Blog Archives

Posts with the 'Toolkit' tag

New ToolKit CS price option

Introduction

ToolKit™ Compliance System (CS) is for managing Asbestos or CDM, the Construction (Design Management) processes to meet the Health & Safety Executive's regulations.

Available via the web, all our options offer storage of all operational data regarding asbestos or CDM projects on a single database. Information, document management and knowledge management are all available by authorised users including the 'client's' administrative team.

ToolKit CS™ Entry Level

ToolKit CS™ is designed to meet the needs of large corporate organisations, medium sized enterprises or smaller businesses including consultants working on their own.

We now have an entry level package for those smaller organisations or those wishing to take the first step to centralised CDM and Asbestos management. With prices starting from under £200 per month we provide various deliverables to meet your business needs.

The table below sets out some of the main criteria;

If you would like to know more about what we have available then please give a member of the team a call to discuss your requirements on 01525 850080 or email us at gen@aisolutions.co.uk.

August 3, 2010 | Permalink | Comment

The Ai Solutions Compliance Approach

Our approach has become a holistic one with the provision of our Compliance System for the Construction Management and Design Regulations or the Asbestos at Work Regulations or both.

The Compliance System may or may not include our ToolKit CS™ computer systems software, hardware and the associated networking and external hosting; all are available from us as a single suppler but none are mandatory in the solution we provide.

Our aim is to allow you to develop your Compliance System to meet your needs and these will be unique to your business. We will analyse your current compliance arrangements including an audit of your current systems as appropriate. Taking best practice and current guidelines, we will map out a compliance process with you and your colleagues, guiding your, stream-lining, improving the throughput of documents, data and information. Where required this can include Prince2 type milestones and key performance indicators to ensure the organisation keeps on track with its objectives, whatever they are. In addition we will provide a jointly researched and written Compliance Guidance Document for your end users to keep you on track. The document will need to be underwritten by your senior managers and presented so that it can be followed with ease to ensure compliance.

To facilitate the process, we include Pre-Analysis consultancy where we work with key users to scope out the requirements of your compliance system. This may include training of your users in the regulations, in the processes required, creation of the Compliance Guidance Document, process definition and so forth. Most organisations will be looking for cost savings in addition to improved risk assessment and accident reduction. We bring our own experience to bear in these important areas with experience from our customer portfolio and our own award winning users who have trod the same route over many years. 'Joined Up Working', paper saving, time saving each have a part to play in this regard and we look forward to being surprised if we cannot find savings in your organisation which are easily achievable. 'Investing to Save' needs to be explored, costed and presented so that you and our management team are aware of the goals that can, with our help, be achieved. Once approved by you, we can then create a requirements analysis where the whole process is defined in detail. We use the model below (Consultancy, Technology, and Training & Auditing) to define the client's needs and then map out what is needed to ensure a smooth transition.

Our technical team will then provide a detailed specification of our agreed solution, including our flagship ToolKit CS™ hosted software where that is required, with an implementation plan that ensures your system supports your organisation in the most appropriate way.

Our overall aim remains focussed on providing the best possible customer service, for which we have an excellent track record over many years, so that your investment with us saves you not only substantial costs over time, but saves lives & accidents as well.

January 4, 2010 | Permalink | Comment

Essential ToolKit

Our unique Hosted Subscription Service offers:

• No capital outlay
• Internet Access
  • Always available to authorised users from anywhere in the world
  • Always up to date
• Freedom from IT Constraints
  • Software and Data on our secure server
  • Automatic Updates /upgrades
  • No demands on your IT department
• Ongoing Training and Support
  Including all aspects of :
  • CDM & Asbestos Regulations
  • Guidance documents for the organisation and management
  • Procedure design and implementation
  • Team briefings and training
  • Auditing

Please call us on 01525 850080 for further details.

July 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comment

Cost Saving in Recessionary Times

There is no doubt that financially, we are all in for a rough time over the coming months. Expenditure will be questioned; income will be analysed. The state of the nation's health will be monitored as we go into 'intensive care'. Debate will abound; action will be scarce. Will we weather the storm? Will I have a job next month; sorry next week?

Now there is a positive side to this scenario which hopefully will be less grim than the picture painted here for most of us. This is a time to take stock of all those inefficient ways we carry on using because of the effort involved (and cost) of changing them. Is this the time to get rid of the baggage and paint a better future for ourselves?

A village newsletter hit my doorstep this week containing a letter from a Local Councillor. He was explaining how local government are particularly hard pressed with reduced income from their investment portfolios and government caps on the allowed rate of rise in council taxes. Having explored just about every other means of saving money, the Council are now talking to other Councils and other County Councils to see how they can join together with joined up working to save some money. Sound familiar?

Talking with a customer this week, we were exploring the cost saving of using our management software in the CDM environment. The customer had proved to himself that using our ToolKit™ software for completing and submitting F10 forms for approximately 3 notifiable projects per week is saving his organisation around £3,500 per year. Now that's an interesting starting point.

Rather more spectacular, though, is the fact that the same customer is saving at least £44,000 per year with our internet based product. The product is now used as the primary communication for all documents concerned with major projects between architects, contractors and themselves as clients. Here, the savings are all very tangible; everyone involved saves reams of paper (literally), printing costs including toner, mailing costs, and time. Major Project Health & Safety Files now take around 5 days to assemble; less than half the time they took using more conventional methods. We made a fairly 'rough' calculation of the cost savings by producing the HSF using our software. The savings are, frankly, staggering; they mean that you could possibly afford the best part of another CDM-C depending on where in the country you happen to be - assuming of course that you could find one. Now that is good news.

But there is more! As a result of using the management software, the organisation is now in total control of the CDM process. They know where their documentation is, where compliance is an issue, how many projects are at whatever stage they need to report on etc etc. Access to information is quick and easy for everyone who requires and is authorised to have it. There is no doubt that the return on investment from the joined up working approach taken here is very effective and efficient by whatever measure you care to throw at it.

We are steadfastly working to promote Joined Up Working across London with an initiative led by Fred Robinson as reported to you last month. And we are making progress. If you would like to take part please contact us.

February 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comment

Health & Safety File for the 21st Century

(Not a lever-arch file in sight)

The promise of the paperless office has been making headlines for many years. The benefits of electronic storage have long been seen as a potential cost and time saving exercise, albeit not always easy to achieve.

Bradford Metropolitan District Council has had the dream of an electronic Health & Safety File since the HSE's original Construction (Design and Management) Regulations of 1994 came into being. Ai Solutions Ltd, suppliers of their ToolKit CDM software have worked with them to produce a Health & Safety file fit for the 21st century, integrating it with the Operations and Maintenance Manual and associated documents.

The key requirement of accessibility is delivered instantly by your normal internet browser to every user in any location. Property managers, designers, health and safety managers and internal and external contractors can achieve real benefit in planning and tracking their programmes and quickly finding essential information relating to ongoing health and safety management of every building and structure.

On top of that huge cost savings can be achieved in getting rid of mountains of lever arch files. In Bradford this ran to over a 100 linear metres of shelving and 100's of rolls of drawings.

The health & safety information, asbestos records and maintenance records of all of Bradford's many properties and buildings are available to anyone with permission to view. This information will always be up to date and will have an audit history. Maintenance contractors and designers will have the facility to download and update documents.

The Health & Safety File becomes a live and relevant tool of proactive management rather than a document prepared solely to meet legal requirements and measured by the number of pages in it and the layers of dust on top of it.

The Health & Safety File finally comes of Age.

4th September 2007

For more information, call 01525 850080 or www.aisolutions.co.uk

Source: Ai Solutions Ltd

September 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comment

Managing Asbestos in Premises

I thought that you would like to know that HSC have agreed that we should proceed with the revision of the CDM and CHSW regs. The ambitious aim is to publish a consultative document next Spring. As far as possible I want to move forward by consensus, involving as many interested parties as possible.

The high level objectives for the revision, agreed with CONIAC and endorsed by HSC, are to improve the management of risk by:

1. simplifying the regulations to improve clarity and so making it easier for dutyholders to know what is expected of them;
2. maximising their flexibility to fit with the vast range of contractual arrangements;
3. making their focus planning and management, rather than the plan and other paperwork, to emphasise active management and minimise bureaucracy;
4. strengthening the requirements regarding co-ordination and co-operation, particularly between designers and contractors to encourage more integration;
5. simplifying the assessment of the competence of organisations.

If we are to make an impact and avoid the problems that have dogged CDM then the way we proceed is at least as important as the final product. I want all interested parties to feel involved and to have a real opportunity to influence the outcome. I should, therefore, appreciate it if you would use your contacts to identify opportunities for either informal discussions or presentations to meetings. I also hope to establish an internet discussion forum where we can post drafts and people can comment on them or put forward their own ideas.

Stephen Wright
HSE Construction Policy
Tel. 020 7717 6308

Source: Stephen Wright, HSE

January 10, 2004 | Permalink | Comment

Asbestos Alert for Maintenance Workers

The main group of workers that need protection from asbestos whilst performing their duties are maintenance and installation engineers. The new Regulation 4, the Duty to Manage, in the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 will require that this group of workers will have access to all the information concerning asbestos within the premises they are working on. And that applies to all buildings in the workplace - with or without asbestos.

Computers are the obvious vehicle to give anyone instant access to information. Ai Solutions have been working with their clients on a new Floor Plan Editor within their new asbestos management software that will enable this to happen.

The scenario is a simple one. The operative arrives on site, at reception, to book in. The receptionist needs a quick and effective means to give the information about any asbestos containing materials in the area where the work is to be carried out. The floor plan of the building is immediately brought up on screen together with the asbestos risk assessment scores and current status.

The major benefit of this approach is that it is instant and highly visible whilst being automatically audited within the management software.

"Working with clients to produce a system that is effective in the real world is what good management software is all about. With the Asbestos ToolKit CS™ (Compliance System) that is what we believe they get."

David Marlow
Ai Solutions Ltd

01525 850080, www.aisolutions.co.uk

Source: David Marlow, Ai Solutions Ltd

July 10, 2003 | Permalink | Comment

When Access To Instant Information Could Save Lives

Time is running out for the non-domestic property owners with new duties under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. With deaths exceeding 5000 per year in the UK from asbestos related diseases, the UK government have acted to protect the most at risk; maintenance workers and anyone who has the potential to disturb asbestos unknowingly.

The HSE have tried to ensure that all people responsible for non-domestic premises have time to plan and formulate their policy for managing asbestos within their buildings. This will include consultations with their employees and other potentially affected parties. The new duty will be enforceable from 21 May 2004.

Good communication has to be at the heart of the solution. Verbose reports are the least appropriate answer when the questions asked by maintenance workers are straightforward and simple. The best solutions are always the simple ones. We have brought together the best technical solutions available with some straightforward logic. ToolKit CS™ is the result. Users can search for any location within the organisation's estate, (via the Internet if necessary) review a marked up floor plan showing asbestos items, access the related asbestos data and risk assessment with a single click and produce a report in a similar fashion. And the whole process is audited so that managers can monitor who has accessed what and when. Data Exchange tools are available to link survey data from hand held devices to asbestos surveyors' databases to corporate Intranets running large database management suites. Everything is simple to use, straightforward, and available 24/7.

For more information, call 01525 850080 or www.aisolutions.co.uk

283 words

David Marlow
Managing Director Ai Solutions Ltd

Source: David Marlow, Ai Solutions Ltd

June 10, 2003 | Permalink | Comment

SHE Editorial: New Regs - New Software

Ai Solutions Ltd have just launched their new asbestos management software called Asbestos ToolKit CS™. They will be demonstrating the new product at the SHE exhibition together with their updated market leading CDM software.

The new asbestos legislation requires that if you own, occupy, manage or have responsibilities for premises which may contain asbestos, you will either have:

• A legal duty to manage the risk from this material
  OR
• A duty to co-operate with whoever manages that risk.

Asbestos ToolKit CS™ is software for managing asbestos risk. It complies with the 2002 regulations, HSE guidance and MDHS 100 documentation.

The regulations have taken many months in development and consultation. Likewise, our software has been developed in tandem with HSE's work, following their guidance and liaison. This has allowed us to release the management solution at the same time as the legislation.

The tailor made product is designed to meet the strategy required by companies with large numbers of premises or asbestos items and to manage them using large database engines.

The use of profiling allows the product to be equally suited to many different types of user from the front desk to the surveyor to the facilities manager and CEO.

Components:

• Central database for all building records, survey records and asbestos register
• Knowledge Centre; library and updated knowledgebase
• Integrated organisation database
• Ongoing management reports and statistics for managers, engineers, surveyors and duty holders
• Costing & tasking detail for project management
• Audit trail

Ai Solutions Ltd is a registered partner with the HSE in promoting and giving training about the new legislation.

Contact Ai Solutions on 01525 850080 or www.aisolutions.co.uk.

October 10, 2002 | Permalink | Comment

Seeboard Power Networks Case Study

Ai Solutions have now completed the installation of a major software upgrade of their CDM ToolKit™ in one of the UK's premier regional power companies. Seeboard Power Networks maintain and upgrade the electricity network for the major part of the south east of England. The company decided some time ago that they needed to formalise their approach to the Health & Safety Executive's Construction (Design & Management) regulations. They wanted to ensure compliance throughout the group. Having researched the UK for suitable software to enable this, Seeboard contacted Ai Solutions to pilot their CDM ToolKit™ software within one part of the group.

The key to success for Seeboard was their decision to use standard software so that they could benefit from the many enhancements being made to the product as experience was gained throughout the CDM ToolKit™ customer base. As improvements were made to this major document management system, they were passed on to every user as part of the standard maintenance contract. In addition, the group were able to benefit from the concurrent license policy operated by Ai Solutions so that they only paid for licences actually in use across the business.

As the benefits from the installation began to be realised, many important changes were taking place in the software solution. An upgrade in the year 2000 ensured that year 2000 compliance was maintained. A new easy to use tree structure was introduced along with compatibility with Microsoft Word features.

The company was offered the Away From Base (AFB) option so that selected users could work on their laptops on site and easily update the master database when returning to their offices. This particular feature has proved to be very effective with Transmission Projects site staff whose work patterns keep them away from the office for weeks at a time but still require regular contact with base on CDM reporting issues and guidance. AFB has been so successful that Seeboard are now looking to pass the same benefits onto other staff with similar work patterns in other businesses within the group.

CDM ToolKit™ was originally designed as a single database product designed for a local area network. Ai Solutions have developed new networking options. It is now installed across 5 distributed sites serving very different business within Seeboard Power Networks. The requirement to keep all the businesses updated with the latest information from each site has been achieved by a synchronisation process that can be scheduled as required, currently each evening. This process, together with a 'conflicts manager', ensures that each business starts the working day with the same version of the database available to all everyone.

The ToolKit™ provides many benefits for the user and the manager alike. The company's CDM library is being developed within the CDM ToolKit™ so that everyone with permission has access to key procedural information and standard forms. The task manager can be used to track task, events and milestones in the CDM business. Monthly management reports are available at the touch of a button. A time line chart shows the progress of every 'open' project with single key access to a wealth of information about the project, its personnel and documentation. All documentation generated by the CDM ToolKit™ is provided from the database. Every copy of the Heath & Safety Plan, File and associated letters and supporting documents can all be generated at the touch of a button. All documents can be e-mailed, filed, or printed with the ability to keep facsimile copies for future use; this provides a full version control mechanism for the user and manager alike.

A key issue of interest to the health & safety executive is the ability of the CDM ToolKit™ to provide a full audit of the users' activities within the CDM ToolKit™ database. This is achieved automatically within the standard product.

Power Networks are now looking to enhance their solution by providing links from the existing CDM ToolKit™ database via a web browser interface so that many more users can start to access the system via their intranet. These enhancements will be delivered as part of the CDM ToolKit™ Compliance System upgrade. The upgrade will provide many more integration opportunities including the Asbestos ToolKit™ product which can be used with the new Asbestos Management regulations due in 2002.

John Park, System Development Manager
For Asset Management, Seeboard Power Networks

Source: John Park, Seeboard Power Networks

February 11, 2002 | Permalink | Comment

CDM ToolKit™ 2000 SR6

Ai Solutions Ltd release a new version of their CDM document management software. Installed throughout the UK, the audited management system can be easily tuned to the needs of any business. The new version includes substantial improvements to the on-board word processing functions, version control and keystone tasking for project management. The product is fully integrated with the cdmuk.com project management web site. Projects can be published to the web and groups of external organisations can share in the dissemination of information, documentation and tasking via the Internet using this powerful tool.

Some of the main benefits of our solution are:

• A single, easy to use solution for all you CDM needs including the Client, Designer, Planning Supervisor, Principal Contractor and others involved in the CDM health & safety process
• A managed solution with audit trail and version control of all documents so that you can easily track and trace progress on all your projects
• Fully supported e-mailing, save as MS Word files
• User groupings with individual permissions to edit or read sets of projects
• Publish any project to the Internet and allow other participants to share information cost effectively and quickly
• Provide information in any printable format from one common database to meet the needs of your customers
• Fully supported with 7 year ongoing development by Microsoft Certified Professionals

Ai Solutions Ltd is a Microsoft Certified Partner and can help you source your corporate software needs under the new Microsoft Open License and Open Subscription Licensing schemes. They have solutions for Asbestos Management (for the new HSE regulations) and Energy Management (for ISO 1400X) under development.

For pricing and availability, please contact Ai Solutions Ltd on 01525 850080.

For more information see: www.aisolutions.co.uk and www.cdmuk.com.

June 10, 2001 | Permalink | Comment

User Forum Keynote Speech

The Keynote Speech delivered by Anne Marlow, Director, Ai Solutions Ltd;

A very warm welcome to our user forum. We are delighted to see so many of our regular CDM ToolKit members, many of whom have been with us for a number of years. We are also pleased to welcome some new members. Our team is the same as always, David, Theo, Charles (the I.T. brains) and myself (the non I.T. brain)

As always we want the day to be as relaxed, participative, and informal as possible. We hope that all our forums are interesting and enjoyable but we are particularly excited about this one, as not only do we have Stephen Wright from the HSE with us; Stephen is head of the policy unit responsible for the new ACOP, but we are also launching our new web based service cdmUK.com

The whole background and theme behind this service is improving construction health and safety through better communication. This is exactly what cdmUK.com, our web service is going to offer. Having a CDM community working together, sharing best practice and communicating with other principals and clients over the net. This is the culmination of the vision, which began with the development of the CDM ToolKit™ over six years ago.

We want to form a CDM community that shares best practice, works in partnerships and actively looks for ways to improve construction health and safety These are high ideals, but so many times when dealing with CDM, it seems that conformity to the regulations has grown into an end in itself, when the real objective of improving safety and health has been forgotten. The means has become the end. The tail is wagging the dog.

You can see from the attendee list that you represent every sector of the CDM community in the UK, from the smallest to the largest, from the public to the private. Our largest customer Seeboard is about to expand their network across six sites. Bradford MBC has doubled their installation to include Property Services. Both of these organisations now have their entire internal CDM community committed to the ToolKit. Another major utility is embarking upon a CDM ToolKit™ 2000 pilot project for a potential 500 users.

All of these are major CDM communities in their own right, however they also have third parties/suppliers who participate in the CDM process. Our web-based service can now embrace that entire community, internal and external. The CDM ToolKit™ 2000 will remain the focal point for CDM management with its in depth functionality. What the new web service will bring to ToolKit users is the ability to publish their projects to third parties across the web and to allow all participants to communicate quickly and easily. In this way we are seeking to break down barriers, improve awareness, stifle bureaucracy and improve construction health and safety.

In this way, our dog will be wagging its tail!

Source: Anne Marlow, Ai Solutions Ltd

September 28, 2000 | Permalink | Comment

New Internet Service for the CDM Community

Managing CDM will now be cheaper and easier than before with the launch of an Internet based 'pay-as-you-go' service. For as little as £1 per day project teams and clients can set up easily accessible documentation and keep up to date with the latest changes to a project. cdmUK.com is a new e-commerce service launched by Ai Solutions, it is based on six years experience with their highly successful CDM ToolKit™ 2000, a PC based CDM document management system. cdmUK.com enables clients, architects, planning supervisors and contractors, of both small and large projects, to keep all the relevant information in one place providing easy access across the team. It also helps clients find planning supervisors. Ai Solutions has teamed up with Mouchel, a large engineering consultancy and expert in CDM, to support and manage this service.

The aim is to provide a communication interface between members of project teams, including clients and contractors, together with extensive knowledge bases to help users find their way through the regulations. Once logged on, a user can select from four principal options:

• Ask cdmUK. A search engine which is backed up by a knowledge base on all aspects of the CDM regulations and how to comply with them;
• CDM ToolKit™ Online. A project based document management system;
• CDM DocUstore. A long term storage facility for CDM documents including the health and safety file; and,
• CDM Services. A link to providers of planning supervisory services who meet qualification criteria set down by cdmUK.com. Clients will be able to use this to find planning supervisors whilst for those offering such services it provides a valuable marketing tool.

'Ask cdmUK' helps users identify whether the regulations apply on a project. Also, it helps them to clarify the duties of each role under the regulations and assists with creating the Form 10 Notice of Project as well as the pre-tender health and safety plan.

Templates for these documents and the health and safety file are in Microsoft Word, and can be modified to suit the needs of each project.

The documents are set up and stored on the cdmUK.com server and members of the project team can download and edit them off-line. Once they have been amended they are sent back to the server. Other documents, such as minutes of project meetings and drawings, can also be checked into the system and downloaded. Confidentiality is protected through a system of security passes. This enables project leaders to control who has access to the project information, and who can alter documents or merely read them.

Through CDM ToolKit™ Online, users can access documents via a menu that lists the projects they have access to. A bulletin board enables team members to post urgent information. The system also holds contact details on all project team members in an updateable database. A library will also be available for organisations to store their key documents in.

cdmUK.com benefits from an extensive knowledge base that Ai Solutions has been developing since it first launched the CDM ToolKit™ on floppy disk in 1995. The knowledge base provides much advice on roles, responsibilities and subjects such as risk management, for example taking users through a risk assessment step by step. It is regularly updated, thus being of immediate benefit to users of the service.

When the project has finished, all of the documents can be stored on the cdmUK.com server indefinitely. This provides ready accessibility to the information and removes the need for physical storage space that can create not only a physical storage problem, but become increasing costly with time, particularly on larger projects.

Tariffs for using the service are structured so that the more it is used the cheaper it becomes. For occasional users, organisations are charged £1 per page to access Ask cdmUK, and for CDM ToolKit Online, it is £1 per project, per day, per user. However, organisations wishing to commit to long term usage are offered discounted rates per month and per year. Long-term storage in DocUstore will be even cheaper.

This service is easy to use, and management of the project information over the web will enhance communication enabling everyone to retrieve the information whether they are in their office or out on site. With the government proposing to tighten up the penalties for flouting the CDM regulations, all those involved in CDM including Clients will benefit from the greater communication potential that such a system as this offers.

For further details see
http://www.cdmUK.com or contact Ai Solutions on 01525 850 080

Word Count 827

Author note

Alastair Blyth is an architect, consultant and writer specialising in briefing and building performance. He writes for the construction industry press and was an editor on the Architects' Journal with special responsibility for the architectural practice section. He now runs a research-based consultancy advising construction clients on briefing, building performance and project team performance.

This article is also available in the following formats:

• Adobe Acrobat (PDF) (1916 kB)
• ZIPped PDF (84 kB)

Source: Alastair Blythe

September 11, 2000 | Permalink | Comment

cdmUK.com

"Mouchel, the major consulting engineering group, and Ai Solutions, developers of the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 software, have teamed together to provide a new e-commerce service for everyone involved in the HSE's Construction (Design & Management) Regulations. The new service will use a newly developed version of the CDM ToolKit™ currently installed throughout the UK with many local authorities, large corporates including Mouchel and other organisations providing planning supervisory services. The new service will be delivered through a new company, cdmUK.com which will 'go live' on 2nd October 2000 following a month of testing and evaluation by Mouchel, Ai Solutions and selected customers.

There will be 4 key elements to the new service:

• Ask cdmUK - a powerful search engine into all matters concerning the regulations and how to comply with them
• CDM ToolKit™ Online - a project based document management system for CDM
• DocUstore - a long term storage facility for CDM documents including the Health & Safety File and Operations and Maintenance Manual
• CDM Services - a link to service providers who sign up to the cdmUK.com Quality Mark for planning supervisory and associated CDM services

Further information is available from the online site cdmUK.com."

September 10, 2000 | Permalink | Comment

CDM ToolKit™ 2000 Maintenance Manual

The latest edition to the CDM practitioner's armoury completes the document management cycle for any project. The Construction (Design & Management) 1994 regulations from the HSE oblige building project clients to provide a health & safety file. The file should determine the long-term safety management aspects of the completed site.

The CDM ToolKit™ 2000 Maintenance Manual product facilitates the production of a combined Maintenance Manual and Health & Safety File. The Maintenance Manual is delivered with the standard tools available in other versions of the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 including the CDM Knowledgebase. These tools include on-line help within the product that gives the guidance required to provide both the output documentation and project planning for the management of the Maintenance Manual.

The core element of the product is the Maintenance Manual Knowledgebase. This is based on the well-known Building Centre Trust's publication The Maintenance Manual and Health & Safety File and is reproduced with the agreement of the Trust. This Knowledgebase is linked to The Maintenance Manual and Health & Safety File within the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 so that it can be used in any section of the relevant document. The documentation created in the product can be edited and saved as individual templates for users or groups of users in multi-user versions.

The new Option will allow different parties involved in the short-term provision and long-term management of this mandatory document to communicate electronically. This will bring timesavings whilst gathering the various elements of the document and managing the collation process. It will provide very significant cost savings of the long-term storage and retrieval of the file. The biggest benefits are likely to be the reduction of the hidden cost of amendments and provision of on-line documents easily accessed by electronic means. In addition, distribution by CDROM is soon likely to be the preferred method of managing complex documents for any forward thinking organisation, regardless of size.

The CDM ToolKit™ 2000 Maintenance Manual is available as an upgrade Option for existing users and as a standalone package for new users from £995 plus £299pa plus from day one VAT.

350 words

February 10, 2000 | Permalink | Comment

Market Leading CDM Software - New Release

Ai Solutions have now released their latest version of the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 software that helps construction industry professionals control and manage the HSE Construction (Design and Management) 1994 regulations.

This latest release is the result of 5 years continuous development of the well-known market leader. In use throughout the United Kingdom with large Organisations including Seeboard Plc, many local authorities, consulting companies and smaller enterprises, the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 has maintained the lead of earlier versions. Available in brands priced so suit every professional Organisation's pocket, the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 now has both more features and is easier to use than ever before. The web site http://www.aisolutions.co.uk has full details of the features and options available or phone 01525 850080.

127 Words

Editorial

CDM ToolKit™ 2000 Service Release 3

CDM ToolKit™ 2000 software helps construction industry professionals control and manage the HSE Construction (Design and Management) 1994 regulations. Clients, contractors, architects and planning supervisors have specific legal responsibilities under these regulations and many prosecutions have already taken place. The new release of the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 software includes a new Maintenance Management Module that allows the management of the HSE led process from project inception through construction, practical completion, and maintenance management to final demolition.

This one stop shop approach allows users to invest in one software solution that will guide them through the whole process of Risk Assessment, Notification and preparation of the Pre-Tender Plan, Construction Phase Plan, Health & Safety File and now the combined Health & Safety File and Maintenance Manual.

The inbuilt - and periodically updated - 87,000 word KnowledgeBase assists the process with health & safety related advice and guidance on the complete CDM process.

Report formatting is entirely under the user's control with the inbuilt word processor. Users can save their own document templates with part completed sections to any format and call them into new projects. All documents can be saved to CDROM, sent as e-mail attachments or simply saved to file. Document sections can accept cut and paste illustrations or text from any other windows based package. Supporting Rich Text Format, documents can be freely copied between most word processors if required.

Whatever the output, users can set their preferences to show a viewable facsimile of every document produced in the CDM ToolKit™ 2000. This is true version control that also allows the user to regenerate and edit the source material at any stage of the project's life. Customers wanting to control their paper file storage through on line or juke box style CDROM libraries have a ready to go solution too.

The HSE CDM legislation puts significant responsibilities on every Organisation involved in the construction process. The CDM ToolKit™ 2000 provides an Audit of every significant transaction within the database. This information can be queried through a standard database interface to find out who did what within any project.

Presented both on Treeview and menu driven screens, the user can create projects within any grouping required by the Organisation and drill down the Explorer style Treeview to the project details and CDM Documents. Alternatively, users can simply select the required project from their own recently edited documents list from the main menu. Either way, this process illustrates the ease of use that is now delivered to every User's desktop.

Designed around a relational database, the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 has a time line based summary screen, standard summary reports and timetables built in. The major parts of the database have an inbuilt Gridview that allows users to selectively present database information for analysis. For example, the Organisation database can be presented to users on a grid to show those Organisations that are overdue for a competence assessment in any required CDM role, including for instance only the preferred suppliers list.

New Options now announced include a Forms Editor to allow Users to design their own bespoke reports using data fields available from the database. The Permissions Option allows network Users to set up groups or individuals with specific read, edit and associated access to any part of the database right down to document section level. This is designed to be used across different departments with different access requirements from the same database, leading to a dramatic reduction in the cost of providing complex documentation across the Organisation.

The new Maintenance Manual is built around The Building Centre Trust's combined Health & Safety File and Maintenance Manual and provided in the CDM Toolkit™ 2000 under license. The new product brand includes its own KnowledgeBase and built-in set of forms for the Maintenance Manual.

SUMMARY

This latest release is the result of 5 years continuous development of the well-known market leader. In use throughout the United Kingdom with large Organisations including Seeboard Plc, many local authorities, consulting companies and smaller enterprises, the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 has maintained the lead of earlier versions. Available in brands priced so suit every professional Organisation's pocket, the CDM ToolKit™ 2000 now has both more features and is easier to use than ever before. The web site http://www.aisolutions.co.uk has full details of the features and options available (phone 01525 850080).

725 Words

November 10, 1999 | Permalink | Comment