How BSI developed an innovative digital service for the engineering market

1. The challenges of working
with Eurocodes information
&
our solution . . .
Jonathan Griffin
Head of Market Development

2. What are the Eurocodes?
1. Standards that ensure that
buildings & structures don’t
collapse or burn down
2. Used by civil & structural
engineers
3. A suite of 109 standards that have
been adopted across Europe
4. A revolutionary approach to
engineering practice

3. How did we develop EurocodesPLUS?
Development was inspired & guided throughout by our customers.
We worked with them at each stage of the process to identify &
prioritise content & functionality . . .
Business case Beta testing
Workshops were held to
identify issues arising from
working with the standards

4. 5 key challenges we identified . . .
1. Finding the right bits of the
Eurocodes
2. Figuring out how the Eurocodes
work in contrast to the withdrawn
standards
3. Knowing whether the Eurocode
being used is current
4. Capturing expertise and sharing it
with colleagues
5. Capturing compilations and sharing
them with colleagues
Engineers use Eurocodes to calculate
the strength, stability and safety of
structural designs

5. Challenge 1 finding the right bits of the codes
The Eurocodes are a suite of inter
dependent documents
One task, many documents: The search for relevant
They typically require extensive information
cross-referencing between
documents to get the
complete picture

6. Our solution: sophisticated search & retrieval functionality
The homepage is focused on search
& browse
The aim is to get users to the
solution as quickly as possible

7. Results are
displayed at a
paragraph, rather
than document,
level.
Users told us they
typically needed bits
of the standard
rather than the
whole thing.
There are various,
user defined ways of
accessing results
(eg. building type)

8. The text contains
extensive links to
related documents
Flags in the margins
indicate content
enhancements.
A purple flag indicates
an integrated cross
reference

9. This expanded box
provides easy access
to the most commonly
cross-referenced text

10. Challenge 2 figuring out how to apply the codes in practice
Since the Eurocodes are new, most
engineers told us they needed not just
copies of the standards, but guidance 43%
on how to apply them said guidance
was a
“must have”
feature

11. Our solution: Practical guidance linked to specific sections
• GUIDANCE A yellow flag indicates guidance has
been written on a specific section
The expanded box contains practical
guidance. It has been commissioned
from leading Eurocodes experts and
has been peer reviewed

12. Challenge 3 Knowing that the Code being used is current
The Eurocodes are regularly
updated
75%
Using current standards is
said they
important because in the event wanted to be
of a dispute, courts will refer alerted to
to current standards changes to the
Eurocodes

13. Our solution: News updates on the home page
The home page is made of
customisable “widgets”, which
can be moved or hidden
The news widget includes
updates on content changes
and general Eurocodes-
related news

14. Challenge 4 Capturing expertise & sharing it with colleagues
Engineers told us that they
were appointing office
experts in particular Concrete expert
Eurocode areas
So, we designed a tool to
help them share & preserve
this expertise

15. Our solution: Notes creation & sharing
Notes can be “attached” to
sections of the Eurocodes
There is a option to share
them with colleagues or keep
them private

16. The shared notes can be
accessed from a home page
widget
They are also denoted by a
green flag in the text

17. Challenge 5 Capturing compilations & sharing them with
colleagues
Engineers told us that it
would be useful to save, &
reuse, related Eurocode
sections
These compilations could
then be used as design
manuals for future project
and project files for
completed projects

18. Our solution: A tool to compile sections of the Eurocodes
Step 1: highlight section

19. Our solution: A tool to compile sections of the Eurocodes
Step 2: create the compilation file & decide who to share it with

20. Our solution: A tool to compile sections of the Eurocodes
Step 3: add relevant sections from the Eurocodes

21. Our solution: A tool to compile sections of the Eurocodes
Step 4: save compilation to directory

22. Endorsements
“I think it is an excellent product . .
..
“Eurocodes no longer need to
be difficult. With Eurocodes The extensive hyperlinks between
PLUS, the whole process is the current Eurocodes and earlier
simplified because you get standards certainly brings extra
digital access to all relevant
codes to help you to implement
value.”
them. You can also read expert
Beta tester
comments and create your own
notes, making it easy to
capture and share best
practice.”
Mike Chrimes, Director,
Institution of Civil Engineers
“Eurocodes cover a wide scope and replace a lot of British Standards, so it is
easy to get lost in the new system, searching through piles of paper. I am
convinced that a web-based system, providing easy links between the related
clauses and documents, will be a huge benefit to users. The facilities of
Eurocodes PLUS are very impressive, allowing individuals and companies to
build their own system with references and comments.”
Brian Simpson Arup

23. For more information contact
Jonathan Griffin (jonathan.griffin@bsigroup.com)
or
Jonathan Silver (jonathan.silver@bsigroup.com)