SpecLink: The Next Generation, Part III

For the last couple of quarters we have been reviewing SpecLink-E (just E for short), BSD’s next generation SpecLink software. After more than 10 years developing, fielding, and supporting the SpecLink+ system, we have many reasons for developing a new “platform” from the ground up. If you haven’t read the LinkLine issues of the past two quarters you might want to visit http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/linkline/current/linkLine_archives.htm to read the Summer and Fall Next Generation articles for more info on this important BSD initiative. These articles discuss the rationale behind this initiative and BSD’s most important goals in embarking on this development effort. They also discuss the new user interface, new installation and updating technologies, and E’s connected and disconnected operation in a network environment.

In this quarter’s newsletter we want to discuss the ins and outs of developing interoperability between applications. BSD is currently developing software, referred to as LinkMan-E (or LME), to support “linking” SpecLink-E to multiple CAD environments in a way that recommends or, optionally, actually enables specification sections and individual paragraphs for inclusion in the project specifications as the CAD model is developed. In addition, LME is intended to facilitate “linking” between BSD’s CostLink/AE (AE) cost estimating system, the CAD environments, and SpecLink-E in such a way that AE is able to use quantities generated by the CAD environment, and the cost estimate elements can recommend or, optionally, enable SpecLink-E sections and paragraphs. If these relationships sound complicated, their implementation — in a meaningful way — is much more so.

Consider the following:

The building cost estimating process is essentially one of identifying, quantifying, and costing the erection, installation or application of products to create the building. The cost data that CostLink/AE uses is provided by RS Means, the leading purveyor of building cost data in the United States. An RS Means cost database “line item” typically describes the cost to purchase and install a product (such as metal studs, drywall, or paint). An RS Means “assembly,” such as those used by AE, combines multiple line items to create a larger unit of construction, such as a wall. The use of assemblies makes estimating easier and faster than working with line items directly.

Cost data must have an organizing structure to be useful. RS Means line item data is organized using MasterFormat, a well-known, product-oriented, organizing structure. Today MasterFormat is transitioning from the widely-used 1995 version, having 16 divisions (03 Concrete, 04 Masonry, 06 Metals, etc.), to the 2004 version with over 40 divisions. It will take awhile for the estimating community to come to grips with the new structure and in the meantime the dual structures only complicate the line item linking process.

RS Means assemblies data uses the Uniformat structure (Foundations, Superstructure, Exterior Closure, etc.), which is significantly more appropriate for building systems and subsystems that are comprised of assemblies. When performing an assembly based cost estimate -- after identifying the assemblies included in the building plans -- the estimator needs to quantify each assembly. The quantities of the individual products (the pricing basis) that are included in the assembly are generated by the formulas inherent in the assembly itself.

3D CAD systems produced by vendors such as Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Graphisoft, and others provide drawing tools and objects that are most often represented in the cost estimate as assemblies of multiple products. For example, a door object in CAD will be represented by an assembly in the cost estimate that is comprised of the door itself, the frame for the door, and the finish to the door. A wall object in CAD will be represented by an estimate assembly that includes metal studs, drywall, and the taping and finishing. Note that the dimensions and quantities that can be generated by the CAD software are those for the assembly, not its constituent line items or products.

Specifications, on the other hand, deal in products, as opposed to assemblies, and the properties or attributes of those products. A specification section generally describes and specifies one or more products in terms of their attributes. Quantities are essentially immaterial in the construction specification.

So how do we connect these disparate systems? BSD is presently prototyping the LinkMan-E product. The general approach to the problem involves identifying CAD objects by tagging or linking them to CostLink/AE assemblies which in turn are tagged or linked to SpecLink-E products. The LME prototype includes a navigation tree, similar to that in Windows Explorer or BSD’s SpecLink product, and an accompanying grid or table that displays data related to the user’s current positioning in the tree. The tree actually supports two different hierarchies, accessed by tabs in the tree panel, that present either a MasterFormat 2004 hierarchy or a Uniformat hierarchy depending on the selected tab.

In the current prototype, the MasterFormat view includes folders for each specification section in the BSD Master Specifications database. Each folder includes entries in the tree for each product that is referenced in that section. The companion grid is designed with a column for each interoperable application: initially specifications, CD, and cost estimating. It will have additional columns to display CAD quantity, cost estimate quantity, related keynote, and potentially other information.

When the cursor is placed on a given product, the companion grid displays the product on the first row and associated product attributes on following rows. The three application columns will display the status of the product or attribute for that application using a variation of the SpecLink link status display system: red, green, yellow, checked, x-ed, and empty (in recognizable shapes for the color blind). The SpecLink status column will reflect the actual SpecLink project status of the product. The CAD column will display a green square for each product that is indicated in an assembly forming a part of the CAD model. Similarly, a green square is displayed in the cost column for each product referenced by an assembly in use in the cost estimate. Depending on the user’s preferences, when a CAD or cost product is added, the corresponding product in SpecLink-E will be “recommended” (set to yellow) or enabled (set to green). Note that the product in SpecLink-E can have enabling links to other related text in the specification, optionally pre-editing the project specification based on CAD or cost estimating selections.

The prototype Uniformat view is expected to present a tree structure including three levels of the Uniformat classification system. As assemblies are added to either the CAD model or the cost estimate they will be added to the Uniformat view. The Uniformat view grid will display status of he assembly and each of its constituent products in the respective application columns and the quantity of the assembly in the respective application’s quantity column. The LME interface will provide tools and commands for aggregating, connecting, and disconnecting CAD quantities with respect to the CostLink/AE assemblies.

BSD is in the process of building lists and tables within its Master Specifications database that identify each product and tag it with a unique ID. We are working with CAD systems to determine how best to tag CAD assembly objects with one or more appropriate product IDs from our Master database. We are also planning to similarly tag RS Means line items with the appropriate product ID such that assemblies that include that line item will also be tagged with the product ID.

The primary purpose of the LinkMan-E interface is to provide a “dashboard” that allows the project manager or other user to easily coordinate the project. The user should be able to easily identify what products in the CAD model have not been accommodated in the specifications and what items are identified in the specifications that might not be shown or used in the model. It should readily show where cost estimate quantities differ from those in the model, and what items in the specifications have not been included in the estimate or vice-versa.

Secondarily, LME should support generation of initial specifications, either building a recommendation or actually enabling the specification text, as the CAD model and/or cost estimate are developed. It should support connecting model objects to the cost estimate so that as the model grows or changes, estimate quantities are automatically updated to reflect the change.

We welcome feedback on our visions and planned implementations. Part of our purpose in revealing product designs in development is to elicit comment. Our goal, as always, is to help you improve your productivity and the quality of your work.