BIW INTEGRATES THE STATIONERY OFFICE’S CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BANK INTO COLLABORATION SERVICE

22 February 2002
 
BIW Technologies (BIW), the UK market leader in collaboration web services for the construction and property industry, is now delivering construction regulatory information from The Stationery Office (TSO) direct to users of BIW Information Channel.

TSO, Europe's largest publisher of regulatory information, has made its Construction Knowledge Bank available exclusively to existing users of BIW’s collaboration system for a three-month trial period. Some 12,000 construction professionals can now access UK Building Regulations and other official information on health, safety and construction law, as well as TSO’s interactive ‘Ask The Expert’ service, alongside their online project data.

“It makes sense that this information should be provided at the very point where it is to be used - on the laptop or desktop, PC or Mac, of professionals active in the design and construction process,” says Michael Upshall, TSO product director.

BIW chief executive Colin Smith says: “With the Construction Knowledge Bank accessible from within the BIW Information Channel working environment, thousands of potential subscribers will be able to assess the benefits of the service before our free trial period ends in May. I am sure many of our users will then want to subscribe to this service.”

BIW’s web-based supply chain management service, BIW Information Channel, is already used extensively in the UK construction industry, with over 12,000 users in 1700 companies working on over 550 projects worth more than £4.5bn. Clients include Sainsbury, Capital One Bank, Marks & Spencer, ISG the occupancy business, Manchester Airport, Defence Estates, Ocado, the Welsh Development Agency, Asda and Kajima.

Further information:

• Paul Wilkinson, BIW Technologies
  0845 1300 800 (mobile 07788 445920)
• Michael Upshall, Product Director, TSO
  020 7873 8753 (direct)

Notes to Editors:

• Project collaboration services from BIW Technologies (BIW®, www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1998 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury. As the technology is adopted by each client’s supply chain, the BIW Information Channelä user base has grown rapidly with 6206 users being added in the 12 months up to 30 September 2001, compared with 2018 added in the previous 12 months.
• BIW Information Channel is a sophisticated web-based supply chain integration technology, originally designed specifically for construction projects. Each client is provided with a unique, project-specific website created around a knowledge database. Using this, all data can be made available to every project team member – from the earliest concepts and specifications, through detailed design, buildability studies, pre-fabrication, construction, maintenance, operation and improvement, to the eventual demolition or dismantling of the facility.
• The Construction Knowledge Bank is an online subscription service for professionals in construction. It provides continuously updated texts of the Building Regulations for the whole of the UK, plus selected health and safety and construction law content. The service is backed by an editorial board, together with an Ask the Expert service providing informed advice for professionals.
• The Stationery Office (www.theso.co.uk) is the UK's leading publisher of regulatory material. In addition to publishing UK government legislation, it provides a wide range of publishing services to governmental and non-governmental organisations, including those with a particular interest in construction such as NHS Estates and the Office of Government Commerce.