The ICON Specs & Standards content management solution is in use by some of the UK’s largest retailers who use it to manage their building design, specification and branding requirements. The ICON Specs & Standards content management app allows users to access the design specifications and maintenance information held in the system, whenever and wherever required.

Essentially the system holds all the information the client wants to impart to the design, construction, fit-out and maintenance teams in terms of ‘this is what we want you to build’ and ‘we installed this, here’s where you find the maintenance guidelines’. It’s the client being prescriptive about things like:

• ‘You need to adhere to this health & safety policy’
• ‘Complete this risk assessment before commencing work’
• ‘We are specifying these light fittings (because they are economical / last a lifetime / our procurement department has struck a deal with the supplier)’
• ‘Read this installation guide when you install that item of equipment’
• ‘Here are the approved design drawings so you can construct this item of shopfitting’
• ‘You need to install this item this way to ensure we don’t have people tripping over it’
• ‘We are no longer using that item of equipment / floor finish / door as we have replaced it with this one’
• ‘This is what was installed, this is when it needs servicing and here is the maintenance manual’.

Along with all of the above, the system can also provide the clients with accurate cost model data across the range of building types and sizes it constructs. Some of ICON’s clients know to the penny what it will cost to build, fit-out or re-fit a property. They can also very quickly assess the knock-on effect of procuring items at an alternative price because the Specs & Standards solution knows exactly how many have been specified.

ICON’s Specs & Standards is not a document management system, but a full database-driven content management system where the possibility of having conflicting information is eliminated because the system imposes a ‘no duplication’ principle.
Information held in the system is revised using a robust, built-in, change management system. When a revision is approved, all references to the information are instantly updated, a full version history is recorded and change notification emails are automatically sent out at chosen intervals ensuring all teams are made aware of the update.

Access to the system is granted via pre-determined user permissions, so you can trust that information is only viewed by the people that need to see it, ensuring sensitive information is kept confidential.