The International Construction Information Society (ICIS) is an association of organizations that provides national master specification systems and/or cost information systems for the construction industry. Members of the Society benefit from the direct exchange of information and ideas at the Society's annual assembly and working group meetings and through frequent correspondence.
ICIS members are neutral in status (i.e. not political), technically authoritative, and solidly rooted in the construction industry. Currently, ICIS consists of 19 organizations in 15 countries from five continents.
ICIS represents the organizations that are its members. These member organizations provide technical services to hundreds of thousands of construction professionals, world wide, who use their products and services to prepare construction documents. For the changing needs of our members’ clients, ICIS aims to anticipate and confront trends occurring in the construction industry internationally, including the following:
What is ICIS?
Our assemblies
Our wider interests
Membership
ICIS has published and is maintaining a report titled A Description and Comparison of National Specification Systems. This report provides comparative information about the products and services of each of the ICIS member organizations.
ICIS has published a report titled State, Trends, and Perspectives of National Specification Systems in European Construction. This report explores the social, economical, and cultural reasons for differences between national specification systems in Europe.
ICIS has published a report titled Environmentally Responsible Specifying – an International Survey. It examines the situation in the countries of ICIS members and considers the role of specification in promoting sustainable building design and construction.
ICIS has cooperated with the International Standards Organization (ISO) on classifications for the construction industry. Based on a developing international standard, ICIS members are continuing to cooperate by investigating and developing classification tables. The objective is to develop tables to the level of detail appropriate for international harmony to facilitate national implementation.
ICIS has cooperated with other national and international authorities such as the Committee for European Normalization (CEN), the European Product Information Cooperative (EPIC), and ISO STEP in the development of harmonized international information models.
ICIS, by its foundation, has established a network of construction information organizations for exchange of information and collective pursuit of common goals.
As the strength of ICIS membership grows, and through the credibility of its members, ICIS will have a strong voice to influence the harmonization and standardization of construction information. By participating in ICIS, organizations can ensure that their concerns are represented and considered. It is the intent of ICIS to collectively represent the common interests of its members for their mutual benefit. ICIS hopes that the principles developed by its members collectively will be supported and implemented by its members nationally, because ICIS members are the national implementers of organizational principles of construction information.
ICIS is studying the impact of international standards on national specifications. ICIS has identified that the emergence of international standards must be taken into account as the construction industry becomes more of a global business. A technical document will be prepared that will represent the common opinion of its members on how to properly incorporate international standards in national specifications.
Classification Tables and PrinciplesICIS is developing draft tables of construction elements and master lists of construction entity parts as an initial step towards development of classification tables for information in the construction industry. These are the first efforts that are planned to expand to several classification tables in support of an emerging international standard on classification of information in the construction industry. Other tables that ICIS is studying to identify critical issues to be resolved are specification work section tables, construction complexes tables, and construction entities tables.
Other ActivitiesICIS has established a presence on the Internet.
ICIS is influencing the development of international standards through participation on technical committees.
Membership may be granted to organizations that are public or private, are national in breadth of function, and are involved in the following activities:
The Society has the following membership classifications:
Organizations may apply for membership by submitting membership dues and evidence of their qualifications to the Secretary.
Membership dues are for the period from 1 January through 31 December. Dues are 1000 Euros per annum.
ICIS consists of 19 member organizations in 15 countries from five continents. If you think that your organization might qualify to join then please contact the Secretary.
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