Custom STABU integration
In residential and commercial construction, the specification is usually written according to the STABU specification system, in specification software that works with the STABU catalogue. For the contractor, installer or consultancy that receives the specification, the re-entering then begins: items into the estimate, requirements into purchasing, quantities into planning. Appfront builds the integration between the STABU specification and your own systems, so that every item, with its coding, description and specifications, ends up in the right place automatically and a revised specification shows what has changed.
What is an integration with STABU specifications?
A STABU integration imports a specification written according to the STABU specification system into the software you continue working in. STABU is the specification system for residential and commercial construction: a fixed structure of chapters by type of work, sections, short texts and specifications, plus the STABU Standard with the administrative and technical provisions. Since 2019, STABU has been part of Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek, which also manages ETIM, NL-SfB and DICO. The integration reads in the specification, links each item to the right item in your estimate, work budget or purchasing, and stores the reference to the specification.
Without an integration, the specification is entered again from scratch. An estimator reads the PDF and retypes the items into their estimating software, a purchaser searches the same specification for the requirements for the window frame or insulation, and the work planner does it all over again for the planning. When a Q&A document or a new version of the specification arrives, someone has to compare line by line what has changed. On a large project with hundreds of items, that takes a lot of time, and a missed change later becomes extra work or a dispute.
We build custom because every organisation has its own structure. One contractor follows the STABU structure in their estimates, another works with NL-SfB or their own item structure. Which specification software the specification writer uses, which output it produces, and which systems need to receive the specification all determine how the integration is built. STABU describes the content of the specification, not the file format; we look at what output your specifications have in the first step.
No retyping
Specification imported directly.
Right item
STABU mapped to your structure.
Change visible
Versions compared.
How we build your integration with STABU specifications
We start with your specifications and your systems: which specifications you receive or write, from which specification software, in what form, and where the data needs to go afterwards. Then we build the first integration, usually importing the specification into the estimate, because that is where most of the retyping happens. Your estimators use it on a few projects. Purchasing, planning and comparing specification versions follow once that works well. After that, we maintain the integration when the STABU catalogue or your systems change.
Source, form and destination.
The first integration.
Expansion.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What an integration with STABU specifications actually does
The components below appear in almost every STABU integration. Which ones you need depends on where you sit in the construction process and on your systems.
Import
Specification with structure and text.
Mapping
STABU item to your item.
Costing
Items and quantities.
Purchasing
Requirements per product and material.
Versions
Notes of clarification compared.
Log
Per imported specification.
Who we build an integration with STABU specifications for
The integration is intended for organisations that regularly process or write STABU specifications and need their content in several systems. The larger the specifications and the more often they change, the more it pays off.
Contractors
Specification to estimate and planning.
Installers
Installation chapters to purchasing.
Estimating firms
From specification to budget quickly.
Clients
Comparing and managing specifications.
Technology and integrations
This page is about importing STABU specifications. For the budget during construction, see our page on working budget software for construction; for product data in the installation sector, our page on the ETIM integration; for upfront pricing, our page on estimating software; and for building models, our page on the IFC integration. You can read about our approach at custom software development.
Why Appfront for your integration with STABU specifications?
A specification that is retyped three times, a note of clarification whose change never made it into the estimate, or a buyer working from a different version of the specification than the work planner all cost a construction company time and margin. That is what we build around: the specification imported once, every item in the right place, and every change visible to whoever needs it.
Faster
From specification to estimate.
One version
Everyone works from the same.
No missed changes
Versions compared.
Security and privacy for an integration with STABU specifications
Specifications and estimates are confidential, especially in a tender. The integration only gives access to the people working on the project, and every imported specification is recorded with time, version and user. Estimates and prices stay in your own system and do not flow back to the source.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. The STABU catalogue is used within the licence that you or your specification writer hold; the integration does not distribute STABU texts outside your organisation.
Frequently asked questions about an integration with STABU specifications
Questions that estimators, work planners and IT managers in construction ask before they get started.
A link between a specification written in the STABU specification system and your own systems, such as estimating, works budgeting, purchasing or planning. The specification is imported and every item automatically lands in the right place, with no retyping.
The specification system for residential and commercial construction, with a fixed structure of chapters, sections, short texts and specifications, plus the STABU Standard with administrative and technical provisions. STABU is managed by Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek.
No. STABU describes the work in a specification, NL-SfB classifies a building by building element and ETIM classifies technical products. All three are managed by Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek. The integration can map a STABU item to an NL-SfB code if your estimating uses that classification.
From the specification programs that work with the STABU catalogue. STABU itself does not prescribe a file format, so the output of your specifications differs per program. We look at that in the first step, using a few real specifications.
Yes. A new version or a note of clarification (nota van inlichtingen) is laid alongside the previous one, and for each item you see what has been added, removed or changed. The estimator decides what changes in the estimate.
Anyone who writes specifications with the STABU catalogue works under a licence. Anyone who receives a specification processes that specification. How the licence terms apply to your situation, we settle with you and, where necessary, with Ketenstandaard.
For contractors, installers and firms that regularly process large STABU specifications in several systems. With just a few small specifications a year, retyping is often faster than an integration.
Your STABU specifications straight into your own systems?
Tell us which specifications you receive and where they need to go next. We'll show you how an integration can take over the retyping.