Introduction Part 2

1.3 The importance of production information

Production information is defined as 'the information prepared by designers, which is passed to a construction team to enable a project to be constructed'. It is the means of communication between designers and constructors, either in separate organisations or the same organisation. It is independent of who employs the designers and which procurement route or form of contract is used. To emphasise this point the contractually neutral term 'constructor' has been used throughout this Code rather than the more traditional term 'contractor'.

Production information is conveyed by drawings, specifications and bills of quantity or schedules of work. Unless this information is complete, accurate and co-ordinated it will not be effective and, no matter how good the design, it will not be satisfactorily realised on site. Poor production information causes delays, extra costs and poor quality, which in turn give rise to disputes over who is responsible for the problems. Good production information is thus of vital importance to the success of the project.

1.4 Initiatives to improve production information

In response to the Government funded studies referred to in 1.2 above the RIBA, RICS, BEC, and ACE, at the request of Government, set up a Co-ordinating Committee for Project Information (CCPI). The aim of CCPI was to prepare practical guidance for designers that would help to overcome the deficiencies in project information revealed by the on-going work being done at BRE on production drawings and quality on site.

In 1987 CCPI published the following Co-ordinated Production Information (CPI) documents:

• Code of Procedure for Production Drawings
• Code of Procedure for Project Specification
• Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS)

At the same time a new edition of the Standard Method of Measurement (SMM7) was published, it being co-ordinated with the new CPI conventions.

The CPI Codes were widely recognised for their authoritative guidance on good practice. Sir Michael Latham, in his report 'Constructing the Team', said: 'CPI is a technique which should have become normal practice years ago'.

CCPI has since been re-constituted as the Construction Project Information Committee (CPIC), it's role being to maintain and promote the use of the CPI Codes. CAWS was revised and republished in 1998. This Code, covering both drawings and specification, replaces the separate 1987 Codes on Production Drawings and Project Specification.