Towards one world for building information

The library will be based on ISO 12006-03, also known as the International Framework for Dictionaries (IFD). Both parties recognize the strategic advantages of collaboration for international support. The joint effort will pave the road for substantial use of e-commerce in the building and construction sector.

”We hope to be fully operational within a year,” says Jacob Mehus of Standards Norway, adding that the long-term aim is to achieve a free flow of data between all players in the building industry on a global basis. Jacob Mehus is marketing director of Standards Norway and manager of the reference library project, or BARBi (Bygg og Anlegg ReferanseBibliotek).

”We look forward to begin working together and merging our efforts,” says Maarten van Hezik, managing director of STABU Bouwbreed Informatiesysteem, the foundation behind LexiCon. Together with his Norwegian colleagues, van Hezik will have meetings in Germany and South Africa this spring. STABU and Standards Norway are among the 17 members of the International Construction Information Society, an association of organizations that provides national master-specification systems.

The idea of BARBi was first hatched by Lars Bjørkhaug of SINTEF Building and Infrastructure at the Norwegian Building Research Institute.

The data reference library is made up of a number of Global Unique Identifiers (GUIDs), giving each entry a unique identity and eliminating possible misunderstandings.

The organizations behind BARBi anticipate that users and customers will fall into three main categories: third party suppliers that can connect to BARBi, software providers interested in developing IFD compliant products, and producers of catalogs in need of translation tools.

Jotne EPM Technology delivers the IFD-based BARBi database and the company’s managing director, Jorulv Rangnes, is one of the key members of the project group.

Another key member and BARBi pioneer is Per Jæger, chairman of the Norwegian Homebuilder Association. He says, ”We have already had requests from China and other countries that are interested in implementing BARBi for an easier exchange of information.”

Some of the aims are to have the content of the libraries validated by several parties, to expand the number of languages ported, and to implement the libraries in various applications.

On the HITOS project in Northern Norway (the new Tromsø University College), testing will be performed based on BARBi GUIDs as common reference for communicating with Norwegian building article databases.

BARBi

A joint effort between the Norwegian Homebuilder Association, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Standards Norway, and several other organizations and commercial players in the Norwegian building industry.