ARCHArchitecture & intelligence
A domain-aware architecture for connected decision-making.
DVA's architectural approach combines governed data integration, construction-domain modelling, knowledge relationships, deterministic rules and AI-assisted reasoning. It is designed to work with existing systems of record rather than require an organisation to replace its established technology investments.
01Construction ontology
A drawing revision, an RFI, a procurement order and a construction activity may be related, but those relationships are rarely visible in one place.
A construction ontology provides a shared way to represent projects, spaces, work packages, assets, documents, activities, organisations and their relationships.
DVA uses this approach to establish meaningful connections between information held in different systems, while preserving source evidence and distinguishing verified relationships from assumptions.
02Layered architecture
Select a layer to see what it does and how one fictional scenario passes through it: a chilled-water installation where a tender, a drawing revision, an RFI and a purchase order may or may not affect each other.
DVA can work as a federated intelligence layer across several authoritative systems, rather than one giant database that replaces them. Whether to build a central repository or data lake is your decision, made after a review of rights, data locality and security.
DVA's intelligence architecture can be designed around existing enterprise data and AI platforms, selected specialist applications or a combination of approved technologies. The result is a client-specific approach to connecting information, investigating operational constraints and supporting decisions within the organisation's governance requirements.
Enterprise platforms are architectural options for your environment, not DVA partnerships.
03Governance
Source provenance, permissions, project boundaries, uncertainty and human approval are designed into every proposed workflow, not added at the end.
Every record keeps its source system, record ID, time and revision. You can always open the original.
Only sources you have authorised, seen only by users allowed to see them. A source without granted rights is quarantined, not used.
Records stay inside the projects and companies they belong to.
Candidate, ambiguous and unknown links are labelled. Where there is no evidence, no link is drawn.
No autonomous approvals, bids, purchases or professional judgements. A named reviewer approves, rejects or asks for more evidence.
A record being real doesn't make a link real. A link doesn't prove a consequence. A suspected consequence isn't a calculated impact. And none of it is a decision until someone authorised makes it.
| State | What it means | In the demo scenario Fictional |
|---|---|---|
| 1Verified record identity | The record is what it says it is: source, ID and revision confirmed. | PO-1007 is confirmed in the procurement system. |
| 2Verified relationship | Explicit source evidence links two records. | The schedule's material requirement for ACT-MECH-20 cites PO-1007. |
| 3Suspected consequence | Something might be affected. It's flagged for review, not asserted. | RFI-021 and PO-1007 both concern Level 3 chilled-water items, but neither cites the other. Candidate only. |
| 4Specialist-calculated impact | A specialist tool or qualified person has calculated the effect. | Not yet: quantity, schedule and cost impacts of drawing M-204 Rev C wait for the estimator and planner. |
| 5Authorised decision | A named person with the right permission has decided. | Pending: a manager chooses between the bid and staffing options. |
Every decision ends at a person
04Integrations
Specialist vendors and the systems you own keep their domain authority. We connect them only where your contracts, licences and the vendor's terms allow it.
A direct connection, used when both you and the vendor permit it and the API rights are confirmed.
Registers, reports and spreadsheets exported from the system that owns them, on an agreed schedule.
Inboxes, shared folders and site records you authorise, for teams starting from email and Excel.
Tender inquiries, PDFs, Excel, shared file storage
Drawing registers, revisions, RFIs, submittals
Element identities, zones, model revisions
Accepted quantities, BOQ items, labour-hour assumptions
Activities, dependencies, milestones, lookaheads
Purchase orders, deliveries, supplier confirmations
Inspections, progress records, defects, site photos
Crews, skills, assignments, capacity
These are technology categories, not partners or live integrations. How a technology moves from "under evaluation" to "implemented" or "partner".
05Engagement model
Every engagement starts the same way: an introductory discovery, a scoped diagnostic, then a measured pilot. Behind those three steps is a five-stage ladder, climbed one workflow at a time. You can stop after any stage with something useful in hand.
A 30-minute call about one decision your team finds hard to make today, and the systems and records behind it.
Before stage 01
One workflow examined end to end, ending in a workflow map, a systems and data inventory, a measurable baseline and a pilot proposal.
Stages 01 Discover · 02 Design
One bounded workflow on agreed connectors, with exception detection and decision briefs, measured against the baseline.
Stages 03 Connect · 04 Intelligence
After a pilot, stage 05 Enable & Improve covers training, operating procedures and further workflows. Scope, timing and fees are agreed in writing before each step. Results depend on your systems, data access and pilot validation, and aren't guaranteed.
Begin from authorised email, Excel, DWG/PDF, file storage and simple site records. Structured data and specialist tools come in only where ROI and tender requirements justify them.
Integrate the BIM/CDE, estimating, scheduling, ERP, procurement and field tools you already license into one governed management view. Each application stays the source of truth.
Follow one fictional chilled-water scenario from source records to a decision a named person approves.