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Here To Access The NHBCdb™ Archive
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DCD Magazine To Open Its Archives To Subscribers
For almost half a century DCD™ magazine has built and maintained the nation’s only publicly-available building cost database of actual historical building costs. The purpose of the database has been to fill the needs of the building industry by providing reliable construction cost data for a multitude of purposes: preliminary estimating, project validation, value engineering, etc.
Many aspects of the industry consider the closely-guarded DCD database as essential information. With the understanding that our primary function in the building industry is the accumulation, maintenance, and publication of this data, DCD has decided to provide open access to its proprietary NHBCdb™ (National Historical Building Cost database) to all current and future paid subscribers to DCD magazine.
Starting in May 2003, the NHBCdb will be accessible online by subscribers 24/7 at DCD.COM. All features that are available in DCD magazine will be available online — including the ability to cost escalate and to adjust for local conditions. The use of the database will be free to paid subscribers. (Trial subscriptions and/or those receiving complimentary promotional copies will not have access to the online database).
Online will be the current archival database which contains more than 1,000 building cost models of almost every conceivable building type.
DCD’s other online services, such as advanced online cost modeling at D4COST.NET and the D4COST cost estimating and cost data archival system for your corporate data, will continue to be available as it is now.
With this new service DCD subscribers will have free access to the actual historical construction projects as published in DCD. The entire current DCD database will be online for review, and it will be updated with each new issue published. Subscribers can apply DCD’s proprietary cost indices to escalate project costs to another time and place, online, and will no longer have to deal with the complex mathematical formulas that are published on the cost escalation card in each issue of DCD.
The project data on the NHBCdb is presented in the CSI 16 Division MasterFormat™ as seen in DCD magazine.
In addition to the data and cost escalation functionality, the password-protected paid subscriber section of dcd.com will also include the original case studies, as appeared in DCD, in Adobe Acrobat® format, making these available as benchmarks to include with the reports that subscribers are able to print from this new WWW feature.
This move by DCD is one of the most important announcements to the construction industry in recent time for access to valuable actual construction cost data. Anyone in the industry, as long as they are a DCD subscriber, will be able to research different building types, validate preliminary estimates with actual construction cost data, cost model with up-to-date cost indices on actual construction cost projects, and assist their clients in making informed decisions. The NHBCdb is the real thing: real costs, real buildings, real-time knowledge that can be used in the industry today.
Beginning with this issue, DCD subscribers will notice a unique number appears to the right of their name on the magazine mailing label. This subscriber number will identify active paid subscribers of DCD and grant them access the NHBCdb for the duration of their subscription. Once logged on, subscribers can browse, escalate and print any project on the NHBCdb.
Any subscriber with a paid subscription to DCD will automatically have access to the NHBCdb. This is a major change in direction for DCD and one that we believe will greatly benefit the industry.
Current DCD subscribers or anyone interested in this new subscriber service can call DCD directly at 800-533-5680.
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2008 DC&D Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Email: webmaster@dcd.com
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