Data Pools and PIM in Construction: Building a Better Product Data Architecture

Ask a builders’ merchant how product data arrives from suppliers and the honest answer is usually “it depends”. A spreadsheet from one supplier, a PDF from another, a website to copy from for a third. Manufacturers have the same problem in reverse, filling in a different template for every merchant they sell through.

Data pools in construction exist to fix that. Data Yard, the industry-owned data pool set up by the BMF and NMBS, gives the sector one template. Manufacturers publish once, and authorised merchants and buying groups draw the same record.

That is real progress. It has also raised a fair question from merchants and manufacturers: if the industry has a data pool, do you still need a PIM? Yes, because the two do different jobs. The useful part is how they fit together, and where the sector’s own numbers say the work sits.

The figures here come from The State of Product Data in UK Construction 2026, independent research by MRA Research for Pimberly with 80 senior decision-makers at UK builders’ merchants and building materials manufacturers. Download the full report.

What a data pool does

A data pool collects product data from many manufacturers and holds it in one agreed structure. Construction products carry technical attributes, performance data, compliance documents and installation guidance. Historically, every merchant has asked for them in its own shape.

Data Yard’s answer is a single Product Data Standardisation Template, aligned to GS1 and ETIM. Manufacturers publish to it once and decide which merchants and buying groups can see their data. Authorised merchants download it free when they list a range or answer a customer query. Data Yard checks the structure on the way in, and accountability for accuracy stays with the manufacturer at source.

That removes a lot of duplicated effort on both sides. Martin Balaam, Pimberly’s founder and CEO, called the BMF and Data Yard initiatives “absolutely spot on” in episode one of our podcast, and went further:

“My view is that every industry should have a data pool. It should be the minimum standard… The data pool for transactional stuff, fantastic. It cuts out a lot of effort. But then your effort needs to be in… how do you make sure that your products are surfaced first.”

Martin Balaam, Founder and CEO, Pimberly

The second half of that quote is where a PIM comes in.

Where the work actually sits

Most product data effort happens after the data arrives. On average, businesses lose 26 hours a week managing and fixing product data. 51% name integrating supplier data as a challenge. Only 30% manage product data centrally, while 68% run it across several systems.

A data pool helps with supplier data. The rest sits inside each business. Once a merchant has downloaded a manufacturer’s record, someone still has to:

• create the product, or fill the gaps in an existing one
• add the content its own trade customers search and buy by
• decide who can change what, and who signs it off
• send the right version to the website, branches, trade counter, B2B portal and marketplaces
• keep certificates, declarations and safety documents current

56% of respondents name sharing product data with customers and partners as a challenge. That challenge sits entirely downstream of the data pool.

Coverage is the other limit. Not every supplier publishes to Data Yard yet, so the rest still send spreadsheets and portal submissions. Without one place to bring both together, a business ends up running two processes where it needs one.

What a PIM adds

A PIM is the central source of truth for product data inside each business. It takes Data Yard downloads alongside vendor portal submissions, supplier feeds and ERP data, and holds one governed record per product. The team enriches that record for the people buying, a named owner approves it, and the PIM publishes it once to every channel.

ERP holds some of this, but it was built for transactions, stock and pricing rather than channel-ready content. More on that in PIM vs ERP for construction product data.

How data pools and PIM fit together

In construction, the data pool sits in the middle of the supply chain, between two businesses that both need to manage product data well. Follow a product record from manufacturer to merchant and there are two handovers.

The first happens at the manufacturer. Its PIM collects data from ERP, PLM, specification documents and component suppliers, and checks completeness before anything goes to Data Yard. A data pool sends whatever you publish to every merchant you authorise, gaps included. Getting the record right before it leaves the business matters more once a data pool is involved.

The second happens at the merchant. Data Yard data creates new products or fills gaps in existing ones, and the merchant’s PIM gets the record ready for every channel it sells through.

The ERP route at the foot of that diagram works for basic transactional data. It reaches its limit when a business wants to sell those products well online, or serve customers who expect more than a description and a price.

Martin’s point about being surfaced first applies here. If every merchant downloads the same standard record, that record no longer sets anyone apart. Search, alternatives, accessories, related products and content written for the trade buyer all sit on top of it. We saw the same pattern in IT distribution, where PIM and data pools work as two layers of one architecture.

Why it matters now

Two pressures are pushing construction product data up the agenda. The first is regulation. 96% of respondents are familiar with CCPI, yet only 29% are completely confident they are ready for it. For the Digital Product Passport, the figures are 95% and 22%. Callum Budd, Research Director at MRA Research, who ran the study, described the gap on the same podcast:

“Getting to that point and being operationally ready is completely different to seeing it on the horizon.”

Callum Budd, Research Director, MRA Research

A data pool improves the evidence available at source. Producing compliance information in the format a customer or regulator asks for, and keeping it current, remains each business’s job.

The second pressure is how trade customers buy. 80% of respondents put e-commerce in their top five investment priorities, with product information management close behind at 73%. Yet 42% still have no PIM in place. Selling online at scale needs product data that each business owns and controls, whatever its source.

A better product data architecture for UK construction

Data pools are improving the supply of product data into the sector, and that helps everyone in it. Merchants spend less time chasing suppliers. Manufacturers spend less time filling in a different template for every merchant.

What a business does with that data is still its own decision. The merchants and manufacturers that get most from Data Yard will treat it as one part of their product data architecture. Alongside it sits a PIM: the central source of truth for product data that the rest of the business runs on.

Pimberly is an active member of the BMF Product Data Standardisation Committee, which helps shape the product data standards used across the sector.

Pimberly + Data Yard: See how the two work together

Our datasheets set out the combined flow for each side of the supply chain, and what changes for the business once both are in place.