AE also supports dynamic linking to Microsoft Excel. Architects can create a space program or building parameters model in Excel and link quantity cells directly to CostLink®/AE. Once linked, the values in AE update automatically as the space program or other parameters change. It's also possible to attach a note and/or pictures to any folder or line item in the cost estimate.
Built-in reports are already formatted, but they can be customized in a variety of ways. Cost estimates can include markups in the individual line items, or the markups can be summarized at the end of the report. Users can also choose the level of summarization and may choose to show or hide a number of optional columns, such as percent of total, unit costs, and quantities. Headers and footers are customizable, and a company logo can be added for further refinement. Reports can also be exported to a number of formats, including PDF, Excel, and Word.
About BSD: Building Systems Design, Inc. is a software development company founded in Atlanta in 1983 to create PC-based software tools for the a/e/c market. In addition to cost estimating products, the BSD SoftLink® suite includes BSD SpecLink® and PerSpective® specification writing and management tools. For more information about any of BSD's products, Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com. Information and software demonstrations are also available at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Colorblind architects can now use wizards to prepare specifications
June 18, 2002
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) announces the immediate availability of new versions of its groundbreaking specification writing products, BSD SpecLink® and PerSpective®. Released in early June 2002, new versions of each product have improved features that include a new interface with reduced dependence on color cues and wizard capability for adding intelligence to office master specifications.
BSD SpecLink® is used for preparing construction specifications, while PerSpective® is designed for preparing performance specifications early in a project, before building materials and systems have been selected. Both products are sold on an annual subscription basis primarily to design professionals. In response to requests from some subscribers with various types of colorblindness, BSD has made a number of changes designed to complement color cues in the software with shape and position markers. For instance, paragraph status indicators now change shape as well as color to indicate link status. Paragraphs that have been selected automatically by green links from user-selected paragraphs display a green square. Paragraphs automatically excluded by red links display a red stop sign. And paragraphs that are highlighted by yellow links display an inverted yellow triangle. In addition, the status indicator for any active paragraph now appears to be depressed, whereas those for inactive paragraphs -- unselected text that will not print as part of the project specifications -- appear raised. Paragraph icons that indicate the availability of a master or project note or the presence of a user-modified or user-added paragraph also have been changed to be more descriptive and less dependent on color.
Another major new feature in both BSD SpecLink® and PerSpective® is the ability to attach a tag to any paragraph. 28 different tags are available, and most are used to generate special reports for a project. For example, paragraphs calling for shop drawing submittal would have an SD (shop drawings) tag attached, while paragraphs calling for samples would have an SA (samples submittal) tag. Specialized non-printing (NP) and non-selectable (NS) wizard tags allow the user to add a checklist at the beginning of a section with links to the specification text. If the checklist questions are tagged NP, designers in the office can select options applicable to a project, the links will automatically edit the section, but the checklist questions will not be included in the printed specification section. Users can also include instructions that are turned on by links under some circumstances. If these instructions are tagged NS (non-selectable), they will not print with the section, but in addition, users will not be able to select or exclude the instructions inadvertently. According to BSD President Robert Paul Dean, "by using these tags creatively, a specifications specialist can add an amazing amount of intelligence to an office master specification that is used by non-specialists within the office."
Both SpecLink® and PerSpective® include master specifications data that is maintained in a relational database, rather than as word processing files. The user's project files are stored separately and are merged with the master data for viewing and printing edited specification documents. The database structure allows selective updating on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis and also makes possible BSD's exclusive text linking feature.
About BSD: Building Systems Design, Inc. is a software development company founded in Atlanta in 1983 to create PC-based software tools for the a/e/c market. In addition to its specifications products, BSD offers a line of construction budgeting and cost estimating software tools, including BSD CostLink®/CM. For more information about any of the products in the BSD SoftLink® suite, Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com. PowerPoint presentations and software demonstrations are also available at www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Construction Cost Modeling Feature Now Available in BSD CostLink®/CM
March 19, 2002
Atlanta,GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of a new version of its premier cost estimating software product, BSD CostLink®/CM. Released in early March 2002, the new CostLink® product has many new features, including interactive linking with Excel spreadsheets.
With this latest release, CostLink®/CM users are now able to maintain project "models" within Excel spreadsheets, requiring only minimal parameter changes in the Excel model to change numerous quantity fields in a CostLink®/CM project. When a user changes a cell in an Excel worksheet that changes the values of other cells, the corresponding values in CM are also saved, regardless of whether or not the CM project is currently active. When the CM project is opened later, the values are automatically updated. The software allows linking a single cell in Excel to multiple items in a CM project, as well as allowing linking to multiple CM projects from a single spreadsheet.
Communication between BSD CostLink®/CM and Microsoft Excel is handled by an intermediate application called aecLinkMan™ that runs in the background. The links between applications are stored in a database managed by aecLinkMan, eliminating the need for both applications to be open concurrently. The software also allows the user to suspend linking at any time, in order to "freeze" quantities.
The new Excel linking feature complements other linking capabilities already built into CostLink®/CM. Users have long been able to export data from CM to Primavera's P3 scheduling software and to Microsoft Project. More recently, the ability to export data from Seagates' Crystal Reports was added for enhanced formatting capability. For more information about BSD CostLink®/CM version 3.0, contact Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com, or visit www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Faster Construction Specifications With Enhanced Software Products
March 19, 2002
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of new versions of its groundbreaking specification writing products, BSD SpecLink® and PerSpective®. Released in early March 2002, the new version of each product has many improved features. These include a number of rewritten functions that eliminate document reloading after processing, thus streamlining the editing process.
BSD SpecLink® is used for preparing construction specifications, while the newer PerSpective® product is designed for preparing performance specifications early in a project, before building materials and systems have been selected. Both products have been enhanced by the addition of new user-modifiable default capabilities, including project folder location, export folder location, and project selection view. Perhaps the most timesaving new feature, however, is a setting that allows the user to automatically select any new text added to a project. A corresponding improvement in the Import from Clipboard feature is an option to select all new paragraphs being imported. This is a major timesaver when large blocks of text are being imported for immediate use on a project.
The quarterly update installation process for both products has also been enhanced. Both SpecLink® and PerSpective® can be installed on a network and can be made available to any number of workstations, each of which is updated each quarter. The software now looks in the registry to determine where the previous version was installed and installs the update in the same location automatically. A new security feature prevents the user from inadvertently using the software after the server update has been completed but before the client update has been finished.
Both SpecLink® and PerSpective® include master data that is maintained in a relational database, rather than as word processing files. The user's project files are stored separately and are merged with the master data for viewing and printing edited specification documents. The database structure allows selective updating on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis and also makes possible BSD's exclusive linking feature. Thousands of links in the master database improve productivity by automatically selecting related text and excluding incompatible options as the user selects paragraphs for a particular project. For more information about BSD SpecLink® or PerSpective®, contact Bryant Hendricks at 888-273-7638 or bhendricks@bsdsoftlink.com, or visit www.bsdsoftlink.com.
Short Form Specs Catalog Now Available in PerSpective®
June 26, 2001
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of a new catalog of Short Form specifications. Previously included exclusively as part of a complete PerSpective® license, this separate catalog is a more affordable option for many firms.
The PerSpective® Short Form specs are useful for schematic design or design development documentation and are complete enough for construction documents on smaller, less complex projects. All section numbers and titles conform to the 1995 edition of CSI's MasterFormat™.
The complete PerSpective® product includes the construction industry's first database of performance criteria for buildings. Intended initially for design-build projects, it is also useful for specifying performance requirements at an early stage in conventional design-bid-build projects. Users of the PerSpective® Performance Specifications catalog can expand their performance specifications into detailed material requirements using the Short Form specs.
Originally developed by The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) and released in 1999, PerSpective® is now marketed and sold by BSD. BSD and CSI-DBIA have made a new strategic alliance dedicated to the development of innovative software products for the construction industry. BSD now distributes PerSpective® with its BSD SpecLink® and BSD CostLink® products and the three partners share development and maintenance of all three products.
For more information about licensing the PerSpective® Short Form or Performance catalogs, call BSD at 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638) or visit www.bsdsoftlink.com.
BSD, CSI, and DBIA announce new strategic alliance for innovative construction industry software
April 25, 2001
For more information, contact:
CSI: Dominique Fernandez; 800-689-2900; dfernandez@csinet.org
DBIA: David Johnston, 202-682-0110; djohnston@dbia.org
BSD: Robert Paul Dean; 888-BSD-SOFT; rdean@bsdsoftlink.com
Alexandria, VA. - The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), and Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) today announced a strategic alliance dedicated to development of innovative software products for the construction industry. BSD, a software development firm specializing in cost estimating and specification writing products, assumed management, marketing and technical support of CSI/DBIA's PerSpective®, effective April 1, 2001. PerSpective® is the construction industry's first electronic database of performance-based building specifications and is used extensively (although not exclusively) for design-build projects. BSD will distribute PerSpective® with its BSD SpecLink® and BSD CostLink® products.
As part of a seamless transition, the three partners will share development and maintenance of all three products. CSI and DBIA, who developed PerSpective® as a joint venture, will provide input on all three products through a technical committee and corresponding members using a dedicated Web site.
According to CSI's Executive Director, Gregory Balestrero, "each organization will bring to this new relationship a set of capabilities and strengths that will inevitably result in better and more powerful tools for the construction industry." DBIA's President and CEO, Jeffrey L. Beard, added that "working together, we can achieve a result for our members that would not be possible for any one organization."
On the market since 1999, PerSpective® has been adopted by a variety of organizations and institutions, including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Intel Corporation, Chrysler Realty Corporation, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The U.S. Department of State has also adopted PerSpective® for new embassy construction worldwide. BSD SpecLink®, available since 1996, is in use by architectural and engineering firms nationwide. Distributed on CD-ROM, it features a quarterly update service that automatically merges updated information in the master database with a user's own customized text. The latest version of BSD's sophisticated cost estimating software is BSD CostLink®/CM, which permits users to build a cost estimate using one data structure, then view it in any number of alternative organizations.
Access to PerSpective® and SpecLink® is sold as an annual subscription, and CostLink® is sold with optional commercial databases and extended technical support. BSD will include all three products on a single CD-ROM, which will be replaced quarterly. CSI and DBIA members will receive a 15 percent discount on new sales and a 5 percent discount on renewals. For more information on any of the products, visit www.bsdsoftlink.com. To order, contact BSD sales at 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).
BSD, an Atlanta-based company, has been in business since 1983. Its software products are widely recognized as being among the most advanced tools available to construction industry professionals.
CSI is a national professional association of more than 18,000 members that provides technical information and products, continuing education, professional conferences, and product shows to enhance communication within the construction industry. CSI's policy of industry-wide membership has resulted in improved communication and unprecedented teamwork to develop innovative products and services benefiting all involved in nonresidential construction.
DBIA was founded in 1993 to promote the widespread and successful utilization of the design-build project delivery method throughout industry and government. Its membership comprises firms and individuals engaged in the delivery of all types of building projects via the design-build process and dedicated to improving the professional standards of the industry.
New AGC document generation software delivers powerful productivity features at subscriber's fingertips
March 23, 2001
Contact: Dennis S. Day, 703-837-5310
Nashville, TN. -- Crafting proper design and construction agreements and related documents are never easy tasks. For many decades, industry participants have looked to and relied on the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) to furnish them with balanced, industry-accepted, standardized forms to assist them with such challenging tasks. Now, AGC has gone one - considerably larger - step further with the introduction of DocuBuilder™ Contract Document Software, a revolutionary productivity tool intended to make creating and editing construction agreements a more expedient and easier process. Utilizing AGC's comprehensive library of contract documents, DocuBuilder™ software enhances productivity through such features as global word replacement options, header customization, visible document links, ability to annotate specific provisions and to import custom text, automatic delineation of document modifications, network installation capability and a comprehensive help system.
"Welcome to a new and better way of creating and customizing contract documents for your projects," said AGC Executive Vice President and CEO Stephen E. Sandherr. "DocuBuilder delivers the better business environment every AGC contractor member needs to be successful. Release 1.0 is just the beginning. This initial release includes AGC's 200 and 400 series of documents, the rest of AGC's documents will follow later in the year."
Anticipating the demand from its membership for electronic delivery of products, the AGC Contract Documents Committee proudly offers the industry a state-of-the-art software program that is easy-to-use and intelligent. It is the first step in a series of new and innovative ways AGC is bringing electronic and e-commerce products to its members and the construction industry. "We were very impressed with DocuBuilder™," said Steve Warnick of Austin Commercial, a commercial contractor headquartered in Dallas, Texas who participated in the beta test of the software. "Frankly, we found DocuBuilder™ to be heads-and-shoulders above similar software that we were already using," remarked Warnick. "DocuBuilder™ is a dynamic product that can expand through additional content, features and hyperlinking to meet the contract document and associated information needs of the industry for many years to come," added John R. Witherspoon, Chief Executive Officer of Building Syst ems Design, Inc., a software developer specializing in solutions for the construction industry who was tapped by AGC to lead the development of DocuBuilder™.
By the end of the year, DocuBuilder™ will contain AGC's full family of more than 50 agreements, covering nearly every delivery system and relationship. The new software and the agreements contained therein are designed to help all project participants - owners, contractors, design professionals and specialty contractors - make better business decisions in a shorter period of time. AGC contract documents are industry-tempered forms, reflecting considerable input from owners, design professionals and specialty contractors and their respective associations and providing a firm foundation for enhanced client relationships and project success.
To learn more about AGC DocuBuilder™ Contract Document Software, call toll free 1-866-DOCUBLD (362-8253) for your free information kit.
The Associated General Contractors of America is the largest and oldest national construction trade association, founded in 1918. AGC represents more than 33,000 firms, including 7,500 of America's leading general contractors, and 12,000 specialty-contracting firms. Over 14,000 service providers and suppliers are also associated with AGC, through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit the AGC website at www.agc.org.
BSD SpecLink®+ makes its debut
December 11, 2000
Altanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) announces the immediate release of BSD SpecLink+, its latest specifications management tool for construction professionals. Based on a Microsoft® Windows® 32-bit architecture, the new product has an underlying structure that is similar to BSD's original 16-bit product but presents a completely new look and offers many new capabilities.
Most Complete Database
The new product offers the largest commercial database of specifications on the market - over 725 individual sections. SpecLink+ users receive a quarterly CD-ROM with comprehensive updates to the database that are automatically installed. Edits, selections, and additions the user has made to a specification project are preserved during the update process.
Intelligent Links
Based on a relational database instead of word processing, SpecLink+ employs over 125,000 "intelligent links" to multiply the productivity of its users. As products are selected for inclusion in a project, green links attached to these paragraphs automatically select additional related text, yellow links highlight relevant options, and red links exclude incompatible text.
New Graphical Interface
One of the major differences from the original SpecLink product is a totally new, WYSIWYG user interface. Navigation to a desired section is via a tree that operates like Windows Explorer. The selected document appears in a panel to the right of the tree, which looks and feels much like a conventional word processing program. Although each paragraph is actually one field in a database record, changes are made directly in the document. Editing text is as simple as blocking to delete and clicking to insert.
In addition to retaining the advantages of establishing document format for all project sections in one place, the new SpecLink+ now allows customized formatting of individual paragraphs. A global style selected or customized by the user for each text level determines font, line spacing, paragraph numbering format, and indentation. However, users can now block text in a paragraph and underline it, bold it, or apply a different font that takes precedence over the style established for that level.
Notes Window
One of the most exciting changes in SpecLink+ is the new Notes window. The master database includes tens of thousands of helpful notes that are attached to individual paragraphs. These notes typically are designed to provide additional information about options within the text. Instead of cluttering up the text, however, they only appear when the Notes window is clicked open. Colored icons in the document panel alert the user to the availability of these notes when the window is closed.
The most dramatic change in the Notes window, however, is the addition of graphic and hyperlink capability. Notes can now include photos, diagrams, and drawings, in addition to text. Clicking on an embedded hyperlink opens the user's Internet Explorer browser and jumps directly to the designated web page. This new graphic and hyperlink capability will be extensively exploited in future editions of SpecLink+, greatly enhancing its usefulness in verifying that product information included in the database is both current and applicable to the project.
More Information
For more information on BSD SpecLink+, visit our website at www.bsdsoftlink.com or call Bryant Hendricks at 1-888-BSD-SOFT (273-7638). SpecLink+ runs under Windows 95/98, NT, and 2000. Building Systems Design, Inc. is an Atlanta-based software development company and the developer of the BSD SoftLink® line of linked architectural and engineering products, including a series of BSD CostLink® cost estimating programs and databases.
BSD CostLink®/CM - BSD's Flagship Cost Engineering System for Construction Management
August 21, 2000
Atlnata, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) announces immediate availability of BSD CostLink®/CM , our new flagship cost engineering system for facility design and construction. CM is a sophisticated tool for modeling and managing design and construction costs. CostLink®/CM is BSD's strategic application for the year 2000, providing the foundation for development in the coming decade.
The View is Everything
CostLink®/CM includes the capability to maintain multiple views of a cost estimate. Predefined views include a Bid Schedule View, Contractors Hierarchy View, a Schedule Activities View and a CSI MasterFormat™ View. The user can create additional hierarchical views - for example, to organize the cost estimate using a client-specific chart of accounts.
CM supports user-defined queries with an easy-to-use Query Dialog allowing you to retrieve information based on the contents of one or more fields in the Project Database. For example, you can query for all items with a total material cost greater than $100,000, or all items installed by a certain type of crew, or all items with a quantity of zero. CM allows you to store queries in the Views Selector and re-use them as needed during estimate development.
Reports
CM provides a wide variety of standard report formats. Like our previous CostLink® 16-bit release (BSD CostLink®), CostLink®/CM provides reports for direct cost summary, indirect cost summary and owner cost summary. The report manager teams with the organizational interface, allowing the user to select the summarization hierarchy independent of other report selections. This combination provides enormous flexibility for reporting and analysis.
Better still, CM separates its computational engine from the report formatting and output vehicle. Using Crystal Report Writerä by Seagate Software, you create your own output formats and reports and can even modify some aspects of the built-in reports. It's also possible to use your own choice of report writer to output data from CM's Microsoft Access-formatted Project summary tables.
Real World Dollars and Cents
CostLink®/CM supports estimating using any combination of five predefined cost types (labor, equipment, material, shipping and other) and up to five user-defined unit cost types such as owner furnished equipment. While labor and equipment resources are normally grouped as a crew used to produce or install a cost task, labor and equipment can also participate directly as an estimate line item or assembly member.
Starter databases of cost tasks, assemblies, labor and equipment are provided with the software. Additional commercial databases are available from BSD, including the full range of R.S. Means cost databases.
Beyond Direct costs
To facilitate modeling of indirect costs, CostLink®/CM supports hundreds of markup combinations, each of which can be selectively applied to individual line items, the whole project or anywhere in between. Markups can also be defined to apply to one, some, or all cost types (labor, equipment, material, etc). Markups can be as simple as a single percentage markup for all estimate items, or as simple as no markup at all.
As in the predecessor BSD CostLink® product, contractors can be defined in terms of their hierarchical relationship to each other. Each contractor's markup can be specified independent of other contractors. Markups are defined as any of up to five predefined indirect cost types (Overhead, Profit, Bond, PTI, and General Excise Tax) and five user-defined types. In CostLink®/CM, contractors are created in a separate contractor's view that facilitates work assignment by drag and drop from other project work breakdown views.
CM also supports Owner markups on the total of direct and indirect costs using predefined types for Escalation and Contingency, and up to five user-defined owner cost markups. Like indirect cost markups, owner markups can be applied at individual line items, to the whole project, or anywhere in between.
More information
For more information on CostLink®/CM visit our web site at www.bsdsoftlink.com or call our sales group at 1-888-BSD-SOFT (273-7638). CM runs under Windows 95/98, NT, and 2000. Building Systems Design, Inc. is an Atlanta-based software development company and the developer of the BSD SoftLink® line of linked architectural and engineering products, including BSD SpecLink® project specifications software and data.
New specifications product ideally suited for small projects
October 12, 1998
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. has released a new specifications product ideally suited to small architectural and engineering offices, or larger offices that also do smaller scale projects. Called BSD SpecLink/SP™, it draws from the same power base as the revolutionary BSD SpecLink® product, but has a more directed scope. SP's special pricing means that even the independent designer can afford a state-of-the-art specifications management package.
BSD SpecLink/SP contains 150+ specifications sections from Divisions 1 through 16, including Series 00 documents, plus over 200 free proprietary sections that are based on particular product lines. A built-in model project allows the user to start with a pre-edited set of complete specifications that are appropriate for many small projects. Because master data is always visible and never deleted, it is easy to review project choices or select alternatives. Users can also import their own custom sections and create office-specific model projects.
The SpecLink® database includes thousands of intelligent links within and between sections, resulting in an increase in specification productivity and better coordination. These links automatically include related text and exclude incompatible options, but leave the user free to change at will. BSD SpecLink/SP contains a multitude of formatting and printing options that are all controlled within the system with one group of settings. It's no longer necessary to deal with clumsy macros or complicated file management to change the page layout for all sections in a project.
The program runs under any version of Microsoft® Windows™. Inexpensive annual subscription fees include toll-free technical support. Building Systems Design, Inc. is an Atlanta-based software development company and the developer of the BSD SoftLink® line of linked architectural and engineering products, including the BSD CostLink® cost estimating package.
New Software Tool for Landscape Architects
October 1998
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc. announces the immediate availability of a new specification software product tailored to the specialized needs of landscape architects. The Landscape Catalog is the latest addition to BSD's complete line of automated specification products, all based on BSD's revolutionary BSD SpecLink® software.
The BSD SpecLink® Landscape Catalog contains dozens of specification sections that cover all the most commonly specified landscaping materials, including subjects as diverse as outdoor lighting, masonry, rough carpentry, and concrete, as well as planting and earthwork. In addition, the database includes hundreds of free proprietary sections based on the SpecDisk® collection by The Architect's Catalog, Inc. Altogether, there are nearly 300 sections available in Division 1 through Division 16, plus Series 00 documents that cover bidding and contracting requirements.
The extensive database includes thousands of "intelligent links" between paragraphs, resulting in better coordination and improved productivity. As the landscape architect makes selections from the master text provided, these intelligent links automatically include related topics and exclude incompatible options. There are also thousands of notes in a separate window that provide useful information about the choices presented in the text. Updated quarterly, the system is uniquely designed to incorporate changes without affecting any customization by the user.
The BSD SpecLink® software includes a multitude of formatting and printing options, including font control by text level, two-column layout, and landscape page orientation. Instead of complicated macros and dozens of individual word processing files, the system allows the user to establish the format for an entire project and print all sections with one group of settings.
The program runs under any version of Microsoft® Windows™ and requires no other software. Inexpensive annual subscription fees include toll-free technical support. Building Systems Design, Inc. is an Atlanta-based software development company and the developer of the BSD SoftLink® line of linked architectural and engineering products, including the BSD CostLink® cost estimating package.
Version 1.5 of BSD CostLink® Cost Estimating Software - The second in a suite of linked construction software applications
August 1997
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc., an Atlanta-based software development company, announces the release of Version 1.5 of BSD CostLink®, a Windows-based cost estimating system that is both comprehensive and easy to use.
CostLink® is designed to work from early budgeting through final cost estimating, becoming more and more precise as early assumptions are replaced by detail. The Windows interface allows users to copy and paste or drag and drop assemblies and unit prices from commercial databases, such as those provided by R.S. Means, Saylor, or Richardson Engineering. The system also accommodates in-house, user-defined data.
Work breakdown structures, project templates, cost categories, contractors, and other project variables are all user-definable. The system includes numerous built-in reports, together with a data interface that allows the user to export project data to a favorite report writer. For added versatility, BSD CostLink® allows notes to be added virtually anywhere, and reports can be generated automatically in English units, in metric, or in both. The system also supports multiple currency denominations and rounding.
BSD CostLink® combines the strengths of BSD's DOS-based Composer Gold™ cost estimating software with a highly intuitive and flexible user interface. Fully compatible with both Composer Gold™ and the government's MCACES Gold, BSD CostLink® can share projects and databases with either. Reports generated with BSD CostLink® meet all requirements for U.S. government MCACES estimates.
Built-in integration functionality will allow BSD CostLink® to communicate with CAD and specifications software in the near future. The first component in a planned suite of linked software products - BSD SpecLink® - was rolled out by BSD in the spring of 1996: BSD SpecLink® is a sophisticated Windows-based specifications management system with an intelligent database. The final component needed to implement the planned linkage system will be BSD CadLink, slated for introduction in late 1999.
BSD CostLink® can be used stand-alone or on a LAN.
New BSD SpecLink® Contributor Program
July 1997
Atlanta, GA. -- Building Systems Design, Inc., developer of the BSD SpecLink® automated specifications software, is recruiting highly qualified contributors and reviewers for a new specification service. Qualified Contributors will submit new specification sections for publication and will also provide an ongoing "industry review" for related sections. In exchange, Contributors will be entitled to steeply discounted renewals to BSD SpecLink®, free tuition to a BSD SpecLink® training course, and a citation in all SpecLink® publications. SpecLink® subscribers will benefit from the expertise of industry spec writers in a variety of disciplines.
To qualify as a SpecLink® Contributor a spec writer must personally be a user of BSD SpecLink® in an active architectural, engineering, interiors, landscape, or specification consulting practice. In addition they must have familiarity with and understanding of the CSI-recommended principles of specification writing, and a familiarity with at least one of the national model codes. BSD is interested in highly qualified contributors who can provide specifications sections of the highest caliber.
Prospective contributor should identify discipline, code jurisdiction, and product areas with which he/she is familiar, and may propose a family of sections they would like to review. All sections will be reviewed by Building Systems Design and will be accepted based on need, experience, and preference. For a complete description of the BSD SpecLink® Contributor Program please contact Susan McClendon, Product Manager at 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).
BSD SpecLink® is a trademark of Building Systems Design, Inc. MasterFormat™ and SectionFormat™ are trademarks of The Construction Specifications Institute. Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.
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