Today, we are continuing the series of Autodesk product blogs that are tackling how technology can help owners, main contractors, subcontractors and architects better prepare their teams for the changes coming with the introduction of the Building Safety Act. This is the second blog in the series of blogs dedicated to BSA written with expert insights from Senior Autodesk Technical Solutions Executive, Chris Palmer.
In the previous blog within the series, we uncovered the importance of the Building Safety Act and how our project teams can standardise project metadata using the Autodesk Construction Cloud parameters service.
Today, we are going to discuss how you can maintain the Golden Thread of Information with the Autodesk Construction Cloud through:
These topics align with the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateways 1 and 2 submissions providing project teams with the following key tools and workflows:
The key platform which Autodesk can offer to support digital information management on construction projects is the Autodesk Construction Cloud, a collaborative cloud-based platform connecting project teams, workflows and data across project phases.
Autodesk Docs serves as a centralised, cloud-based hub for team collaboration and document management. It offers robust version control and efficient approval workflows, streamlining project execution. With built-in features for maintaining a digital audit trail, Autodesk Docs ensures both transparency and accountability, making it an all-in-one solution for your project needs. It eliminates barriers to collaboration by supporting a wide variety of file types, including 3D and 2D formats, Microsoft 365 files, and even Point Cloud information. This makes Autodesk Docs a flexible tool for generating the Golden Thread of information crucial to project success.
We hear industry feedback from clients, owners, and social landlords highlights a common concern regarding the Building Safety Act and the Golden Thread of Information: the issue of data ownership and centralisation.
Imagine, a contractor working in their own Common Data Environment or instance of Autodesk Construction Cloud. The question that comes up is how can the owner ensure they maintain a copy for their own records and an audit trail?
This concern becomes particularly pressing in the event of a breakdown in trust and communication with other project teams. This is where Bridge addresses this gap. Bridge allows for the synchronisation of folders and sheets between different instances and hubs within Autodesk Construction Cloud. This enables owners to maintain their own digital audit trail, ensuring that they have backup copies of key project data as new versions are created and released.
For contractors using a different CDE on their project, Autodesk Platform Services significantly broadens its capabilities by offering well-maintained APIs that facilitate data exchange between Autodesk Construction Cloud and various 3rd party platforms and systems.
As part of all projects coming under the Building Safety Act, there will be the requirement to generate, review and approve very specific fire strategy plans and information in line with regulation 38 of the Building regulations and BS 8644.
The figures displayed, specifically C1, 4, and 10 from BS 8644, illustrate the types of plans that the Building Safety Regulator will require for compliance validation—particularly those highlighting Fire Resistance Requirements and Egress Paths:
Autodesk Partner Symetri has helped to develop an BIMFIRE Plugin for Autodesk Revit. This plugin streamlines the creation of wall compartmentation and Fire Strategy plans, offering one-click workflows for annotating fire doors and generating both 2D and 3D designs. These 3D objects and their metadata can be managed and tracked within the Autodesk Construction Cloud, linking seamlessly to Autodesk Build Assets for construction-phase oversight.
Importantly, BIMFIRE enables the easy integration of fire-specific parameters and can collaborate with other designs to create a comprehensive master fire information model.
As discussed in our previous BSA product blog, BS 8644-1:2022 introduces a new Fire Information Management Framework, known as 'FIREie,' applicable to both new and existing assets. The standard outlines a comprehensive set of information required across seven stages of an asset's life cycle. Additionally, the standard specifies Fire Safety properties for BIM processes, enabling the inclusion of parametric data in models to facilitate data collection.
With Autodesk Construction Cloud and the Parameters Service, you can manage project information and metadata requirements.
Managed at account or organisation level, the parameters service allows organisations to maintain a standardised database of parametric values which can be assigned to supply chains and project teams for inclusion within their design submissions. This puts clients and owners in control of the information they receive from sub-consultants and makes it easy for all teams to access requirements through a direct connection to the Autodesk Construction Cloud. We encourage you to read more about the Parameters Service in the previous blog within the series.
The primary advantage of a digital platform lies in its ability to generate trackable data from every file accessed, markup added, issue generated, or approval process executed. With Insight and Construction IQ you can leverage analysed data collected and stored in Autodesk Construction Cloud to help to identify and prioritise the construction risk that happens every day during project execution.
What’s next & what else is available today?
To learn more about the impact of the Building Safety Act on the construction industry, we would encourage you to read What the Building Safety Bill means for UK construction – and how to get ready. We also recommend downloading a copy of the Autodesk Building Safety Act whitepaper.
