construction specifications for the 21 st century

Construction Specifications for the 21st Century

Who is BSD?• Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) is a software company specializing in

applications for the architecture/engineering/construction market

• The company was founded in 1983 and acquired by CSI in 2010

• Headquarters are in Atlanta

• Staff comprises 43 full-time employees, including architects, engineers,

spec writers and software programmers, plus outside consultants

• Major products are:

– BSD SpecLink®

-E (now including SLE Cloud)

– BSD LinkMan™

-E

– BSD CostLink®/AE

• Customers include thousands of firms and individual users in all 50 states

What is BSD SpecLink-E?

It’s the most innovative productivity tool available for editing, maintaining and producing up-to-date construction specifications – and it’s configured for linkage to Revit through BSD LinkMan-E.

• It’s the latest generation of a tool that is being used to write specs for over

20,000 commercial, industrial, and institutional projects annually

• It’s the most innovative system available for producing up-to-date building

construction specs

• It’s an integrated relational database solution for specification editing,

production & maintenance

• It’s one database of master guide specification sections that can be

collapsed or expanded to produce specs for all project phases – from

programming through construction

• It’s the most comprehensive collection of guide specs available today –

currently 640+ master sections covering all disciplines – and applicable to

all project delivery methods, including design-build

What is BSD SpecLink-E?

How Is SpecLink-E Different?

• It’s designed by architects and engineers for ease of data customization

and ease of maintenance

• It employs an innovative overlay system that stores master data and

project data separately while merging them for editing and printing

• It includes a sophisticated updating system that eliminates overwriting or

file replacement and offers maximum editing flexibility

• It uses over 180,000 intelligent links built into the database to multiply

productivity by automatically including or excluding text based on user

choices

• It has over 40,000 context-sensitive “notes to the specifier” in a separate

window from the specification text

Why Is SpecLink-E Better?• All data for each project is in a single file, instead of comprising dozens of

word processing files― improving both productivity and project coordination

• You edit by selecting text that’s needed, instead of deleting unneeded

text, so all alternatives are always available (only selected text is printed)

• Global variables permit all formatting & printing to be accomplished in one

location for each project

• A “project notepad” is available at each paragraph― allowing the “office

master” project to serve as a convenient repository for corporate knowledge

• There are over 30 automatically generated reports, e.g. shop drawings,

that dramatically assist in construction administration

• The corporate edition allows role assignment for all users and includes an

Audit Trail that shows the last editor for any paragraph, plus an “office

master” project can be locked by the system manager

What About Content?

• Outline style text streamlines communication

• Text is absolutely the most up-to-date of any commercial master

specification, using global updating instead of a six-year replacement cycle

• One master is collapsed or expanded to produce Outline, Short Form, and

Full Specs from the same intelligent database

• Many new “green” features are included, such as automated LEED

checklists, contractor submittal forms, submittals report, and hyperlinks to

many green products

• Dozens of sections include an intelligent checklist that automatically edits

a section based on choices

• 20,000 regularly updated hyperlinks connect to manufacturer websites and

reference standards

BSD SpecLink-E – Overview

BSD SpecLink-E Architecture• The Latest Generation of BSD SpecLink

• A Client-Server Application Using SQL Server

• Multiple Components:

– Client Software Runs on User’s Computer

– Server Software and Database Run on WAN or LAN

– All Components Can Run on Standalone Computer

• MS SQL Server Built Into BSD Server Install

• No Separate License; No Database Administrator

• Professional Version for 1 or 2 Concurrent Users

• Corporate Version Available for Unlimited Concurrent Users

Current BSD SpecLink+ customers can upgrade to professional or corporate edition of SLE without losing

data from any projects

BSD SpecLink-E Architecture• SLE Cloud is now available:

– All software is installed remotely

– No firewall issues

– All maintenance and updating are automatic and

included in subscription

– Available from any device that provides Internet

access, including iPhones and iPads

– Provides simple worldwide collaboration and

consultant access

Current BSD SpecLink-E customers can upgrade to SLE Cloud without losing data from any projects

How Does SpecLink-E Work?Ribbon Bar shows Home Tab with buttons for common editing functions

Tree panel is divided onto vertical tabs and allows selection of sections to be edited

Document panel displays master text for editing and shows which paragraphs will be printed

Notes panel displays context-sensitive data to assist in editing

Links from selected text automatically include related text…

…exclude incompatible text

How Does SpecLink-E Work?

…and highlight other text for consideration

Only text that has been selected― either manually or automatically by a link― will be formatted and printed

Unselected text is grayed out and is not numbered


Ribbon Bar shows Documents Tab with Check-In and Save commands

You can have multiple documents open, each on a different tab.

All editing takes place in the DocumentPanel

There are two Notes Panels ― one for master notes. . .


Ribbon Bar shows Documents Tab with Check-In and Save commands

You can have multiple documents open, each on a different tab.

All editing takes place in the DocumentPanel

. . . and one for project notes – a “notepad” for recording corporate memory


Editing is typically accomplished in Normal View. . . which shows all available text


. . .but can also be refined in Selected View, which shows only text that will print


You can add text, tables, and images in Selected View, as well as in Normal View

Choice fields (identified by blue text) are also accessible in Selected View by clicking anywhere within the field


In addition to offering Normal and Selected View, the same database can be collapsed or expanded into any of three Modes:

Outline Spec Mode consists primarily of key text in Part 2 and is typically used at an early stage, such as schematic design.

Outline Specs are printed by division, without paragraph numbers


Short Form Mode produces a brief 3-part spec and is typically used for design development oras a final specfor small, simple projects.

Short Form specs are printed by section and include paragraph numbering.


Full Spec Mode produces full-length, 3-part specs for final construction documents.

Full Spec documents are printed by section and include paragraph numbering.


How Does SpecLink-E Work?The expanding/collapsing database in BSD SpecLink-E now permits specs for each phase of a project to be built directly on the specs produced for the previous phase – no starting over!

In addition, office master projects can now produce schematic design, design development, and full construction specs from the same master data – simply by collapsing or expanding!

For example, every listed manufacturer includes at least one hyperlink to its website


There are many other features that make this a specifications productivity tool unmatched by anything else on the market . . .

In addition, whenever a reference standard is mentioned in the text, there is a hyperlink to a website with additional information about the standard and an opportunity to purchase it


There are also many global features, including automatic formatting with multiple templates, global master terms, global user terms, and automatic unit of measure replacement


Global terms can be changed in one place and are automatically applied to the entire project― at any point in project development


You can also add an unlimited number of customized global user terms on a separate tab

Updating in BSD SpecLink-E

Updates can be downloaded from BSD immediately or set for automatic downloading at any convenient interval

All selections, edits, & additions are stored in a project overlay file that takes precedence over the BSD master text and is completely unaffected by BSD’s updates

The BSD master text is stored in a single file that cannot be altered or inadvertently corrupted

One of the most outstanding features of BSD SpecLink-E is its updating scheme, which allows you to keep your specs totally current without affecting any customized text or formatting

Updates typically affect 25-65% of all master sections each quarter!


Peerless Products is mine being under Windows and Doors. They are SL listed and I would love to broker an appointment with Bill Osbern – their CEO and Acting Sales Director. This account has laid dormant for over a year… ever since Bill said don’t call me, I’m not interested in any “Spec marketing tools.” Please see if we can start fresh with Coby as I would love to start fresh with Bill.Peerless Products is mine being under Windows and Doors. They are SL listed and I would love to broker an appointment with Bill Osbern – their CEO and Acting Sales Director. This account has laid dormant for over a year… ever since Bill said don’t call me, I’m not interested in any “Spec marketing tools.” Please see if we can start fresh with Coby as I would love to start fresh with Bill.Peerless Products is mine being under Windows and Doors. They are SL listed and I would love to broker an appointment with Bill Osbern – their CEO and Acting Sales Director. This account has laid dormant for over a year… ever since Bill said don’t call me, I’m not interested in any “Spec marketing tools.” Please see if we can start fresh with Coby as I would love to start fresh with Bill.Peerless Products is mine being under Windows and Doors. They are SL listed and I would love to broker an appointment with Bill Osbern – their CEO and Acting Sales Director. This account has laid dormant for over a year… ever since Bill said don’t call me, I’m not interested in any “Spec marketing tools.” Please see if we can start fresh with Coby as I would love to start fresh with Bill.

After an update has been installed, when an existing project is opened, a dialog box appears, noting that the project contains a particular number of paragraphs that have not been updated

By clicking “Apply,” the project is completely updated automatically

Instead of updating everything automatically, the user can choose to limit updates to Manufacturer References and/or Publication References

The user can also ignore the updates by clicking “Cancel”


If the project is not updated, any sections that would be affected by the update are marked in the tree by magenta text

Within the section, any paragraphs that would be affected by the update are marked by a rust color in the Status column

A right click within the paragraph opens a dialog box showing how the paragraph would change if the update is accepted

The user can update the paragraph or ignore it by clicking “Close”

We hope this brief introduction to BSD’s innovative spec product has intrigued you enough to ask for

more information about SpecLink-E.

Call us toll-free at888-BSD-SOFT

(888-273-7638)

orvisit our website at

www.bsdsoftlink.com

Thank you for your interest!

http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/

construction specifications for the 21 st century

Documents

project data

bsd speclink e

bsd speclinke

office master project

specification text slide

bsd linkman

project coordination

project notepad