CodeBook

Codebook for Revit soon to be released!

CodeBook V8 is a project manager's tool that organizes the entire project program in an Access database and then links it directly with the project CAD drawings. CodeBook offers a user-friendly interface which allows the user to enter the project program into the database as well as import existing program data from MS Excel or Word. Once linked to the CAD files, CodeBook then compares and validates the textual, programmatic database with the CAD files.

Programmatic items include square footage requirements, equipment requirements, MEP and HVAC requirements, lighting requirements, floor finishes and any other custom-specific requirement. Also managed within the CodeBook database is an up-to-date project audit trail of all equipment requirements and design changes throughout the entire design process. At the start of the project, the CodeBook database lists the program requirements. At the end of the project, the CodeBook database is a record of the project process and a catalog of all the designed data. CodeBook's functionality not only benefits the design team but also becomes an invaluable facilities management tool.

Output from the CodeBook database includes:

• Project Program
• Analytical Reporting
• Themed Graphical Views / Color-filled Diagrams
• Equipment, Door and Finishes Schedules
• Facilities Management
• Links to Industry Standard CAD Software
• Automatic Room Data Sheets with plan, elevations and schedules
• Links &synchronizes with: AutoCAD, Microstation (J and V8), MicroGDS &Autodesk Revit (via exporting)

A single CodeBook project can be reviewed by both AutoCAD & Microstation V8 files; therefore, a large project with various architects using different CAD programs can communicate through CodeBook. CodeBook can also manage your AutoCAD block or Microstation cell CAD Standard libraries from a single network location.

While intended primarily for use on Health Care projects, CodeBook can contribute to any building type that involves manipulating, tracking and scheduling a number of rooms and their contents. CodeBook has been used extensively in the UK on both traditional and PFI projects. It is being used in both the USA and South Africa and has recently been introduced in Australia.

The conceptual model of CodeBook and its methodology were developed by Peter Mann, an Architect who has had over 20 years experience of designing hospitals and who is fully conversant with the documentation requirements and the design processes involved. "At the design stage of a project the building is fluid as the designer juggles the program requirements to rationalize sometimes conflicting requirements," says Peter Mann. "With CodeBook used throughout the process, the architect can analyze, both graphically and with equipment schedules, the extent to which the design is fulfilling the program." - as stated in Martyn Day's Review of CodeBook, AEC Magazine October 2002.

To learn more about CodeBook, please visit www.codebookinternational.com