Start right

(Letters, QS News, 11 August) on e-tendering, this is a typical example of firms not thinking about how their information will be exchanged at the outset of the project.

With the PIX Protocol* process, information is requested as to how the production and distribution of Bills of Quantities are to be carried out. If firms in the project team completed this questionnaire at the start then the parties would be aware of the problems highlighted in Colin Kingshott’s letter.

This is a problem the contractor faces, and firms that produce the data might not be interested in helping out as they don’t see it as their responsibility.

This responsibility should be taken up by the professional body representing the firms producing the B of Qs to take on this role or to advise the client in the early stages that B of Qs are to be produced in the right format and make this is a contractual requirement.

This responsibility could also be shared with software vendors – some form of Kite mark would be useful to mark out software firms that comply with standard requirements.

By being more prescriptive with PIX as to how B of Q data is to be produced, contractors and subcontractors would save excess duplication.

PIX also addresses the issue of whether firms would let others share information digitally. This was asked because some organisations feel they could be placing themselves at greater risk (of mistakes being highlighted or of misuse of the data).

The software industry will always try to write their software so that it generates information in a proprietary format – to ensure “you use my product”. Most vendors are there for their own needs, not those of the industry. However, if the software uses Microsoft they can write a simple text file to transfer data. Yet QSs are not interested and prefer to print and then measure.

This is not a good environment to persuade software providers to sell solutions that facilitate ease of electronic information exchange, so trying to facilitate change here would help.

Peter Goodwin, PIX Protocol