Two peak infrastructure bodies will combine their expertise, data sharing and product identification standards through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
GS1 Australia and buildingSMART Australasia hope that pooling information will enable the construction industry to make better use of the standards and services they deliver.
GS1 is a vendor-neutral and not-for-profit global organisation that develops and maintains the most widely-used supply chain standards in the world and leads the development of open digital information flows across the built asset economy.
buildingSMART Australasia is a not-for-profit, industry-led volunteer organisation that develops data sharing standards, provides tools and training and drives the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for use in the infrastructure sector.
The use of global buildingSMART and GS1 standards for product identification and exchange of product data will provide critical assistance in addressing challenges of digitalisation in the construction sector.
CEO and Executive Director of GS1 Australia, Maria Palazzolo, said the MoU presented an opportunity to build the foundation for greater efficiencies in the building industry.
Ms Palazzolo said it would enable the use of openBIM standards for design and construction alongside GS1 global standards for product identification and verification.
David Mitchell, buildingSMART Australasia’s Chairperson, said that enhanced traceability applications to improve product authentication across the construction and asset management sector would help build compliance and minimise the effects of structural building failures and cladding fires, like those seen recently.
“Having a better understanding of building projects with the adoption of a digital system that checks products against specifications and can identify products that have been recalled will bring positive and much needed change for the industry,” Mr Mitchell said.
Currently, there is no comprehensive digital framework in the construction industry to track and capture data about the products and materials used throughout the construction project life cycle.
Liberty Steel’s Customer Experience Manager, David McNeil, said that GS1 standards have been critical in the company’s efforts to facilitate electronic trading and product traceability for over 15 years.
“Now, as the construction market increasingly demands full traceability of products throughout the supply chain, for both compliance and sustainability, integrating GS1 standards into BIM is a logical and essential part of that journey,” Mr McNeil said.
