THE STATIONERY OFFICE TO BE EXCLUSIVE INFORMATION PROVIDER TO BIW

2 July 2001
  
The Stationery Office (tSO), Europe's largest publisher of regulatory information, is to provide regulatory information exclusively in the project management sector for BIW Technologies Ltd (BIW) Information Channel, a project management system for construction professionals. Under the agreement, BIW will make tSO's "Construction Knowledge Bank" available to its several thousand users in the construction sector. As a result, construction professionals will, for the first time, be able to access their online project data alongside official regulatory material from their PC.

Information Channel, BIW's collaboration system, develops secure websites for the construction industry, enabling, contractors, architects, engineers, surveyors and suppliers to share information so that construction projects are delivered in a timely and cost- and quality-effective manner. The Stationery Office's Construction Knowledge Bank provides information on regulations, health & safety and construction law through an online subscription service.

George Stevenson, Director of Research at BIW, commented: "While some other project extranets simply act as electronic mailboxes, Information Channel is delivering relevant, tailored information to over 5500 users. They will now have the option of subscribing to the most current regulatory material, for both building and health and safety, from their PC or Mac."

"The Construction Knowledge Bank is a perfect complement to BIW's software tools", commented Julian Fagandini, MD of TSO Enterprises. "TSO has long been the authoritative source of construction regulatory information in the UK, and it is perfectly logical that this information should be provided at the very point where it is to be used - on the laptop or desktop PC of the professionals in the design and construction team.

Continued George Stevenson: "We will also be working with TSO to develop new applications to provide closer integration of content with project requirements throughout the life cycle of a built asset. We feel that building owners would welcome readily available health and safety information for operational use by their facilities managers - a user group already addressed by the Information Channel."

More information from:

• Amba Sessions, Group Public Relations TSO (direct 020 7873 8283), main switchboard 01603 696553
• Paul Wilkinson, BIW head of corporate communications (0845 1300 800 or mobile 07788 445920)

Notes to editors:

• 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.the-stationery-office.com) 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 (in the construction sector) the Office of Government Commerce and NHS Estates.
• Project collaboration systems from BIW (www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1998 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury and BAA. The customer list now includes Capital One Bank, housebuilder Crest Nicholson, Marks & Spencer, Manchester Airport, Ikea, the Welsh Development Agency, developer Garbe UK and Asda. As the technology is adopted by each client's supply chain, BIW's Information Channel user base has grown rapidly. By the end of May 2001, it was being used by over 5500 people from 920 companies working on some 350 UK projects.
• BIW Information Channel is a sophisticated web-based supply chain integration tool or 'project portal', 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.