The structure of information
Activity 2: The deployment of plant and labour. For this
he will need:
moving between different offices. Nothing is more
disruptive for architect, estimator and contract manager
alike than to have to switch constantly from one working
method to another.It was with this in mind that the Project Information
Group (commonly known by its somewhat unfortunate
acronym) was set up to identify more precisely the
reasons for the inadequacies in building information
previously noted.In the course of time the Group became transmuted into
the Construction Project Information Committee, upon
which the main building professional and contracting
organisations are represented and which in 2003
published a sequence of Co-ordinated Project Information
(CPI) documents. These represent what is to date the
most comprehensive statement of intent regarding the
achievement of better production information.Among other aspects they acknowledge the concept of
drawings, specifications and bills of quantities, together
forming the complete information package, and despite
the existence of ingenious alternative methods which
have been devised for particular situations it is not the
intention of this book to disturb that long-standing
tripartite relationship.Consideration will be given in a later chapter to what
information sometimes given on drawings may be more
appropriate to the specification; but other than that this
book will concern itself solely with drawings, regarding
them as the base documents in the information package
which it is the role of the specification to amplify, the bills
to quantify (1.3).The structure of working drawings
Every set of working drawings consisting of more than
one sheet is structured, for it represents a more orDrawings showing the extent of each trade’s involvement.
A ‘construction manual’ describing, by means of annotated
drawings, the way in which each trade is to operate and
which is explicit enough to ensure that no local querying
or decision-making will be necessary.
An objective and realistic description of the quality
standards required and the methods to be employed.Activity 3: The preparation of a programme and decision
on a method of operation. For this he will need:
Drawings giving an overall picture of his commitment.
Comprehensive information about the constraints of site,
access and programme.
A summary of his contractual obligations.The need for a unified system
What we are looking for is a complete information
system which will satisfy these different user
requirements and which will be at the same time:
reasonably simple and economical to produce
simple to understand and to use at all levels
flexible enough to embrace information produced by
various offices—structural, M & E, etc.
capable of application to both small and large
projects
appropriate for use in both small and large producing
offices.
The importance of the two latter points tends to be
underestimated. Given a standard method of procedure
a common experience is gradually built up, not only
among contractors but among assistants moving from
one project to another within the office, or indeed