The FIATECH major product is an interdisciplinary research effort within BFRL-in collaboration with CII, the private sector, other federal agencies, and other laboratories within NIST-to develop key enabling technologies, standard communication protocols, and advanced measurement technologies needed to deliver FIAPP products and services to the construction industry. The goal of BFRL's FIATECH major product is to produce products and services that will result in significant reductions in both the delivery time of constructed facilities and the life-cycle costs of those facilities. These products and services are being developed for use by building owners and operators, construction contractors, architects, engineers, and other providers of professional services. The research described in this report focuses on four key design/information technologies. These technologies are: (1) bar coding; (2) integrated databases; (3) 3D CAD (computer-aided design) systems; and (4) EDI (electronic data interchange). These technologies were selected for evaluation for two reasons. First, they are core components of the FIAPP products and services currently under development. Consequently, understanding how the use of these technologies affects key project outcomes (i.e., cost, schedule, and safety) provides a set of lower-bound estimates of the benefits and cost savings that can be expected from the use of FIAPP products and services once they become available commercially. Second, these technologies are covered as part of CII's annual survey of its membership. The results of the annual survey are compiled by CII and tabulated in its Benchmarking and Metrics database. By using the Benchmarking and Metrics database, CII was able to measure empirically the economic value of using established, as well as new and innovative design/information technologies within the non-residential sectors of the construction industry (i.e., commercial/institutional buildings, industrial facilities, and infrastructure projects). The research effort described in this report includes: (1) a statistical analysis of a broad cross-section of projects from the CII Benchmarking and Metrics database; (2) a case-bycase analysis of "exemplary" projects selected from the CII Benchmarking and Metrics database; and (3) a synthesis of findings. This three-pronged approach is designed to provide the reader with an understanding of the current use of design/information technologies, how their use affects project outcomes, and how to successfully integrate design/information technologies into the delivery process for construction projects.

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