WO2005114497A2

WO2005114497A2 - Method for optimised roof planning

Info

Publication number: WO2005114497A2
Application number: PCT/EP2005/005288
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sabine Möhrle; Rainer LÖBER
Original assignee: Moehrle Sabine; Loeber Rainer
Priority date: 2004-05-17
Filing date: 2005-05-13
Publication date: 2005-12-01
Also published as: DE102004026977A1

Description

Process for optimized roof planning

description

The present invention relates to a method for optimized roof planning and a device for carrying out such a method.

Over time, especially in the industrialized nations, the relationship between material costs and wages has changed fundamentally in many areas of the economy. While in the past mostly spare parts or materials made up the main part of a craftsman's invoice, today it is very often the case that wages exceed the price of materials or spare parts many times over. The costs for a car repair are just an example. While the necessary spare parts are often present, the wages for the installation of these parts represent the largest part of the invoice amount. The situation is similar in the construction and ancillary industries. While materials often cause low costs, wages are the price-determining factors due to wage costs and, above all, non-wage costs.

Because of the high wage costs, it is becoming increasingly important, especially for craft businesses, to work as effectively as possible. Above all, this means that activities that cannot be invoiced to a customer must be carried out as quickly as possible. These activities include, for example, the creation and filling out of service specifications, the determination of a material requirement for a construction site or an order, price inquiries from suppliers and orders for materials.

The above-mentioned activities lead to a partially significantly reduced productivity of an employee or the company owner, for example, when receiving a specification from an architect, the craftsman read it first, then usually manually look up the prices from catalogs or find them online or from his suppliers but also inquire by phone and then the specifications must also be completed in fair copy. The craftsman receives the Order, he must place an order with his supplier. If no architect is involved, the craftsman is also responsible for drawing up a type of service specification or at least a measurement list with a calculation of the material requirements. Such activities, which cannot or can only be charged to a customer to a small extent, are particularly time-consuming in the area of the roofing trade. Since there are many different options for roofing, there are also extensive price lists and catalogs that make the preparation of an offer correspondingly tedious.

The preparation of an offer or the elaboration of a specification is still largely done by hand. Data from CAD programs of an architect or planner can only be used to a small extent only when calculating areas or when estimating wood requirements for battens.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for optimized roof planning which reduces the time required for planning a roof to a minimum, the term planning comprising in particular the preparation of service specifications and offers. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device with which such a method can be carried out.

The procedural aspects of the object are achieved by the definition according to claim 1, preferred developments and embodiments being described in the subclaims. With regard to the device aspects, reference is made to claim 17 and the claims dependent on this claim.

It is therefore an essential point of the invention that a method for optimized roof planning has the following steps: an input of data describing a roof, these data being produced, for example, in the form of various parameters or also in the form of one, for example one Model made available to architects. The second step of the process is the creation of a model for the roof if the data entered is not already a model of the roof. have contained; If a model of the roof has already been entered or transferred, this step can be omitted. In a third step, a material requirement and / or work steps necessary for the completion or partial completion of the roof are determined; alternatively or additionally, the time required for the completion or the partial completion of the roof or for the individual work steps is estimated. This is done on the basis of the entered data and / or the entered or adopted model. In a fourth, last step, the determined material and / or time requirement is output. The method described above enables an architect or a craftsman to draw up a list of services in a simple manner. Furthermore, it enables a craftsman to easily estimate his time required for the completion or partial completion of a roof and gives him a quick and reliable basis for his calculation.

In a preferred embodiment, the step of entering the data describing the roof includes transferring data from a program that can be executed on a computer. Examples of this are data from CAD programs as used by architects, but also data that contain safety regulations for laying roof tiles and are made available by a manufacturer or a supplier. This ensures that important data is taken into account.

In a further preferred embodiment, the first step of the method includes entering an intended type of coverage and / or an intended direction of coverage, as well as, additionally or alternatively, a container gradient and / or sorting. The entry of an edge type can also be included. These entries make it easy for the craftsman to transfer the data requested by the building owner or architect to the further process steps.

In the third step of the method, that is to say in the determination step, all the layers, roof areas, roof edges and roof points of the model are preferably checked for an assignment of services. If necessary, ie in the case where there is a need for a service for the respective layer, roof area, roof edge and / or the respective roof point of the model, the performance is assigned accordingly. This ensures that the services for a roof to be completed are precisely assigned in a simple manner.

In a further preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, a distinction is made in the determination step between the working hours that are required on a construction site and the working hours that are performed in a workshop. This makes it easier for the craftsman to estimate the calculation of times when the workshop is occupied as well as times when the employees are away. The result is increased planning security for the entrepreneur. Of course, both working hours that are necessary for the completion of a roof and working hours that are required for a partial completion of the roof or for individual selectable work steps can be determined. The determination of working hours is based, for example, on an estimate based on empirical values.

In the determination step, technical rules or laying instructions for the respective covering and / or manufacturer-related information are preferably taken into account when determining the material and / or time requirements. This ensures that important rules and instructions are taken into account both when determining the material and the time required, which, as is well known, can often have a strong influence on the material required and the time required to cover a roof. This can be, for example, regulations on how far panels have to overlap. This example shows very easily that this can have a major impact on material requirements.

In a further preferred embodiment, the costs of the services required for the execution, that is to say of the material required and / or the time required, are also ascertained in the determination step, the ascertained costs being output in the final step of the method. This gives the craftsman or an architect an easy way to calculate costs. The last step of the method, ie the output step, preferably comprises the output of a specification. With a method according to the invention, such a method can be created in a simple manner.

The step of determining a material requirement and / or determining the work steps required for the completion or partial completion of the roof and / or estimating the time required for this on the basis of the data and / or the model entered and, if appropriate, determining or determining the costs for the material and the individual work steps or also the entire work are preferably carried out automatically on the basis of data provided by a supplier and / or by the user of the method. An automatic calculation or calculation based on the aforementioned data leads to a simple feasibility of the method, the data provided by the supplier preferably data relating to the price of materials and additionally or alternatively data relating to discounts provided to the supplier be granted include. The data provided by the user preferably include at least one wage per unit of time, possibly in the case of different work steps or in the case of work steps of employees of different training, also a plurality of corresponding wages per unit of time and additionally or alternatively a desired profit margin of the entrepreneur. This enables a quick, simple and effective calculation.

In order to prevent miscalculations, the data provided by the supplier are updated regularly or called up online at the time of need, whereby the regular updates can take place, for example, via data carriers or via a network connection, especially the Internet.

In a further preferred embodiment, the method according to the invention is supplemented by a further step which is carried out at the end of the method. This step includes the output of a material order and / or a measurement list. This enables orders to be automated as far as possible. The material order that is issued in the aforementioned step is preferably forwarded online, optionally also by fax, to a supplier, which ensures an order without any delay.

For easier processing and to create a uniform system, the data provided by the supplier preferably contain manufacturer article numbers and / or EAN numbers, which in a preferred embodiment can also be found again in the material order described in more detail above.

The invention includes the basic idea of implementing a method according to the invention on a computer, so that a computer program which has program code for executing a method according to one of the above-described embodiments is contained in the basic concept of the invention. Executing the method on a computer ensures that it is implemented very quickly. Furthermore, the degree of automation when running on a computer is very high, which means that the method can be implemented inexpensively.

Also included in the basic idea of the invention is a device for executing a method according to the invention, which has the following: at least one input device for inputting data and / or at least one model which describes a roof. This input device is required above all for the first step of the method described above. Furthermore, the device has a processing device for determining a material requirement and / or work steps required for the completion or partial completion of the roof on the basis of the entered data and / or on the basis of the at least one model. Additionally or alternatively, the processing device is used to estimate a time required for the completion or partial completion of the roof or the respective work steps. The device also has an output device that outputs the determined material and additionally or alternatively the determined time requirement. The advantages are similar to those of the method; a simple calculation how a simple determination of required material or time is possible with the above device.

The at least one input device preferably has an interface for transferring data from a program executable on a computer. This ensures that the data can be transferred in a simple manner, for example from a supplier or also from an architect, and possibly also models.

In a preferred embodiment, the device has a storage device. This stores the data provided by a supplier and / or the data entered by the user and additionally or alternatively also the adopted models and makes them available to the processing device if required. Alternatively or additionally, this (the provision of data and / or models) can also be carried out via a connection, in particular a network connection, to a storage device of the supplier and / or the architect / planner. The data provided by the supplier is either updated regularly or accessed online if necessary. The storage of data ensures low data traffic on a network. In many cases, a regular update of the data on which the calculations are based in a certain rhythm is sufficient. For data that is required on a daily basis, a determination, for example of a corresponding price, can be carried out online at any time. The above connection is preferably a connection to the Internet, which ensures cheap data transfer almost anywhere.

In a further preferred embodiment, the device according to the invention is characterized by a device for forwarding the determined material requirement. The determined material requirement is automatically transmitted as an order to one or the supplier or the manufacturer. This can in turn be done via a network connection, such as an Internet connection, but alternatively sending via a fax machine is also conceivable. The invention is described below in terms of further advantages and features by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings show in:

1 to 9 show a preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention, divided into individual steps;

10 shows a data flow diagram for the method according to the invention;

11 shows a graphic illustration of the acquisition of the variant lists in the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention;

12 shows a graphic illustration with regard to processing exclude / include lists in the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention;

13 shows a graphical illustration of a power recording and assignment of design variants in the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention; and

14 shows a graphic illustration with regard to a script for calculating the KG in the method according to the invention; and

15 shows a preferred embodiment of a device for carrying out a method according to the invention.

The preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention described below is implemented in a program which can be executed on a computer and which - in accordance with a basic idea of the invention - has program code for executing the preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention described in more detail below.

In a first step of the present embodiment of the method according to the invention, the desired type of covering of the roof selected. A selection screen is started for this. 1 shows a manufacturer-specific selection screen, but the program also offers the possibility of calling up a cover-specific selection screen. While there are several different covers from one manufacturer to choose from on a manufacturer-specific selection screen, one type of cover from different manufacturers is available on the cover-specific selection screen.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the main selection screen has four elements. These are: a manufacturer-specific symbol 1, which shows which manufacturer was selected for the selection screen. In the case of a cover specific selection screen, this symbol is replaced by a cover specific symbol. Furthermore, a selection block 2 is available which has five selection buttons 3 to 7 which can be clicked on by means of a computer mouse. By clicking on a corresponding selection button with the mouse, the respective type of coverage shown on it is selected. On the selection screen of FIG. 1, for example, an old German cover, a shed cover, an arch cut cover, a double rectangle cover and an acute angle cover are available. The correspondingly selected type of coverage is shown in a preview area 8 for illustration. This is particularly useful when a craftsman or an architect is on site with a customer. Based on the display in preview area 8, the customer can then have a good idea of what his future roof will look like. Once the desired coverage has been selected, the selection step can be completed by clicking the selection button, i.e. beeing confirmed. Confirming an end button 9 closes the manufacturer-related selection and leads back to the cover-specific selection.

As further input of data describing the roof to be covered, the dimensions of the desired roof are added. In the present embodiment, these can be adopted by a CAD program, for example, by an architect, or can be generated by means of a separate routine implemented in the program. In the present illustration, the data is created with the implemented routine testifies. The data is then checked for compliance with the technical rules for the desired type of coverage and the compliance with manufacturer-related additional information, so that any planning errors that do not conform to the technical rules for the respective coverage or with manufacturer-related additional information come to light and accordingly either a different shape of the roof or a different type of covering can be chosen.

The roof is then shown on the screen as illustrated in FIG. 2 on the basis of the entered data and possibly on the basis of data, for example, taken from a CAD program. If necessary, the roof can now be adapted to the wishes of the client or any other person. For this purpose, an angle construction is selected from existing roof types in the present example. The types of roofs mentioned above can be selected to facilitate planning work as "prefabricated" roofs in the present program. Furthermore, the inclination of the respective roof sections can of course also be adapted, so that, for example, an upper roof surface 9a has an inclination of 35 ° and all others An incline of 45 ° can be assigned. A routine for edge processing enables further adjustments of the roof as desired by the client. By means of edge processing, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the eaves can be trapezoidally extended in a section of the right roof surface (indicated by Arrow 10) .In addition, cover-specific data can be specified, such as a covering direction and a container slope. Furthermore, the sorting can be adapted if necessary. The sloping lines 11 to 13 in the roof areas are the minimal container slopes shown Ge Binding slope line not black, but shown in a certain color, so it is a sorting dividing line (shown in Fig. 2 in the upper roof surface 9a as a dashed line).

A special measurement can then be printed out for the respective cover, in the present example for the old German cover (cf. FIG. 3). In this measurement, the individual roof areas are then taken directly into account, taking into account the direction of the deck, the sorting that occurs and the existing edge types, specifying the assigned performance versions of the partial edges are listed (each numbered edge is assigned the corresponding performance in the lower part of the screen). Using an operable tab LV view (specification sheet view) it can be accomplished that all layers, roof surfaces, roof edges and roof points are checked for the assignment of services. If there are several possible versions at a roof location, the user is asked which of the possible versions he would like to choose (cf. FIG. 4). Then it is asked which article variants are to be used.

On the basis of the data entered (as described in more detail above), dynamic parts lists are generated in which the required materials or articles are output with the respective manufacturer article number. Dynamic parts lists are to be understood in the sense of parts lists that adapt automatically when a parameter is changed. Alternatively or additionally, the EAN number can also be output on request. This is illustrated in an illustrative manner in FIG. 5. In the present example, in which a slate covering is selected, the basis weights of the slate covering are also determined taking into account the area proportions of the individual sorts and their possibly different gap thicknesses.

6, a time list can then be generated. In the times list, the user of the program can carry out his time calculation quickly and clearly. By means of two markings, a marking for construction site times 14 and a marking for workshop times 15, it can be marked which of the two time types is currently to be calculated. This separate time calculation is necessary so that project-related additional times, which are only dependent on the pure construction site time (arrivals and departures to the construction site), can be exactly determined and finally added up to the total time. The time calculation can also be carried out in relation to a unit of work to be performed, in relation to one or more arbitrary items in the list, in relation to a title or in relation to the entire project. This ensures that there is as much flexibility as possible, so that calculations for individual items can also be carried out or changed if necessary. If a "Article totals" tab is selected, the articles contained in the parts list calculations are listed in full. This is shown in detail in FIG. 7. The articles listed can, if necessary, be reduced by articles that the respective tradesman or user keeps in stock The remaining articles can be sent to a supplier or a manufacturer for a price inquiry or as an order, for this purpose an Internet connection to the desired supplier or manufacturer is established as illustrated in Fig. 8, after which the user of the program and his or her local company With the customer prices stored for the user, the requested articles are then provided with the corresponding information, as is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 9, and are transferred back to the user in the event of a request for a quote or a price request to handle an order a confirmation of the order will be transferred back.

It should be noted at this point that the price information does not necessarily have to be queried online, since the present program offers the possibility of calling up and storing price information from one or more desired suppliers or manufacturers at regular intervals. Furthermore, there is the possibility of automatically updating them within the scope of the present program at predetermined time intervals. This means that companies that do not always have a connection to the Internet can no longer need to establish a connection.

A data flow diagram of the present program is shown in FIG. As can be seen from the data flow diagram, numerous information and data flows take place in the present preferred embodiment, which are indicated by the double arrows 16 to 23. It should be noted at this point that only the most important data flow channels are shown in the present diagram in FIG. 10 in order to keep the diagram clear. In principle, of course, an information flow between any possible pairing of participants is provided. The most important information flows take place between building materials retailers 24 and tradesmen 25 (indicated by double arrow 17), between tradesmen 25 and planners or Architect 27 (indicated by double arrow 19), between tradesman 25 and client 26 (indicated by double arrow 18), between client 26 and architect 27 (indicated by double arrow 21), between planner or architect 27 and industry 28 and between industry 28 and building material - Specialist trade 24 (indicated by double arrow 16) instead. There is also data exchange between industry 28 and tradesman 25 (indicated by double arrow 23). Here, among other things, the manufacturer-specific information on laying and, if necessary, subject-specific rules are transferred; furthermore there is communication between the client 26 and the industry 28 (as indicated by double arrow 20).

The management of article data or article structures, as used in the present preferred embodiment, will be explained in more detail below.

The basis for this is a (at least almost) complete provision of all items that can be used in a construction project, i.e. the (almost) 100% recording of the articles produced by the industry for processing within a building project. For the roof area alone, there are more than 25 million items. It is easy to see that the time and therefore personnel expenditure is too high for a manual individual entry of the articles (with an estimate of 5 minutes per article the effort would be more than 300 man-years). To solve the problems described above, the present preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is based on a dynamization of article data, an arbitrary scaling of the article structure, an article assignment to execution locations on buildings or components, a rule-controlled property check of the building locations and their associated services and a data connection to one Program for three-dimensional determination of building locations. Cross-layer relationships are also taken into account.

One of the concepts (as already mentioned above) is the dynamization of article data. An article is only entered once with its basic data and all different versions of the article are assigned to it via variant lists. 11 is an example illustrated for this. These are beaver tail bricks, the list of variants comprising the following data: the basic articles, which represent a total of 30 entries and reflect the shape (for example, whole brick, verge left, etc.); The colors are specified in a first list of variants, with a total of 20 possibilities in the present example (red, brown, gray, etc.); in a second list of variants the possible formats (6 in total) are listed (18 x 38 cm, 15, 5 x 38 cm, etc.), while in a third list of variants the thickness of the respective articles is listed (e.g. 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm); the third list of variants contains a total of 10 entries. In a fourth variant list, which has a total of 9 entries, the entries for the various cutting options are collected (for example, round cut, segment cut, etc.). A further 11 entries have a fifth list of variants that describes the possible surfaces of the plain tile (for example smooth, corrugated, corrugated, etc.). Since all combinations can occur, the possible total number of articles is 3,564,000, whereby in the present program only the 30 basic articles and the five variant lists have to be recorded. The time required is therefore reduced to an absolute minimum.

Since the material orders generally have to be made using a unique article number, a unique EAN number or a unique article name in the trade, the corresponding part article numbers and part names can be assigned directly to each variant. The total article number results from the stringing together of the respective basic article number and the partial article number of the individual variant. The same applies to the article description. The total number of items mentioned above relates to a manufacturer's product range. Other manufacturers may of course change the total number of items due to different characteristics and number of variants. This fact, or the fact that the product range of a manufacturer often does not include all possible combinations of variant variants or only a part of the basic article for certain variant variant combinations, is taken into account by the program with exclude or include lists that are stored for each basic article can. This ensures that the program does not offer the user too many articles Offers selection, but only the actual scope of delivery of the respective manufacturer. Such an include list is shown in FIG. 12 using the example of the definition of the scope of delivery for a monastery beaver (whole brick). Since it is an include list, each dark marker (white font on a dark background) defines a property that is possible for this article. All non-marked variants are not available for this basic article. If the same list were used as an exclude list, this would mean that there would be no articles with the possible combinations of variants of the dark-colored variants; all other combinations would be possible.

Furthermore, the embodiment of the method according to the invention described above is based on any scaling of the article structure. The structuring of the article data is freely scalable for every manufacturer and thus enables 100% registration of all articles of this manufacturer; this means that no articles fall through an incomplete definition grid. The definition of these manufacturer-specific structures represents a self-contained, complete and future-proof system for this manufacturer. From this system it is possible to export the data in any format for use in other applications. Manufacturer-specific import interfaces are also available for existing partially structured manufacturer data. The base articles found are automatically created during the import process and the associated exclude and include lists are generated. It is thus possible for industry to be able to integrate their existing systems or organizational structures into the present system without major adjustments or to adapt them to this.

The preferred embodiment is also based on an article assignment to execution locations on buildings or components. The geometry of a building and the desired appearance, especially in terms of color, determine which article is used where. It is also determined which additional materials and which time is required for this. This information is given in service descriptions and associated costing parts lists and, as already mentioned above, is very often due to laying regulations of a general nature (specialist rules) and possibly determined by additional manufacturer-specific installation instructions. Therefore, in the described embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is possible to assign services to each building location and also to allow the selection of different design variants at these building locations. Corresponding building locations to which services are assigned are, for example, roof surfaces, roof edges, roof points, wall surfaces, wall edges, wall points or else other surface edges and points. A performance can also be assigned to surfaces or edges, surfaces or points and / or edges or points. Services can not only be assigned to one building location at a time, but also to several building locations at the same time. The different service versions have different service texts, which are stored in each of the version list displayed. Depending on the user's selection, a service text placeholder with the corresponding service text is then automatically exchanged and displayed. The listed, required articles are dynamically entered in the parts list ^). This is illustrated in FIG. 13, where the power acquisition and variant assignment of the present embodiment are shown graphically.

The use of a specific article is often also dependent on the specific project-specific property of the building location at a specific building location. Examples of this are the execution of a throat in a slate roof, which depends on the inclination of the throat line in the room. If, for example, the inclination is more than 30 °, covering with fillets is possible as an integrated main throat. If the slope is less than 30 °, a sheet metal groove must be installed so that safe roof drainage is possible. If the inclination is less than 20 °, additional additional sealing measures must be taken. Another example is the covering of plain tiles, which is determined by the inclination of the roof surface. If the roof pitch is different, this results in different requirements per unit area to be covered. Another example is the size of a gutter, which is determined by a building floor area to be drained and the number of gutter drains. This problem is taken into account in the preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention described above by that the building locations are integrated in a layer system. The determining building location for a shift is almost always the area. The bounding edges of the surface are subordinate to the surface, and the points that result in the crossing points of the edges are subordinate to the edges. Each building location in each building layer must be designed specifically according to its location properties and the respective article properties of the layer. Since these special designs can largely be manufacturer-specific and / or product-specific, each shift can have a manufacturer-specific and / or product-specific additional program as required. The provision of this additional program or these additional programs also falls under the basic ideas of the present invention, the additional programs being part of a program package within the scope of which the method according to the invention is also implemented. With the help of these additional programs or additional tools, all special features and control deviations can be taken into account that cannot be taken into account in purely database-based systems. The routines that check compliance with the rules are drawn up in close cooperation with industry and thus lead to optimized data provision for all planning and billing programs (CAD, tendering software, calculation software and retail merchandise management systems). In the present embodiment, two types of this specific programming are implemented in combination with each other. Of course, it is also conceivable that only one type of programming is available in another embodiment. Simple tests are directly assigned to an individual service or an individual article in the parts list using a script program; More complex tests are stored in a manufacturer-specific and layer-specific DLL (Dynamic Link Library). An example of a script program is shown in FIG. 14.

To use the recorded data, it is also necessary to link it to a program that is also able to determine the complexity of these building locations. Therefore, a central component of the program for implementing a method according to the invention is an SD-CAD routine, which recognizes all defined surface types by their properties and can describe edges and points on the basis of their position in space and on the basis of their associated polygon so that a clear assignment of manufacturer-specific services and articles is made possible.

This CAD routine also serves as a converter for data created in other CAD routines or programs (architecture or carpentry programs for carpentry). The imported polygon data of these programs are revised using the same internal test routines to determine the properties of the building location and the results obtained for the tenders and calculations can then be exported back to these programs or other software tools.

In this routine, fully or semi-automatically, manufacturer-approved tenders and bill of materials calculations are generated, which can be adapted by the user with a view to project-specific time calculations.

A special feature of the routine described above is that it is possible to create a tender and to check the generated tender even without a direct graphical generation of the building geometry. This is done by manually entering dimensions in a table of building locations. This scheme is then processed through the same test routine that would also test a graphically existing building geometry.

It should also be noted that the individual layers of a part of a building are almost always interdependent. These interdependencies are often insufficiently known to the planner and / or architect and the executing craftsman. Many planning and execution errors are based on this fact. In the present embodiment of the method according to the invention, these dependencies are worked out in cooperation with the technical departments of industry and implemented directly in the manufacturer and shift-specific routines. A significantly higher level of planning security and quality of execution is thus achieved, and thus also an indirect reduction in costs and an increase in the value of the construction work carried out. A preferred embodiment of an apparatus for performing a method according to the invention is shown in FIG. 15. This has two input devices for entering data and models that describe a roof, in the form of a keyboard 41, into which a computer mouse is integrated, and in the form of a network connection 42 for data exchange with an architect's computer 43. At this point it should be noted that the network connection from the computer 42 to the architect's computer 43 is only shown in a stylized manner. In its specific embodiment, the device 40 uses a connection to the Internet, which enables data exchange with many different computers. Furthermore, the device 40 naturally has multifunctional drives for reading DVD data carriers, CD data carriers and also for reading floppy disks. These drives are not shown in Fig. 15. In a processing device in the form of a computer 44, the data and models entered by means of the keyboard 41 and / or by means of the network connection 42 can then be processed in such a way that the expenditure of material and / or time required for the completion or partial completion of the roof is determined. The determined material requirement and / or time requirement is then output on an output device 45 in the form of a screen and can, if necessary, be printed out on a printer (not shown). It should be noted at this point that the network connection 42 represents an input device which is a Interface for the transfer of data from a program executable on another computer implemented.

Furthermore, the device 40 has a storage device 46 which stores both the input data and / or models and the data to be output. Furthermore, the storage device 46 stores data provided by a supplier or manufacturer and makes it available to the processing device 44 if required. For this purpose, the storage device 46 is indirectly connected to a storage device 48 of a supplier. The storage device 46 is connected to the storage device 48 by the user via the processing device 44, which is connected to a computer 47 of a supplier via a further network connection 49. This connection also applies to the fact that it is a network connection to the Internet and thus access to the memory equipment from many suppliers or manufacturers is possible. In the present embodiment, the most frequently used data is kept in the storage device 46 and updated twice a week, whereas data that is rarely used is called up online in order to keep the required storage capacity low. When creating a binding specification, the data can optionally be checked online again before being used. Furthermore, a forwarding device 50 is integrated into the processing device 44, which, in the case of an order being placed on a command from the user, automatically forwards the determined material requirement (optionally minus the materials kept in stock) as an order to the corresponding supplier.

Although the invention is described on the basis of exemplary embodiments with a fixed combination of features, it also includes the conceivable further advantageous combinations of these features, as are specified in particular, but not exhaustively, by the subclaims. All of the features disclosed in the application documents are claimed as essential to the invention, insofar as they are new compared to the prior art, individually or in combination.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 cover-specific symbol

2 Selection block 3 - 7 selection button

8 Preview area

9 end button

9a upper roof area

10 arrow

Line 11 - 13

14 Marking for construction site times

15 Marking for workshop times

16 - 23 double arrow

24 Building materials retailers

25 artisans Client Planner / Architect Industry Device for optimizing roof planning Keyboard Network connection Computer of an architect Processing device Output device Storage device Computer Storage device Network connection Forwarding device

Claims

claims

1. A method for optimized roof planning, which comprises the following steps: a) input of data which describe a roof; b) building a model for the roof if the data does not already include a model of the roof; c) determination of a material requirement and / or determination of work steps required for the completion or partial completion of the roof and / or estimation of the time required for this on the basis of the data and / or the model entered; and d) output of the determined material and / or time requirements.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, which also includes the transfer of data from a program which can be executed on a computer.

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, d a d u r c h g e k e n e z e i c h n e t, that step a) includes entering a proposed type of coverage and / or a proposed covering direction and / or a container pitch and / or a sorting and / or an edge type.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that ß in step c) all layers, roof surfaces, roof edges and roof points of the model are checked for an assignment of services, and the services are assigned accordingly if necessary.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, d a d u rc h g e ke n n z e i c h n et, d a ß in step c) both working hours required on a construction site and working hours required in a workshop, which are to be completed for the completion or partial completion of the roof, are estimated.

6. The method of claim 5, d a d u r c h g e ke n n e e e c h n e t, that the working hours required on the construction site and in the workshop, as well as, if necessary, project-related additional times can be estimated or determined separately from one another.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, d a d u r c h g e k e n n e e c h n e t, d a ß in step c) technical rules or laying instructions for the respective coverage and / or manufacturer-related information flow into the determination of the material and / or time required.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, d a d u r c h g e k e n n e e e c h n e t, d a ß in step c) continue to determine the costs of the services required for execution, and that the determined costs are output in step d).

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t, d a ß step d) comprises the output of a specification.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that step c) and / or, if appropriate, a / the costs are determined automatically on the basis of data provided by a supplier and / or on the basis of Data that the user of the method makes available.

11. The method of claim 10, including the data provided by the supplier including data regarding the price of materials and / or discount data.

12. The method according to any one of claims 10 or 11, d a d u r c h g e k e n n e z e c h n e t, d a ß include the data that the user provides, a wages per unit of time and / or a desired profit margin.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, d a d u r c h g e k e n n e e c h n e t, d a ß the data that the supplier makes available, updated regularly or called up online at the time of need.

14. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, g e k e n n z e i c h n et d u rc h the following additional step: e) output of a material order and / or a measurement list.

15. The method according to claim 14, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n et, that the material order is forwarded online to a supplier.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, d a d u r c h g e ke n n z e i c h n et, d a ß include the data provided by the supplier manufacturer article numbers and / or EAN numbers.

17. Computer program which has program code for executing the method according to one of the preceding claims.

18. Device (40) for optimizing roof planning, comprising: - at least one input device (41, 42) for entering data and / or at least one model that describes a roof; - A processing device (44) which, based on the entered data and / or on the basis of the at least one model, determines a material requirement and / or work steps required for the completion of the roof and / or a time requirement for the completion or partial completion of the roof or is required for the respective work steps; and an output device (45) which outputs the determined material and / or time requirement.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, which also includes the at least one input device (41, 42) that includes an interface for the transfer of data from a program that can be executed on a computer.

20. Device according to one of claims 18 or 19, marked a storage device (46) which stores data provided by a supplier and makes this available to the processing device when required and / or a connection (49), in particular a network connection, to a storage device (48) of the supplier in order to regularly update the data provided by the supplier or to retrieve the data provided by the supplier online as required.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, d a d u r c h g e ke n n z e i c h n e t, that the connection is a connection to the Internet.

22. Device according to one of claims 18 to 21, g e ke n n z e i c h n et d u r c h a forwarding device (50) which automatically forwards the determined material requirements as an order to a / the supplier.