Integrating CAD and Databases

By Robert W. Johnson, AIA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA

The dream many of us have had is to click on any element in the CAD file to find out everything that we wanted to know about that element no matter if our role is as a design professional, constructor, code official, or operator of the facility. This is not a dream of small proportions. Where are we on the journey to the realization of this dream?

I am a firm believer in learning from the past. If you don't have knowledge and understanding of where you have come from, it is going to be more difficult to determine where to go in the future. The following is a personal historical perspective as I have experienced the changing methods to prepare drawings and specifications and to obtain desired information from the start of my career as a part time student employee of an architectural firm in 1956. It is a look at the operating systems of the times, not theoretical new systems not yet in normal usage. You can compare your experiences with mine.

Drawings were completely drawn by hand without standard systems for guidance. New hires were first evaluated on their drawing and lettering skills; did they have "good hands." I remember spending extra hours practicing to make up for my lack of skills in these areas. The primary instructors were older, more experienced job captains who usually did not have a professional education or registration. They had learned how to put buildings together and document that by their hands_on experience. Today's offices are almost totally devoid of these people, which makes the learning process for new young professionals more difficult.

Specifications in the 50s and 60s

Specifications were typed on ditto masters, which made revisions very difficult. Only the very brave went to the typist with changes to a completed stencil! Specifications were organized as each specifier preferred; there was no common standard. The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) started to change this in the early 60s with the publication of The CSI Format for Construction Specifications, which is also when the first commercial master specification appeared. It was the late 60s before I prepared my first hard copy office master specification.

Information Systems in the 50s and 60s

Information such as product literature, magazines, and books was only available in hard copy. Sweets catalogs were the main source of product information. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) filing system that no longer exists was used to file information.

Drawing and Specifications in the 70s

The arrival of overlay pin_bar systems started systemizing drawing preparation. AIA MASTERSPEC® was the predominate commercial master specification. AIA provided only hard copy but also allowed individual firms to manually input the master into the many word processing programs available. After purchase of the hard copy from AIA, you could then purchase the electronic version of your choice from the individual firms, or service groups authorized by AIA. It was at this time that I prepared my first computerized office master using the main frame computer of a civil/structural engineering firm who had created a word processing program to sell to reduce the computer overhead costs. Input was by punch card with one line of text per card, and output was on a line printer. All characters were capitalized. Dropping the box of punch cards on the floor would be a complete disaster!

Information Systems in the 70s

Systems to obtain construction information were also changing. The Uniform Construction Index, jointly published by several construction organizations and based on the CSI Format for Construction Specifications, was the standard for organizing specifications, data filing, cost analysis, and project filing. Information now became available on microfilm. This photographed material could now be stored in a small space for quick scanning. At this time AIA and the General Services Administration (GSA) commissioned the creation of a new cost estimating format to prepare project budgets at project conception and keep a historical cost data base after completion. This format, called UniFormat™ received little publicity and was used only by federal agencies and professional cost estimators through the 70s and 80s. The Assemblies Cost Book by R. S. Means was the most common location where it was used and might be noticed.

Drawings in the 80s

Computers and CAD now arrive to forever change how we prepare drawings. Large firms purchased expensive workstations and treated CAD like an in_house drafting service. The 1982 arrival of the IBM PC had a major effect on the use of CAD. Many very small firms jumped quickly and completely changed their operations with this new affordable tool. The medium-sized firms struggled with the more difficult decision-making process and larger investments for more staff. But CAD was still treated as a drafting tool. It was used for small_scale drawings, hardly ever for large-scaled details. Early design drawings were still hand drawn, and 3D was not yet a normal operating tool.

Specifications in the 80s

The IBM PC spelled the eventual demise of the typewriter and dedicated word processors. But again, specification professionals did not use the tools directly. Specifiers marked_up hard copy for processing by administrative personnel. The late 80s also saw the arrival of smart or intelligent specifications. Answers to a list of questions provided the program information from which to prepare specifications. These programs received a mixed reaction - how can a computer replace the human mind? In the late 80s, Onkal K. (Duke) Guzey and James N. Freehof created a new system to coordinate drawings and specifications called ConDoc. Keynote designators utilizing the five_digit specification section number is used to designate specified materials on the drawings to direct the reader of the drawings to the location in the specifications for additional information and facilitate coordination of common terminology.

Information Systems in the 80s

The 1978 edition of the CSI MasterFormat™ becomes the accepted national standard for organizing specifications, data filing, and detailed cost estimates. Manufacturers are now providing product data, specifications, CAD details, and interactive questions with resulting specifications and details in electronic forms. In the late 1980s CD_ROM starts to emerge as a distribution media. The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) leads the way with the Construction Criteria Base (CCB) program to improve the distribution of federal guide specifications and standards.

Drawings in the 90s 100% CAD drawings become the norm. CAD becomes a normal working design tool, not just a drafting tool for construction documents. 3_D, walk_throughs, and fly_arounds become normal presentation and design tools. In the late 90s a national standard for drawings finally arrives. A joint venture of AIA, CSI, and the U.S. Department of Defense Tri_Services CADD/GIS Technology Center (DOD) under the leadership of NIBS creates the first elements of a new National CAD Standard. The standard includes the AIA CAD Layer Guidelines, CSI Uniform Drawing System (UDS), and the DOD Plotting Guidelines. Additional elements to complete this standard are continuing to be published.Drawings have historically been an assembly of lines. Although CAD could produce multiple lines with one keystroke, the drawings were still made up of lines. CAD is now in the process of changing from an assembly of lines to an assembly of objects. With lines we have not been able to attach independent meaning to the elements of the CAD files. With objects, we are dealing with materials, assemblies, and systems by which we specify and estimate costs. We now have objects to which we can attach attributes with information that we need. This is a major revolution from the way we have ever prepared and thought about drawings. It is easier to talk about this concept than it is to assimilate in our minds. The technology to do this has been with us for some time, but is not yet in common usage. I predict it will take a while for us to understand and to fully utilize the potential of this new tool because we will have to change the basic fundamental way we have thought about drawings.

Specifications in the 90s

Until recently, master specification systems have been delete and edit type in word processing software. ARCOM MASTERSPEC® and CSRF SPECTEXT® both now include substantial macro tools to facilitate and automate the editing and processing of specifications. We now have our first specification system, BSD SpecLink, in a data base format. In contrast to word processing, the data base format facilitates the attachment of intelligent links to CAD objects, cost data, etc. Again, we have a major revolution in how we think about specifications. They now become data rather than just a bunch of words for processing.

Information Systems in the 90s

CD_ROM became the distribution media of choice during the 90s. Internet web sites have rapidly become the primary source of information in the last few years. We are finally coming upon the paperless age in terms of technical information. None of the technical information in our firm is distributed in hard copy ñ it is available across our multiple offices on our Intranet or by links to web sites. One of our major problems now is information overload ñ how to find the information we are seeking efficiently. Another problem is communicating from one software program to another.

Retrospective Conclusion

Where does all this lead us? We have always thought about drawings, specifications, and construction information as separate domains. We have spent much time and effort to coordinate these separate repositories of information, particularly between drawings and specifications. Follow the old rule of "say it once in the right place" by using the same terminology on drawings and in specifications, no duplications of information, no gaps in information, and above all, avoid conflict between drawings and specifications. Project record documents and operation and maintenance manuals compiled manually have been the facility operator's primary source of information for operating and maintaining the facility. We have not regularly added value to our documents by integrating this information. Are we at the place where we have the operating tools to integrate this information in a whole new revolutionary way? Can we now have one set of electronic files that contain all the information we desire in one location? In the next issue we will continue by exploring the current state of integrating tools and look at their future.

About the author: Robert W. Johnson, FCSI is Vice President and Director of Technical Resources for RTKL Associates, an international A/E/P firm with headquarters in Baltimore, MD. He can be reached at RJOHNSON@RTKL.com.

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©  Copyright 2007, The Construction Sciences Research Foundation, Inc.  Updated January 12, 2007.