The 2013 version of the RIBA Plan of Work is slowly gaining ground within the industry, according to research by construction information supplier NBS.
The 2013 Specification Survey survey quizzed a range of industry professionals, most of them product specifiers, and found that just 13% of respondents were using RIBA Plan of Work 2013 as their only tool for organising project work, whereas 42% said they used only the 2007 version. However, a further 40% of respondents said that they used both versions in tandem.
Awareness of the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 rose to 82% last year, up from 67% in 2012, said the report, although over a quarter of respondents (27%) said they used alternative tools to structure their work, such as Microsoft Project or in-house systems.
The report uncovered a shift in the types of specifications being produced, with 81% of respondents saying they had to produce performance-based specifications, up from 61% in 2012, perhaps reflecting the drive towards sustainability and zero carbon initiatives.
There was also an increase in the number of industry professionals producing proprietary specifications, ie specifications by product brand, up to 69% in 2013 compared to 52% in 2012.
The report found that more people are writing their own specifications – 71% said they collected information from manufacturers and put it together themselves, compared to just 40% in 2012; and 59% said they developed them from scratch, compared to 39% in 2012.
Nearly nine out of 10 respondents, or 87%, said they experienced difficulties when producing or using a specification, around half citing difficulties with drawings and the specification contradicting each other, which the report’s authors claim could be resolved by digitally linking specifications to drawings through BIM and through better collaboration.
Inaccurate or incomplete technical data was a difficulty experienced by 49% of respondents, perhaps because the manufacturer’s information was out-of-date. However, 75% said they reused specifications written for other projects, which could be another cause due do data being outdated.
The results suggest a prevailing negative attitude towards collaboration on specification, with 57% of respondents believing that if several disciplines contribute to one document it creates ownership issues. However, those aged over 55, who are likely to have been working with specifications longer, saw this as less of an issue, said the report.
Looking to the future, 75% of respondents said they believe specifications will be an integral part of BIM, compared to 59% in 2012. Also, 86% predicted that in future specifications will integrate across all disciplines and specialisms, while almost three-quarters said they believe that in the future specifications will inform the activities of facilities managers.
