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Nemetschek goes mobile: new solutions and trends in the construction sector

Munich, 5. October 2006 - At BAU 2007 exhibition in Munich, Nemetschek will be presenting itself in hall C3, stand 320, with the motto "Mobile on the Construction Site". The software company will be presenting solutions that enable mobile data entry of defects, building data and deadlines using PDA's or tablet PC's. Visitors to the stand can find out about the possible applications and first-hand practical experiences of "on-site solutions". Other themes will include Design2Cost, a new method for cost determination for planners, building contractors and prefabricated house manufacturers, as well as round-trip engineering for civil engineering.

On-site solutions make it possible to enter information quickly and easily on the building site, for later processing in an office solution. This creates a seamless data chain from the building site through to administration. All that is required is a mobile end device (e.g. personal digital assistant (PDA) or tablet PC) and the corresponding software. The following solutions are available from December:

On-Site Progress Manager: mobile tracking of construction progress
Successful completion of construction projects requires efficient deadline management. On-Site Progress Manager 2007 supports project controllers and site managers in determining, evaluating and documenting construction progress. A tablet PC can be used to enter deadlines and information on a construction project's level of completion. Three clicks are enough to fully describe the current situation. Users simply enter their current location, the component that they are assessing and the estimated level of progress. The data then flows to a scheduling program and is made available to all the project participants via the Internet. This creates transparency in the construction process, making it easier to monitor schedules. Nemetschek developed this solution as part of the "MobiKo" project. MobiKo is an initiative of the German government with the objective of creating a mobile platform for the construction industry. The application has already been put to practical use at one of the largest German construction companies.

On-Site Inspector: tracking construction defects
Correct entry of defects represents a significant block of costs in the construction industry: experts estimate that around 25 percent of reductions at final billing are currently due to defects. This is why Nemetschek has developed On-Site Inspector 2007, with which site managers can easily record defects and damage to both the structural shell and the finished structure, to be processed automatically in the defect management system. This application avoids multiple entries of the same data and reduces the time needed to enter data. There is also the option to include photos, plans, site plans or voice recordings on-site. Existing data from defect management systems, portals and lists can be imported from Excel or XML files and reused. On-Site Inspector is also already being tested in practical situations by several well-known construction companies.
Other areas of application for the solution are construction audits that experts can record for buildings and then include in their restoration plans. On-Site Inspector is also suitable for insurance agents who must analyze and assess accidents every day.

On-Site Survey: digital entry of floor plans
On-Site Survey 2007 enables lightning-fast conversion of building data into digital floor plans. This is done either by hand using a stylus on a tablet or notebook PC, by entering measured values via the keyboard, or by wireless transfer from a handheld laser device. This therefore reduces to a minimum the time-consuming manual entry of measurements and building data. Data transfer to the Allplan CAD system enables users to process the data directly. As well as technical data, the application can also integrate multimedia information such as photos, sound and text entries. This ensures that planning partners and project participants receive a comprehensive overview of the building without needing to visit the site.

On-Site Photo: From laser measuring device to digital camera
Nemetschek has developed On-Site Photo 2007 for planners, surveyors, site managers and workers. This new solution allows for the precise realignment of photographs of buildings, getting rid of the need for time-consuming measurements on the construction site. Users simply photograph the corresponding object and take two reference measurements. In the office, they can then determine the remaining dimensions using On-Site Photo - usually up to an accuracy of one centimeter. This solution only has low technical requirements and users can quickly and easily teach themselves how to use it with videos and the manual.

Design2Cost: cost planning made easy
Design2Cost represents another focus of Nemetschek's appearance at the exhibition. This new method for cost planning enables planners, general contractors and prefabricated house manufacturers to determine their costs quickly and reliably during the early planning phase. Design2Cost comprises the Allplan 2006 CAD software, the Allright 2006 AVA software or the Alltop catalog system, as well as Nemetschek IntelligenteBauDaten IBD ("IntelligenteBauDaten" = "Intelligent Building Data"). The latter is a database with graphic and alphanumeric construction elements that are used to store components together with corresponding services and prices.
Users receive a solution for building and cost planning, AVA, calculation and construction data from a single source and benefit from increased productivity and revenues. Expressed in figures, this means that the workload for quantity determination is reduced by an average of 70 percent.
As well as building models, quantities, cost calculation and calls for tenders, the connection to construction time planning will also be integrated with the solution in future. It is possible to tell at a glance what needs to be done and with what means. Another new addition is the equipment manager, with which users with no knowledge of CAD can process the requirements of construction clients or sales staff in a schedule of rooms and buildings in checklist format. The data is then used in cost determination, specifications and the building model.

If you are interested, come to the stand and learn from users with first-hand experience of these solutions. Nemetschek experts will also be giving presentations on Design2Cost in the BAUIT forum in hall C3.

Round-Trip Engineering: compatibility in structural design
Another new item at BAU 2007 is SCIA.ESA PT 2007, a piece of software developed by Nemetschek's subsidiary SCIA for static and structural design. The new version improves interaction with Allplan Engineering even further. For the first time, the solution also includes the Round-Trip Engineering module, which synchronizes data between CAD and static software, rendering obsolete the time-consuming and error-prone process of multiple draft data entry. In concrete terms, this means that the geometric information is transferred once from Allplan Engineering to SCIA.ESA PT. There, the static system is defined automatically or manually, then material properties, load and support conditions. When a planning change is made, the user can simply press a button to update the changed components. All the entries made previously are retained. Because, in practice, a static calculation often ends up no longer representing a single process, but rather a series of continuously changing plans, Round-Trip Engineering represents a considerable improvement to the participating engineers' work processes.

About Nemetschek
The Nemetschek group is one of the world's leading technology companies for the design, construction and management of buildings and real estate. Nemetschek software is used by more than 160,000 renowned customer in 142 countries in 16 languages. For more than 40 years, Nemetschek IT solutions have been creating synergies and optimizing the overall building creation and management process in terms of quality, cost and time.

NEMETSCHEK Allplan GmbH
Maisberger GmbH, Isabelle Lissel-Erhard
Kirchenstraße 15
81675 München
Tel. +49 (0)89 / 41 95 99 61
Fax +49 089 92793-5308
nemetschek@maisberger.com