Building a DICO integration
Appfront builds integrations with DICO, the messaging standard of Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek (the Dutch construction and technical supply chain standard). Using DICO, contractors, installers, wholesalers and manufacturers exchange quotes, orders, order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices. We make sure your own system creates and reads those messages, where your package cannot: orders to suppliers, confirmations and delivery notes back, and invoices that are automatically linked to the order.
What is a DICO integration?
DICO is the messaging standard for the construction and installation sector, managed by Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek. With DICO, parties in the chain exchange electronic messages: from quote request and quote to order, order confirmation, delivery note and invoice. Much business software for the construction industry supports DICO, and Ketenstandaard offers certification for messages that comply with the standard.
If you use your own system or a package without DICO, you miss out on that exchange. Orders go to the wholesaler by email or phone, an order confirmation with a different delivery time goes unnoticed, and a delivery note is signed off on site and retyped in the office. The invoice arrives as a PDF, and anyone checking that what was invoiced was also ordered and delivered has to lay three documents side by side.
We build custom solutions because the integration has to fit your system and your partners: which messages you exchange, with which wholesalers and manufacturers, how items are coded in your system, and which channel your partners use to receive messages. We work out exactly what the standard requires from Ketenstandaard's documentation; we make sure your system works with it. We usually start with the partner who handles the most messages, then add the others.
Messages from your system
Orders and other messages sent from your own system in line with DICO, and incoming messages read in automatically.
Order, delivery and invoice
Delivery notes and invoices linked to the order, with discrepancies flagged for review.
Checked message by message
Checks before sending, and a log for each message showing its status.
How we build your DICO integration
We start with your messages: which ones you exchange, with which partners, which system you use, and where information is currently being retyped.
Your messages, wholesalers and manufacturers, item coding and system.
Messages sent from your system in line with DICO, and incoming messages read in automatically.
Delivery notes and invoices matched to the order, with checks for differences.
Testing with real partners, going live partner by partner, and maintenance when new versions are released.
What a DICO integration does in practice
The components below feature in almost every DICO integration. Which ones you need depends on your partners.
Orders
Orders to suppliers in line with DICO.
Confirmations
Order confirmations with delivery times and deviations.
Delivery notes
Delivery notes linked to the order.
Invoices
Invoices imported and linked to order and delivery.
Validation
Differences between order, delivery and invoice.
Audit log
Status and result for each message.
Who we build a DICO integration for
The integration is intended for construction businesses without DICO in their own system.
Contractors
Many orders with wholesalers. Orders and invoices are the core.
Installers
Materials per project. Linking the delivery note to the project matters most.
Wholesalers and manufacturers
Messages with customers. Receiving orders is what's needed.
Software suppliers
DICO in your own product. The standard is at the core.
Technology and integrations
This page is about DICO messages in construction. For a construction package with DICO, see our page on a BouwWorks integration; for UBL messages outside construction, our page on a UBL integration; and for estimates, our page on work estimates in construction. You can read about our approach at software development.
Why choose Appfront for your DICO integration?
An invoice that isn't matched against the order and delivery note means paying for things that were never delivered. That is what we build around: messages from your own system, with order, delivery and invoice linked together, and a check on each message.
No manual re-keying
Orders, delivery notes and invoices go digital.
Discrepancies spotted
Any differences between order and invoice are flagged.
Chain connected
Partners receive messages in the standard they already use.
Security and privacy in a DICO integration
The integration processes orders, prices and invoices from you and your partners. Access credentials for channels are stored encrypted and used only by the integration.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage, daily backups and a log of every message.
Frequently asked questions about a DICO integration
Questions that construction companies and wholesalers ask before getting started.
DICO is the messaging standard for the construction and installation sector, managed by Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek. Parties use it to exchange quotes, orders, order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices.
UBL is an international standard for business documents across all sectors. DICO is tailored to the construction and installation sector, with agreements on articles and processes within that chain. We have a separate page on UBL.
The messages you exchange with your partners, such as quote request, quote, order, order confirmation, delivery note and invoice. We usually start with the message that involves the most retyping, often the invoice or the order.
Yes. An invoice is linked to the order and the delivery note, and differences in quantities or prices are flagged for review. This way, you only pay for what was ordered and delivered. A partial delivery or a subsequent delivery remains linked to the same order, so the status of every order can be tracked.
Items in your system are matched to the codes used in the messages. Where that cannot be done one-to-one, the integration records a translation, so that a message lands with the correct items. A new item that does not yet have a translation is ready to be linked once.
Ketenstandaard offers certification for DICO messages. Whether and when you apply for it is up to you; the integration follows the standard, so certification is possible.
For companies with their own system or a package without DICO, and for software vendors who want to support DICO in their product. If your package already supports DICO, a custom integration is often unnecessary.
Orders and invoices according to the construction standard?
Tell us which messages you exchange, with which partners, and which system you use. We will show you what the integration would look like.