One question of interpretation, three sets of rules and sixteen state building codes.
The question comes from the project and sounds simple: is this design good enough? The answer is in a DIN standard, is restricted by a VDE regulation and applies in the version the federal state has adopted. Anyone looking for it works through chains of cross-references, and anyone giving it over the phone usually answers from experience.
1project enquirySite management asks whether the planned design is permissible as it stands.
3sets of rulesA DIN standard, a VDE regulation and the state building code interlock.
7cross-referencesEach source points on to the next until the applicable version is settled.
2hours of researchThat is how long it takes to trace the question properly back to the source.
The project team sees the difference in how quickly questions of interpretation are answered: 55% less research time, once every statement comes with its source.
The 55% reduction in research time is this agent's headline figure. The seven cross-references to the applicable version reflect a typical route through a question of interpretation; they are not a measured value.