Products in the construction sector have very specific and intricate characteristics. It is a sector that is too large, with information that is too fragmented and, above all, with little process digitisation. But this is about to change, thanks to the first official GS1 document on Construction.

It is a document that results from the work done by the GTIN Management Rules under the supervision of the Swedish GS1 User Group Construction and the GS1 GSMP. A tool that simplifies the language and makes this topic more easily understandable for the community, through specific examples for the construction sector, under the GTIN Management Standard.

Unique identification of construction products is not only essential to maintain the operational efficiency that stakeholders rely on to exchange consistent product information. It is also a valuable resource for ensuring smooth global supply chain operations while guaranteeing compliance with various regulations around the world. Finally, unique identification and communication between trading partners of product changes is key to ensuring that the right product is made available on the shop shelf or directly to the end user.

When we talk about products in the construction sector, we are talking about materials that have an above-average life cycle, in some cases up to 50 or even 100 years. The use and value of a construction product can be influenced by many external factors, such as construction methods, regulations and knowledge about the properties of different materials, both in the short and long term.

Knowing what is in a building, what materials and their characteristics, is a challenge that has always existed for owners and facility managers. But the rapid development of new materials,combined with the increased focus on sustainability and circularity, has accentuated the need for these stakeholders to effectively track building products, their properties and content, throughout the materials’ life cycle. To meet these needs, this document further illustrates examples of how to manage GTINs for parties involved in the maintenance, repair, upgrade, reuse and recycling of construction products.

The GTIN Management Guideline for Construction Products is designed to help industry make consistent decisions on the unique identification of construction products in open supply chains and comply with the General GTIN Management Standard. In general, costs are minimised when all stakeholders throughout the life cycle of a product adhere to the GTIN Management Standard. Furthermore, this could simplify CO2 footprint calculations, trace products and their content to simplify the circular economy, reuse, recovery as well as compliance with different green building certification schemes.

Click here to read the guideline!

To know more about the construction sector click here