Checking against your own requirements

Besides the fixed checks on model, BOM and drawing, BOMproof can also check whether a design meets agreements that you record. Think of what belongs in a title block, which materials you use or how you build BOMs.

01
Record your agreements

On the company page, Requirements tab, you create a requirement set for the whole company: a list of rules with a code of their own, in your own words. Requirements that only apply to one project, such as a customer's, you record in that project.
02
Choose the set for a check

In the "Set up check" window you tick which sets take part. That can be per assembly, per project or as account default.
03
Read the result per rule

For every rule the report states: met, not met, or cannot be determined from the supplied files.

What a requirement set is

A requirement set is a list of rules. Each rule has a short code (for example TH-03), belongs to a part of the check (3D model, BOM or drawing) and describes in one sentence what the check looks at.

Those codes are not decoration. The check may only mention codes that are in your sets. If a comment cannot be traced back to a rule you have recorded, it is not a requirements finding. That way no standard or part number can turn up that you never provided.

Writing a usable rule

The rule of thumb: a rule is usable if a colleague with only the model, the drawing and the BOM at hand can say whether it is met. If that does not work, it will not work for the check either.

The drawing must be neat and complete.

Too vague to measure anything against, so this always results in "cannot be determined".

The title block contains document number, revision letter, scale and date.
Complies with the applicable standard for steel structures.

The check does not know that standard. A rule that refers to a standard without spelling out the requirement invites guessing.

Every weld joint on the drawing has a weld symbol with throat thickness.
The welds are correctly dimensioned.

That cannot be derived from a STEP file or the text on a drawing. A rule that can never be assessed adds nothing.

The note with weld class is on sheet 1 of the drawing.

Two kinds of rules

Assessed in the check

The default kind. The rule goes along as a checklist to the part it belongs to, together with the text from the drawing, the BOM or the model. Suitable for everything you have to read or compare, such as a title block or a revision table.

Material from a fixed list

You enter the allowed materials, separated by a comma. BOMproof compares them directly with the materials in the 3D model. That comparison is exact and gives the same answer every time.

If no part has a material in the STEP, there is nothing to compare and the result is "cannot be determined". That is not a rejection.

Where you turn on a set

Requirement sets live in the same settings as the rest of the check, so on three levels. The most specific level wins.

1 Account default. On your account page. Every new project gets a copy of this.
2 Project default. Via "Check settings" at the top of a project. Applies to all assemblies that follow the default.
3 Own settings. In the "Set up check" window for an assembly. Only for that assembly.

You see the company's sets on all three levels. You see a project's sets only in that project: in "Check settings" at the top of the project (where you also create and edit them) and in the "Set up check" window of the assemblies in it. In the list they carry the label This project.

Choosing another profile (Full check, 3D model, BOM, Drawing) leaves your requirement sets in place. A profile only says which parts run, not which requirements are checked against.

Reading the report

The report has its own block Requirements. Every rule from the chosen sets comes back in it, even if no comment resulted. There are three outcomes.

Met. The check could establish that the requirement is met, with the supporting evidence.
Not met. The requirement is demonstrably not met. Usually there is also a comment about it in the list of findings.
Cannot be determined. There was too little in the supplied files to say anything, or this part of the check was turned off. Not a rejection, but not an approval either.

That third outcome is there on purpose. Without that option, "not found" would read as "approved", and that is exactly the kind of silence a release goes wrong on. The block is also in the PDF, so a printed report shows what was checked against.

Example set to start with

Four rules are enough to see how it works. Then extend it with what you often send back.

Code	Part	What the check looks at	Check
TH-01	Drawing	The title block contains document number, revision letter, scale and date.	Assessed in the check
TH-02	Drawing	The revision letter in the title block matches the last line of the revision table.	Assessed in the check
MAT-01	3D model	The material of every part comes from our material list.	Material from a fixed list
BOM-01	BOM	Every BOM line has a part number.	Assessed in the check

Do not copy standard texts

Texts from published standards are protected by copyright and do not belong in a requirement set. Write the requirement in your own words and use the Source field for the reference. That is not only legally tidy, it also makes the rule checkable: you force yourself to write down what concretely has to be in the model or on the drawing.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not simply tick "NEN-EN 1090"?

Because there is nothing behind that name. The check would have to invent requirements and part numbers, and an invented standard reference in a release report is worse than no standards check: you cannot tell it apart from a real one. By spelling out the requirements yourself, every comment refers to a rule you have recorded.

May I copy the text from a standard?

No. Texts from NEN, ISO and DIN are protected by copyright. Write the requirement in your own words and put the reference in the Source field, for example "Derived from our drawing agreements, version 3".

What happens if I delete a set that is still in a project default?

The check just runs, but without those requirements. You get a comment about it in the report and the status becomes "incomplete", so the report does not appear to meet requirements that were never checked.

Does a rule count if the corresponding part is turned off?

The rule does appear in the report, with the result "cannot be determined" and the reason. If you turn off the drawing check, for example, you see that your drawing rules were not checked.

What if two sets use the same code?

That is allowed. The report shows the name of the set with every rule, so it is always clear which one is meant.

How many can I store?

A company has at most 12 sets, and each project also has at most 12. A set has at most 40 rules, and one check uses at most 5 sets at a time, of the company and the project together.

When do I create a set for a single project?

When the requirements do not apply to all your work: the drawing rules or material list of one customer, or agreements for one order. Such a set lives only in that project, can only be chosen there, and disappears when the project is permanently deleted. Agreements you use everywhere belong in a company set.

To the requirement sets To the projects