Uniclass published in 1997 in UK by the Construction Project Information Committee

Construction Project Information Committee

' is the Construction Project Information Committee, responsible for providing best practice guidance on the content, form and preparation of construction production information, and making sure this best practice is disseminated throughout the UK construction industry.The Committee is formed from...

 (CPIC).

Uniclass is a new classification scheme for the construction industry. It is intended for organising library materials and for structuring product literature and project information. It incorporates both CAWS (Common Arrangement of Work Sections for building works) and EPIC (Electronic Product Information Co-operation), a new system for structuring product data and product literature.

The Construction Industry Project Information Committee (CPIC), representing the four major sponsor organisations (the Construction Confederation, the Royal Institute of British Architects, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers), and the Department of the Environment Construction Sponsorship Directorate were responsible for commissioning and steering the project, which was developed by NBS on behalf of CPIC.

Uniclass comprises 15 tables, each of which represents a different broad facet of construction information. Each table can be used as a "stand alone" table for the classification of a particular type of information, but, in addition, terms from different tables can be combined to classify complex subjects.

Table A (Form of Information)

A1 - General Reference Works
A11 - Dictionaries, encyclopedias
1 Dictionaries
2 Encyclopedias
A12 - Guides, directories
A13 - Catalogues
A14 - Surveys
A15 - Statistics
A16 - Price books
A17 - Learning materials, textbooks
A18 - Reports
A19 - Other
A2 - Legislation, Legal documents
A21 - Primary legislation (Acts of Parliament), Constitutional law
A22 - Secondary Legislation
A23 - Quasi-legislation (also called tertiary legislation)
A24 - International, European legislation
A25 - Case law reports
A26 - Patents, licences, copyright
A29 - Other legislation, legal documents
A3 - National and international standards
A31 - British Standards
A32 - European Standards
A33 - ISO Standards
A34 - De facto standards
A39 - Other
A4 - Other rules, recommendations
A5 - Specifications
A6 - Standard Contracts
A7 - Documents
A8 - Other forms of information
A9 - Types of medium
A91 - Books
A92 - Journals
A93 - Pamphlets, leaflets, unbound printed material
A94 - Drawings
A95 - Photographic information
A96 - Microfiche, microfilm
A97 - Video, film
A98 - Media accessed via a computer
1 Optical discs, CD-ROM, DVD
2 Magnetic disks, floppy disks
3 Magnetic tape
4 Online information, Internet information
A99 - Other special forms of information

Table B (Subject disciplines)

B1 - Architecture
B11 - Architecture by name of architect
B12 - Architecture by geographical region, guidebooks
B13 - History of architecture, periods and styles of architecture
B14 - Architectural design (excluding structural design), spatial design
B15 - Interior design, decoration
B16 - Landscape architecture
B2 - Engineering
B21 - Engineering by name of engineer
B22 - Engineering by geographical region
B23 - History of engineering
B24 - Civil engineering, general
B25 - Structural engineering, structural design
B26 - Services engineering
B27 - Other engineering
B3 - Surveying
B31 - Quantity surveying, cost analysis
B32 - Building surveying
B33 - Site surveying, land surveying
B4 - Contracting, building
B5 - Town and country planning
B50 - History and theory of planning
B51 - Planning control
B52 - Planning policy guidance (ppg)
B53 - Regional planning
B54 - Development plans
B55 - Rural planning
B56 - Urban planning
B57 - Environmental planning
B58 - Conservation
B59 - Other kinds of planning
B7 - Other construction-related disciplines
B71 - GIS (Geographical Information System) engineering
B9 - Other disciplines
B91 - Law
B92 - Science/technology
B93 - Computing, information technology
B94 - Behavioural sciences
B95 - Communication
B96 - Political science
B97 - Information science

Table C (Management)

C1 - Management theory, systems and activities
C11 - Corporate strategy
C12 - Quality management
C13 - Security, industrial espionage, trade secrets
C14 - Objective setting
C15 - Decision making
C16 - Problem solving
C17 - Co-ordination
C18 - Appraisal, assessment
C19 - Other
C2 - Management personnel
C21 - Top management, directors, partners
C22 - Other levels of management
C3 - Type of business/ organisation
C31 - Organisations by scale and location
C32 - Private enterprises
C33 - Mixed enterprises and partnerships
C34 - Government and related organisations
C35 - Public enterprises
C36 - Non-profit-making organisations, charities
C37 - Industrial and commercial associations
C38 - Construction industry
C39 - Other types of organisation
C4 - Specialist areas of management
C41 - Management of office services
C42 - Marketing, selling
C43 - Research and development
C44 - Finance and accounting, business economics
C45 - Personnel management and industrial relations
C46 - Management of computing, information technology
C5/C9 - Management of construction activities/project management
C50 - General techniques/information
C61 - Inception/procurement
C62 - Feasibility
C63 - Outline proposals/programme preparation
C64 - Scheme design/costing
C65 - Detail design/costing
C652 - Working drawings including CAD
C66 - Production information
C67 - Bills of quantities
C68 - Tender action
C71 - Construction preparation/project planning
C72 - Construction operations on site
C73 - Completion
C81 - Occupation/facilities management
C83 - Feedback
C84 - Refurbishment and recommissioning
C91 - Decommissioning
C92 - Demolition etc.
C93 - Redevelopment

Table D (Facilities)

D1 - Utilities, civil engineering facilities
D2 - Industrial facilities
D3 - Administrative, commercial, protective service facilities
D32 - Office facilities
D4 - Medical, health, welfare facilities
D41 - Medical facilities (hospitals)
D5 - Recreational facilities
D6 - Religious facilities
D7 - Educational, scientific, information facilities
D71 - Education facilities (schools)
D8 - Residential facilities
D9 - Other facilities
D94 - Sanitary facilities

Table E (Construction Entities)

E0 - Construction complexes
E1 - Pavements and landscaping
E2 - Tunnels, shafts, cuttings
E3 - Embankments, retaining walls, etc.
E4 - Tanks, silos, etc.
E5 - Bridges, viaducts
E6 - Towers, superstructures (excluding building
E7 - Pipelines, ducts, cables and channels
E8 - Buildings

Table F (Spaces)

F1 - Compound spaces of buildings, zones
F1/F4 - Building spaces according to complexity/scale
F2 - Rooms
F3 - Circulation spaces
F4 - Building sub-spaces
F5 - Internal spaces of buildings
F5/F6 - Building spaces according to whether they are internal or external
F6 - External spaces of buildings
F7 - Building spaces by degree and type of enclosure
F8 - Miscellaneous spaces, other spaces
F9 - Building space analysed

Table G (Elements for buildings)

Used in CAD layer definition and WBS
G1 - Site preparation
G11 - Site clearance
G12 - Ground contouring
G13 - Stabilisation
G2 - Fabric: complete elements
G21 - Foundations
G22 - Floors
G23 - Stairs
G24 - Roofs
G25 - Walls
G26 - Frame/isolated structural members
G3 - Fabric: parts of elements
G31 - Carcass/structure/fabric
G32 - Openings
G33 - Internal Finishes
G331 - Floor Finishes
G34 - Other parts of fabric elements
G4 - Fittings/furniture/equipment (FFE)
G41 - Circulation FFE
G42 - Rest, work FFE
G43 - Culinary FFE
G44 - Sanitary, hygiene FFE
G45 - Cleaning, maintenance FFE
G46 - Storage, screening FFE
G47 - Works of art, soft furnishings
G48 - Special activity FFE
G49 - Other FFE
G5 - Services: complete elements
G50 - Water supply
G51 - Gas supply
G52 - Heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC)
G53 - Electric power
G54 - Lighting
G55 - Communications
G56 - Transport
G57 - Protection
G58 - Removal/disposal
G59 - Other services elements
G6 - Services: parts of elements
G61 - Energy generation/storage/conversion
G62 - Non-energy treatment/storage
G63 - Distribution
G64 - Terminals
G65 - Package units
G66 - Monitoring and control
G69 - Other parts of services elements
G7 - External/site works
G71 - Surface treatment
G72 - Enclosure/division
G73 - Special purpose works
G74 - Fittings/furniture/equipment
G75 - Mains supply
G76 - External distributed services
G77 - Site/underground drainage

Table H (Elements for civil engineering works)

H1 - Pavements and landscaping
H11 - Site preparation
H111 - Site clearance
H112 - Ground contouring
H113 - Stabilisation
H12 - Structure
H121 - Structural layers
H122 - Surfacing to pavements/hard landscaping
H123 - Edgework to pavements/hard landscaping
H124 - Planting/surfacing to major soft landscaping construction entities
H13 - Services
H131 - Mechanical engineering
H132 - Electrical installation
H133 - Communications
H134 - Protection
H135 - Drainage
H139 - Other services
H14 - Ancillaries
H141 - Decoration
H142 - Fittings
H1421 - Track fittings
H1422 - Signs
H1423 - Gantries
H1424 - Street furniture
H143 - Minor landscaping/planting associated with roads, railways, etc.
H144 - Enclosure, divisions
H2 - Tunnels, shafts, cuttings
H21 - Site preparation
H22 - Structure and tunnel formation
H23 - Services
H24 - Ancillaries
H3 - Embankments, retaining walls, etc.
H31 - Site preparation
H32 - Structure
H33 - Services
H34 - Ancillaries
H341 - Fittings
H3411 - Signs
H3412 - Ancillary items
H4 - Tanks, silos, etc.
H5 - Bridges, viaducts
H6 - Towers, superstructures
H7 - Pipelines, ducts, cables and channels

Table J (Work Sections for buildings)

This part is based on CAWS

Common Arrangement of Work Sections

Common Arrangement of Work Sections, first published in 1987, is a working convention designed to promote standardisation of, and detailed coordination between, bills of quantities and specifications...

 (Common Arrangement of Work Sections for building works) classification.
JA - Preliminaries/General conditions
JB - Complete buildings/structures/units
JC - Existing site/buildings/services
JD - Groundwork
JE - In situ concrete/Large precast concrete

Precast concrete

By producing precast concrete in a controlled environment , the precast concrete is afforded the opportunity to properly cure and be closely monitored by plant employees. Utilizing a Precast Concrete system offers many potential advantages over site casting of concrete...

JE0 - Concrete construction generally
JE1 - Mixing/Casting/Curing/Spraying in situ concrete
JE2 - Formwork
JE3 - Reinforcement
JE4 - In situ concrete sundries
JE5 - Structural precast concrete
JE6 - Composite construction
JF - Masonry
JF1 - Brick/Block walling
JF2 - Stone walling
JF3 - Masonry accessories
JG - Structural/Carcassing metal/timber
JG1 - Structural/Carcassing metal
JG10 - Structural steel framing
JG11 - Structural aluminium framing
JG12 - Isolated structural metal members
JG2 - Structural/Carcassing timber
JG3 - Metal/Timber decking
JH - Cladding/Covering
JJ - Waterproofing
JK - Linings/Sheathing/Dry partitioning
JK1 - Rigid sheet sheathing/linings
JK2 - Timber board/Strip linings
JK3 - Dry partitions
JK4 - False ceilings/floors
JL - Windows/Doors/Stairs
JM - Surface finishes
JN - Furniture/Equipment
JP - Building fabric sundries
JQ - Paving/Planting/Fencing/Site furniture
JR - Disposal systems
JS - Piped supply systems
JT - Mechanical heating/Cooling/Refrigeration systems
JU - Ventilation/Air conditioning systems
JV - Electrical supply/power/lighting systems
JW - Communications/Security/Control systems
JX - Transport systems
JY - Services reference specification
JZ - Building fabric reference specification

Table K (Work Sections for Civil Engineering Works)

KA - General items
KB - Ground investigation
KC - Geotechnical and other specialist processes
KD - Demolition and site clearance
KE - Earthworks
KF - In situ concrete
KG - Concrete ancillaries
KH - Precast concrete
KI - Pipework - pipes
KJ - Pipework - fittings and valves
KK - Pipework - manholes and pipework ancillaries
KL - Pipework - laying and excavation ancillaries
KM - Structural metalwork
KN - Miscellaneous metalwork
KO - Timber
KP - Piles
KQ - Piling ancillaries
KR - Roads and paving
KS - Rail track
KT - Tunnels
KU - Brickwork, blockwork and masonry
KV - Painting
KW - Waterproofing
KX - Miscellaneous work
KY - Sewer renovation and ancillary work
KZ - Simple building works

Table L (Construction products)

L1 - Ground treatment and retention products
L2 - Complete construction entities and components
L21 - Civil engineering works products
L215 - Transport control and monitoring products
L2151 - Road signs
L21511 - Illuminated road signs
L3 - Structural and space division products
L4 - Access, barrier and circulation products
L5 - Coverings, claddings, linings
L521 - Roof tiles
L6 - General purpose civil engineering and construction fabric products
L7 - Services
L8 - Fixtures and furnishings

Table M (Construction aids)

M1 - Pumps for ground water lowering
M2 - Formwork
M3 - Scaffolding, shoring, fencing
M4 - Lifting appliances and conveyors
M5 - Construction vehicles
M6 - Tunnelling, drilling, compaction
M7 - Concrete, stone production
M8 - Testing equipment
M9 - General equipment
M92 - Site equipment
M923 - Protective equipment
M9231 - Signals for construction sites
M92311 - Warning signs
M9233 - Road works equipment
M92337 - Traffic information signs
M923371 - Traffic control signs
M923372 - Traffic warning signs
M923373 - Illuminated traffic information signs

Table N (Properties and characteristics)

N1 - Descriptive
N2 - Context, environment
N3 - Performance
N311 - Strength/stability of structures
N312 - Strength of materials, components of structures
N4 - Applications, activities
N5 - Users, resources
N6 - Ease of use, workability
N7 - Operation and maintenance
N8 - Change, movement, stability
N9 - Other properties and characteristics

Table P (Materials)

Used also by EPIC.
P1 - Stone, natural and reconstituted
P11 - Stone, natural
P12 - Stone, reconstituted, reconstructed, cast
P2 - Cementitious, concrete and mineral-bound materials
P21 - Cementitious materials, binders
P22 - Concrete, general
P23 - Other mineral-bound materials
P3 - Minerals, excluding cementitious
P31 - Mineral-based materials
P32 - Soils, natural
P33 - Clay-based materials
P34 - Bitumen-based materials
P4 - Metal
P41 - Steel
P42 - Iron
P43 - Aluminium
P44 - Copper
P45 - Zinc
P46 - Lead
P49 - Other metals
P5 - Timber
P51 - Timber, wood, general
P52 - Timber, wood, laminated
P53 - Timber, wood, fibre building boards
P6 - Animal and vegetable materials, excluding timber
P7 - Plastics, rubber, chemicals and synthetics
P71 - Plastics
P9 - Combined, other materials, undefined materials

Table Q (Universal Decimal Classification)

Q"+" - Christian Era AD
Q"-" - Antiquity BC
Q"05" - 6th century (500s)
Q"05/09" - 5th to 10th century
Q"141/149" - 1410 to 1499
Q"19" - 20th century (1900s)
Q"1914/1918" - the 1st world war years
Q"196" - the sixties (1960-69)
Q"20" - 21st century (2000s)
Q(1) - Place in general
Q(2) - Physiographic designation
Q(3) - The ancient world
Q(4) - Europe
Q(41) - British Isles (geographical whole)
Q(410) - United Kingdom of Gt Britain and N Ireland
Q(410.1) - England
Q(410.3) - Wales
Q(410.5) - Scotland
Q(410.7) - Northern Ireland
Q(415) - Ireland (geographical whole)
Q(417) - Republic of Ireland
Q(430) - Germany
Q(436) - Austria
Q(437.1) - Czech Republic
Q(437.6) - Slovak Republic
Q(438) - Poland
Q(439) - Hungary
Q(44) - France
Q(450) - Italy
Q(460) - Spain
Q(469) - Portugal
Q(47) - Former European USSR
Q(470) - Russia
Q(48) - Scandinavia
Q(480) - Finland
Q(481) - Norway
Q(485) - Sweden
Q(489) - Denmark
Q(492) - Netherlands
Q(493) - Belgium
Q(494) - Switzerland
Q(495) - Greece
Q(497) - Balkan States
Q(5) - Asia
Q(61) - Tunisia, Libya
Q(7) - North and Central America
Q(71) - Canada
Q(72) - Mexico
Q(728) - Central America
Q(729) - West Indies
Q(73) - USA
Q(74) - N E States
Q(75) - S E States
Q(76) - S Central States
Q(77) - N Central States
Q(78) - W States
Q(79) - Pacific States
Q(8) - South America
Q(9) - South Pacific and Australia. Arctic. Antarctic
Q0 - Generalities
Q1 - Philosophy. Psychology
Q2 - Religion. Theology
Q3 - Social sciences
Q4 - Vacant
Q5 - Mathematics and natural sciences
Q6 - Applied sciences. Medicine. Technology
Q7 - The arts. Recreation. Entertainment. Sport
Q8 - Language. Linguistics. Literature
Q9 - Geography. Biography. History

Composition of complex codes

Codes can be composed using 5 different symbols as per the following table:

Symbol	Example	Meaning	Notes
+	G321+G322	AND	Windows AND doors
/	G331/G333	UP TO	Just as G331+G332+G333 (it's also possible to compress in G331/3 form)
:	G321:D32	In relation to	A window in relation to an office (a sensible meaning could be a window of an office)
<	D32	Included in	An office within an hospital
>	D32>D41	Including	A medical facility within an office building

Samples using different tables

B2:D15 - Communications engineering
B2:D17 - Public health engineering
B5:A25 - Planning case law reports
B5:B91 - Planning law
B5:D11/D14 - Transport planning
B5:D137 - Coastal planning
B5:D15 - Telecommunications planning
B5:D16 - Planning for power supply, mineral supply
B5:D17 - Waste management, pollution control planning
B5:D261 - Trees and forestry planning
B5:D34 - Retail planning
B5:D4 - Health care planning
B5:D5 - Recreational planning
B5:D8 - Housing planning
B5:E7 - Planning for pipelines etc.
B91:B5 - Planning law
E:N246 - Earthquake resistant structures
F:D32 - Office space
F:D34 - Trading space
F:D41 - Medical space
F:D44 - Welfare space
F:D56 - Sports space
F:D6 - Religious space
F:D76 - Information/study space
G21:G311 - Foundations
G251:G322 - External doors

External links

• Uniclass: unified classification for the construction industry
• CONNET Uniclass search tool
• Uniclass listing by CPIC