Australian Classification Systems

 

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The Unicalss and Omniclass review based on the Australian Information Classification System issued by NATSPEC TECH in 2008 in the form of a Report [2] is a good introduction to qualification systems in other countries, and a document describing the most popular of them. The document provides a complete classification of the Australian construction industry. The most important information from the report is quoted below.

The built environment is the most important physical product of human society, requiring tremendous collective effort. Collaboration on this scale entails extensive information exchange between large numbers of people over an extended period of time. Depending on their role, each participant has different information needs and responsibilities at different points in the construction process. Even the most primitive design requires participants to be able to create, communicate, and find the right information at the right time. The larger the scale of the project and the greater the number of participants, the more important it becomes to use methods and systems capable of handling the associated complexity of information exchange. Classifying information in a consistent manner, as agreed by all participants, facilitates clear communication of intentions and reduces the incidence of misunderstandings, conflicts and wasted resources - this is especially important in the construction industry as the parties involved tend to shift from project to project.

In essence, to classify simply means to group similar things according to some common quality or characteristic. This automatically means separating what is not similar. 1 To be able to classify a set of items, you must first define the purpose of the classification. Then you can distinguish interesting properties by classification, and finally sort the items into classes according to the selected features.

Document Citation

Basic Applications of Classification Systems in Construction Typical items assisted by an information classification system include:

• Organizing reference material on construction products, technical issues, costs, etc.
• Standardizing the content of individual documents.
• Coordination of information between individual documents in document sets.
• Facilitating communication between different members of the project team.
• Facilitating the interoperability of digital systems

Australia

NATSPEC, Australia's leading major construction specification, is based on a classification system developed by its founder, Bryce Mortlock in 1989. NATSPEC notation consists of numeric codes of up to four digits. The notation is hierarchical - for example 0311 Formwork is subclass 031 Concrete, which in turn is subclass 03 Construction (summary in Annex E). Currently, there is no unified classification system for construction information, similar to Uniclass or Omniclass, used nationally for many different classification purposes. The NATSPEC classification system was changed in 2005/2006 when NATSPEC and Masterspec from New Zealand agreed to adjust their systems more closely. The last change was in 2007, when a large number of new works were introduced following the inclusion of AUS-SPEC, the main specification system used nationally by state and municipal bodies to document civil engineering, landscape and infrastructure works, including their maintenance. and action.

New Zealand (NZ)

Masterspec is the default specification system in New Zealand, managed by Construction Information Limited (CIL), a company owned by the New Zealand Institute of Architects, the Registered Master Builders Federation and the Building Research Association.

Europe

ISO 12006-2 or its designs have been used in the development of the following European classification systems.

Denmark

ISO 12006-2 was the basis of the Danish DBK system (Dansk Bygge Klassifikation), developed in 2006.

Finland

The Finnish Building 90 system developed by the Building 90 Group and the Finnish Construction Center was published in 1999. It is widely used in the Finnish engineering community.

The Netherlands

NL / SfB or "Elementenmethode" is based on SfB and is used in the Netherlands for the classification of building elements. The Dutch building specification system, STABU2, is produced by STABU, which stands for "Foundation for a National Standard Building Specification" (in Dutch). The STABU company was founded in 1975 and produced its first specification in 1986. From the earliest stages, the STABU2 system was based on a relational database. In 2005, the NL / SfB was connected to the STABU2 system, enabling the reorganization of working sections into building elements and vice versa. Another proposed solution is to link component classifications to performance specifications, allowing users to start developing specifications early stage of the design process. Engineering works are defined in the RAW specification system. RAW stands for "Standard Contract Conditions for Civil Engineering Works", published by the Center for Research and Standardization of Contracts in Civil Engineering and Traffic (CROW). RAW specifications do not use a formal classification system, but are largely based on working sections and product groups.

Sweden

The first Swedish classification system, developed in the 1950s, was called SfB (Samarbetskommittén för Byggnadsfrågor, Coordinating Committee for Construction). The limitations of this system in solving new solutions in the industry led to the introduction of the BSAB system (Byggandets Samordning AB, Construction Co-ordination Limited) in 1972. The Swedish Construction Center (SBC) issued the latest version of the BSAB96 system in 1999. The Swedish national construction specification, AMA, which uses the BSAB96 classification system, was revised and republished by SBC in 2001. AMA stands for "General Material and Performance Specifications" (in Swedish)

Great Britain (UK)

The latest construction information classification system to be implemented in the UK is Uniclass (Unified Classification for the Construction Industry), based on the development of information and communication technologies and international standards for classification systems. The first edition of Uniclass was published in 1997. Uniclass is a faceted system designed within the parameters of ISO TR 14177.

North America

The latest building information classification system to be implemented in North America is the Omniclass. A group of volunteers from organizations and companies representing a wide cross-section of the construction industry saw the need to classify building objects, the increased use of electronic information technology and an increasing emphasis on the full life cycle of structures. Most of the 15 Omniclass tables were published in 2006. Omniclass is a faceted system designed within the parameters of ISO 12006-2 and ISO 12006-3. Moreover, Omniclass has freely adapted and used Uniclass in its development, therefore it uses many older Uniclass documents. (…) These systems are characterized by a function without specifying the technical or design solutions that can put them together. Used to format documents related to project scope, quality, cost, and time, such as cost estimates or reports.

Comparison of Uniclass and Omniclass

Although both systems are based on ISO 12006-2; or a precursor thereof, ISO TR 14177; and there is generally parity between the tables on each system, each arranges them in slightly different order, and each splits or joins some tables differently. Uniclass adds an additional UDC-based Q table; to classify items not covered elsewhere in the system. There is a high degree of parity between tables based on the same source documents, for example Uniclass Table L Construction and Omniclass Table 23 Products which are based on EPIC. For tables based on different source documents, we see significant differences in their internal order (see Appendix C for an evaluation of the relative parity of the tables on both systems). • Omniclass classifies items in more detail and the information is clearer. This is probably a reflection of the fact that Omniclass was published 9 years after Uniclass, giving Omniclass the ability to build on Uniclass works. • Omniclass does not seem to provide an index like Uniclass. • Omniclass is more accessible - tables and supporting documents can be downloaded directly from the Internet at no cost. The Uniclass manual can only be purchased at RIBA bookstores. In addition, there is more evidence of the continued support and development of Omniclass, especially in the form of Masterformat, than Uniclass. Although improvements to Uniclass have been made in recent years and a number of tables are currently under revision, it has not been re-published since its first edition in 1997 - not insignificant given the changes that took place in the construction industry during this period.

ICT

ICT has had a profound impact on working methods in the construction industry. ICT is well suited to a fluid and dynamic design and management process environment compared to traditional paper based methods. The development of communication such as the Internet has also greatly improved the possibilities of accessing and disseminating information. The concept of Building Information Models (BIM) is one of the recent emerging ICT applications that can have significant implications for the construction industry (see Appendix A for BIM).

The need for a comprehensive, widely used information classification system for the Australian construction industry has become paramount and with the advent of data-driven applications such as BIM. The adoption of ISO 12006-2 enables mapping between localized classification systems that have developed worldwide.14 A growing number of Australian construction companies operating in the global market suggests that it would be strategic to adopt ISO 12006-2 as the basis for a new classification system. ISO 12006-2 provides a table framework for a multi-faceted classification system without detailed information on the structure of the table contents. The NATSPEC classification system is the most widely used national system. It corresponds to the work results / work process tables in ISO 12006-2. There are several other classification systems that immediately suggest as the basis for the rest of the tables. The easiest approach to creating an ISO 12006-2 compliant classification system for Australia would be to simply incorporate NATSPEC into the performance / workflow table of an existing system such as Uniclass or Omniclass. While this is intentional, it is unlikely to be as well suited to local requirements as a more comprehensive approach.

Sources:

[1] pixabay.com

[2] Information classification systems and the Australian construction industry - NATSPEC TECH report October 2008 - NATSPEC www.natspec.com.au

https://bim.natspec.org/images/NATSPEC_Documents/TECHreport_Information_Classification_Systems.pdf