Software for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

What is the aim of the collaboration agreement that you have with CYPE?

With CYPE we are developing a tool for structural analysis, quantity calculations and cost estimations for single-family dwelling structures, in particular, structures with one-way joist floor and hollow block slabs. This tool will be used by POINT.P’s regional technical centres, which are at the service of agencies and clients everyday to carry out optimised estimates of structural elements in single-family dwellings.

If you already have a tool for structural analysis and management, what motivated you to make a new one?

We have used this tool for 15 years and it has already crossed the line of obsolescence. In fact, it was not updated from a regulatory point of view with regards to the Eurocodes or to the latest version of the CPT technical specifications for slabs (publication of the French public body, CSTB). It was even disconnected from the new information systems that we had developed internally, such as the product data bases. For these reasons, we decided to develop the tool by collaborating with CYPE.

What motivated you to collaborate with CYPE for this development? Did you have any other alternatives?

We consulted several software publishers on the market to develop the tool and CYPE caught our attention. Certainly, CYPE has been able to respond to the particularities of our needs – the single-family dwelling market in France, with one-way joist floor and hollow block slabs. The software company has managed to show a real understanding of our markets, specifically in France, and they have been able to respond to our needs with great flexibility. At the same time, they have been very competitive in comparison to other software publishers on the market.

Are you satisfied with the collaboration agreement?

Yes, we are satisfied with the collaboration. For over a year now, CYPE has managed to really respond to our needs and be a source of advice and proposals to improve what already exists, and thus better meet the daily requests of our clients, professionals in the field of structures.

What benefits do you think you will obtain from using this new tool?

From now on we will have a much more ergonomic tool, much simpler with regards to graphic data entry of projects. Above all, it is a tool that will allow our regional technical centres to definitely improve their productivity and quality in the preparation of their estimates, which will be more complete and also with an element of variety that will be possible from now on.

Will this tool be compatible with BIM? What are the prospects for Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France?

The great advantage of CYPE is that this software opens doors for us to the world of Open BIM and the IFC format that we can now provide to our clients, builders of single-family dwellings.