COPRO, which stands for COntrole of PROducts, is a reliable partner in road and infrastructure works. As an impartial institution, COPRO carries out technical inspections. Because BIM is now also used in road and infrastructure works, COPRO wants to provide validated data for the exchange of information.
The BIM system is being used more and more frequently in housing construction. In a first phase, there was a Building Information Model in which the main focus was on 3D drawings. This was followed by the evolution to Building Information Modeling. "We are currently in the phase of Building Information Management, the focus being on managing information. With buildings, the management of information is very straightforward; while with road and infrastructure works, it is completely different. The scale of projects is much larger with a diversity of environmental factors," says Dirk Van Loo, CEO of COPRO.
AWV has meanwhile started a number of test projects where BIM is applied and set up an object type library (OTL) for this purpose. "OTL specifies an implementation model for the data exchange during the entire life cycle of components and installations that are broadly related to roads and traffic, as specified in the standard specification 250. With COPRO we are now preparing for a digital, validated data exchange."
With the COPRO Extranet, data from manufacturers have until now been made available digitally in the form of documents. "In the near future, we want to provide data for the OTL after they have been digitally validated. In this way, we speak of reliable data with a value. After all, even in the context of a circular economy, it is important to know the origin, properties and composition of (reusable) materials. COPRO will contribute to this by providing certified, reliable data," concludes Dirk Van Loo.
