Putting a Basis of Design and Analysis (BoDA) at the heart of every project

Fathom develops and follows a BoDA for every project, and that is enshrined as one of the most important components of our ISO 9001 compliant Design Process. Why is this document so important to us?

The answer is simple. We hate wasted effort and always strive for the most effective solution to meet project budgets and expectations. A BoDA allows us to clearly define the requirements we must achieve and provides a tool to develop validation criteria allowing us to track compliance throughout the design and analysis process phases.

It starts from a definition of what the system/assembly/part in discussion truly is, stating its purpose and necessary parameters to ensure functional and operational expectations. This then allows us to develop a set of normative references to adhere to for maximum safety. Prior to developing load cases, we work on the operational sequence to ensure that no case has been missed.

Having an understanding of the entire operation we are ready to develop the limit states for the system in question with the support of normative references. Load cases are further developed along with the necessary factors as per the analysis/design codes. Those are normally accompanied by a reference to our Engineering Code of Practice (ECoP) to suggest the execution method.

BoDA is always concluded by a clearly defined checklist of validity criteria that is updated every design process step – ensuring compliance through all phases to avoid back tracking and rework.

Another benefit of a well developed and robust BoDA is that it can be used as an effective tool of communication with our clients and regulatory bodies enabling discussion and thorough understanding for everyone involved at the earliest project phases.  By keeping everyone on the same page throughout we can cut down on design iterations, verification costs and ensure successful cooperation to meet client requirements.