BSI has launched a new identification tool for products to drive safety across the supply chain in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s call for a ‘golden thread’ of transparency and accountability.
BSI Identify uses Digital Object Identifier (DOI) technology to deliver a unique, constant, and interoperable identifier, called a BSI UPIN. It can be assigned to products to help UK manufacturers to directly manage information about their products in the supply chain.
This technology is brought to market after Hackitt’s Independent Review of The Building Regulations and Fire Safety called for “an identification system that could provide every component in a building with a unique and persistent identification code.”
The new DOI system allows product information to be identified and accessed with certainty and preserves a persistent record. It supports decisions at any point in a products’ life cycle; from manufacture, specification, procurement, installation, use, to de-commission or reuse.
The UPIN directs users to a free, enduring and searchable registry where users can access all relevant product information, controlled by the manufacturer.
Its development involved input from the Construction Products Association (CPA) and representatives from across the supply chain.
Dan Rossiter, Sector lead for built environment digital transformation standards at BSI, said: “The identification technology should have a transformative effect on how product information is exchanged by providing a robust and permanent solution for product traceability and information accountability.”
Peter Caplehorn, chief executive at CPA, added: “Digitalisation of the construction industry is essential to drive productivity, improve performance certainty, and ensure the robust verification of products and their information.
“The deployment and use of DOI in the product sector is long overdue and will inevitably lead to a step change in efficiency for construction and maintenance across the built environment. The CPA is delighted to be involved in this initiative and we see it as an important contribution towards the ‘Golden Thread’ of information called for in the Dame Judith Hackitt review.”
