We prioritize integrity to build trust between businesses and the communities they serve. We embrace innovative solutions and digital efficiency to provide superior testing, inspection and certification services. We also proud to collaborate on some of the world’s most exciting projects—projects that make a tangible impact society and our everyday lives.

PERSPECTIVES

Shanghai Planetarium

Using industry-leading architectural modeling, we're envisioning the world's largest planetarium from the ground up, so more people can reach the stars.

A STAR IS BORN: HOW BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING IS HELPING TO BUILD SHANGAI PLANETARIUM

Planetariums not only help us understand our place in the universe — they also present complex architectural and design challenges that require forward-thinking solutions. That’s why Shanghai Planetarium partnered with Bureau Veritas to implement its building information modeling (BIM) management services from conception on.

Slated to open in 2020, Shanghai Planetarium will become the world’s largest planetarium. It is presently under construction and will serve as a museum, observatory, educational center and cultural landmark, offering visitors insight into everything from the historical achievements of Chinese astronomy to the future of the national space exploration program.

Recognized with an international award for its design, Shanghai Planetarium’s oval-shaped structure reflects the astronomical orbits of planetary bodies, while its impressive dome spans more than 387,000 square feet. But the design’s curved surfaces and massive scope pose challenges for construction.

To address these challenges and ensure successful execution BIM, or building information modeling technology, has proven key. BIM technology and management services assist in large-scale building and infrastructure projects. Shanghai Planetarium relied on BIM management services provided by Bureau Veritas for the full life cycle of its construction.

In the design phase, BIM creates functional digital simulations for everything from evacuation route planning to the understanding of outdoor wind environments. Envisioning the details of design prior to breaking ground minimizes architectural changes, shortens construction time and helps manage construction-site safety. BIM collaboration offers centralized building data, which also increases efficiency in the operation and maintenance phases.

China actively promotes collaborative BIM technology for the development and construction of large-scale building and infrastructure projects, notably through the creation of the BIM Center of Expertise, which assisted in the Shanghai Planetarium project.

The project was recognized with the RICS Annual Best BIM Application Award of 2018.

AI Augmented Labs

Meet Charles, the Artificial Intelligence digitally assisting lab technicians, performing hundreds of thousands of tests more safely and accurately than ever before.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCES LABORATORY TESTING WITH THE LAUNCH OF BUREAU VERITAS’S AUGMENTED LABS

The latest innovation in laboratory testing services has arrived. Meet Charles, the AI behind the Augmented Labs at Bureau Veritas.

Testing services help a variety of industries meet essential regulatory and quality assurance standards, ensuring peace of mind for businesses and consumers alike. As technology advances, testing must keep pace.

Bureau Veritas, which offers testing services at more than 400 laboratories worldwide, has been at the forefront of this movement with the creation and implementation of Augmented Labs. These labs use digital assistants, or Artificial Intelligence (AI), to help technicians analyze data samples. The AI program CHARLES®, designed in partnership with Microsoft and its Azure platform, serves as the forerunner for the launch of Bureau Veritas’s AI Augmented Labs.

AI improves laboratory testing in two major ways. First, it accelerates the testing process, analyzing thousands of data points faster than the trained human eye. Since much of the data analysis performed in laboratory testing is repetitive and time-consuming, doling out simpler tasks to AI makes analysis quicker and easier. This allows lab technicians to focus on more sensitive testing issues - such as analyzing abnormal or critical samples, those of greatest concern to clients - and thereby offer more useful insights and recommendations.

Secondly, AI has the power to learn as it works, so as to recognize sample patterns more quickly and accurately over time - which is crucial for testing services. Because machine learning is not rule-based, but factors in correlations and permutations, it retains the flexibility to allow for various interpretations.

Having already processed thousands of samples, Charles renders reports with a high degree of confidence. 

Charles and similar AI programs address concerns relevant to a variety of sectors. For instance, the mining industry relies on testing services in mineral sector exploration to determine the chemical properties of their ore. “Artificial intelligence enables Bureau Veritas to predict mineralogical composition, in addition to chemical and physical properties of samples with a simple infrared spectrophotoscopy test, at just a fraction of the original cost” says Global Technician Manager Dr. John Carter. “The process uses the same sample already being submitted to the laboratory for other routine test work.” Thus AI-assisted minerals testing can save valuable time while reducing expenses.

Originally, the Charles AI program—developed in Atlanta, Georgia, and named in honor of a Senior Data Analysts who devoted over forty years to working with Bureau Veritas—began monitoring oil conditions for industrial fleets. It scanned lubricant samples taken from trucks, loaders and mechanical diggers for potential risks—such as the presence of wear or contamination —to ensure client machinery remained in optimal working condition. With the introduction of AI, the Atlanta lab could analyze upwards of 400,000 samples each year.

What’s more, the success of Charles is replicable. Data scientists are presently working to scale and deploy its AI technology—with Charles serving as the template for the development of additional AI programs. With a strong and growing presence of Augmented Labs, Bureau Veritas will continue to provide high-quality assessment services to even more businesses, which translates to safer food, a cleaner environment and more reliably and efficiently tested consumer products.

Roland Garros, Home of The French Open

From a retractable roof installation to an expanded seating plan, we are helping this landmark Paris stadium bring the next generation of tennis fans a modernized sports experience.

A GRAND SLAM IN THE MAKING: BREAKING GROUND ON THE NEW ROLAND GARROS

The French Open’s legendary tennis stadium gets a $400 million modern makeover, with the help of technical and regulatory oversight from Bureau Veritas.

Roland Garros, named after the respected aviator and home of the French Open, is a Parisian treasure. Its famous clay courts set the standard for those who “play on clay” so much so that top-tier clay courts around the world have come to be recognized as honorary “Roland Garros” clubs themselves.

The other three Grand Slam tournament courts - Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open - received upgrades in recent years. To remain a competitive host, Roland Garros invested in overhauling its infrastructure. The project, overseen by Bureau Veritas, aims to respect the tradition of the venerable stadium, without sacrificing the amenities expected by contemporary sports enthusiasts. Construction plans include expanding from 850 to 1,250 acres into the neighboring botanical garden, adding an extra 2,500 seats and installing a retractable roof.

The new retractable roof can fully open or close over the Philippe-Chatrier court in 15 minutes. This will allow matches to continue in inclement weather.

Complete with lighting equipment for night games and spanning 330 feet, the retractable roof posed logistical challenges. Structures to buttress the massive roof could not be on the courts, where they would obstruct play.

According to Thierry Lamadon, Technical Director of Bureau Veritas Construction, the company overseeing technical control of the Roland Garros project: “It is obviously not possible to plant poles in the middle of the court. The project participants must therefore ensure the stability of the works with little support.”

Furthermore, to compensate for the weight of the new roof - which is several thousand tons - the courts’ foundations required strengthening. Temperature fluctuations, which could lead to the expansion or contraction of building materials, as well as variations in wind speed could affect design, construction and visitor safety. "Gusts must not generate unpleasant vibrations for the spectators, as has been seen elsewhere" said Philippe Hostalery, Project Manager at Bureau Veritas Construction.

"For the roof to unfold properly” commented Hassan Mirdas, Head of Activity at Bureau Veritas Construction, “all the mechanisms must work together.”

If all goes according to plan, 2019 will mark the last French Open at Roland Garros without a retractable roof.