Document centered approach to design process modeling

Product and process models are often regarded as a panacea to most problems of computer integrated construction (CIC). But the paradigm shift they are about to achieve is not imminent. Software supporting CIC relays on the definition of the conceptual building product and building process models which are, at least in a standardized form, delivered quite slowly. Working solutions to CIC may also be achieved by reducing the level of detail at which information are observed. The larger data chunk to an object or an attribute is a document which may contain (or refer to) many objects. Construction document management (CDM) systems are a shorter term solution for CIC; documents are not as numerous and they hide complexity of the information they carry. In the life cycle of a building the information creation, demand and use are greatest in the pre-construction phases. The paper presents a prototype of a construction design documentation management system (CDDMS), particularly the conceptual model behind it (the "CDDMS" model) and the extensions it needs to span into other dimensions of the product model definition space. It has been found out that the existing database and networking technology is sufficient to create efficient collaborative engineering environments. The presented schema is compatible with the proposed "HCDMS" model for hybrid environments where some documents are results of queries into a product model database and some original containers of information.