New U.S. BIM standard a blueprint for Canada?

The latest version of the U.S. national Building Information Modeling (BIM) standard could provide a blueprint for Canada and the international BIM community on the whole, states the chair of the Institute for BIM in Canada (IBC).

"IBC and buildingSMART Canada were pleased to be involved in this project, and we look forward to seeing its utilization in the U.S.," says Bob Hildenbrandt in a statement. "We also look forward to what its release may mean for the Canadian built environment as we move forward."

The National BIM standard — United States (NBIMS-US) Version 3 (V3) covers the full life cycle of buildings. It was developed through a consensus based approach, which included contributions from buildingSMART Canada. The amount of content has doubled from the previous version with more than 3,100 pages and was years in the making, states a release.

"It’s a major effort that has gone into this. For the better part of two years that this version took to deliver, it was time well-spent to understand and appreciate the amount of work and level of organization that goes into a publication like this," explains Susan Keenliside, chair of the buildingSMART Canada member community, and international user group representative.

"The standard is representative of just the sheer quantity of information and movement of data that occurs across the lifecycle of an asset. That’s one of the challenges that BIM is helping to address, is this information exchange across the lifecycle. What information is needed at a specific time, between specific parties for a specific outcome? It’s addressing the gaps between silos and between exchanging information."

Through the consensus based approach, building professionals from around the world had the opportunity to share their ideas. The project committee received 40 submissions, the release reads, with the committee membership voting to approve 27 for inclusion in the standard.

"The best way to recognize their efforts would be for the rest of the industry to take this standard and put it into practice," says Jeffrey Ouellette, vice-chair of the NBIMS-US V3 Project Committee, in a statement.

Keenliside says part of the task now is gauging where Canada is in terms of developing its own BIM standard.

"The point is, around the world, how do we best collaborate and build off a collective body of work, or body of knowledge, to support improved project and service delivery, and more efficient lifecycle information management of the asset with its physical and functional parts," she states.

"The trick for us here in Canada, for the chapter, is how that gets applied at the end user level. How is the industry able to use this standard? How can we facilitate content developed in Canada and submitted as ballots for future versions and what does this mean for a Canadian National BIM Standard?"

BuildingSMART Canada has created a three-question online survey to see where the industry stands on a Canadian standard and also developed the Roadmap to Lifecycle BIM for the Canadian architectural, engineering, construction, owner and operator (AECOO) industries as a resource.

Keenliside says she hopes the survey will provide valuable insight into what companies need and want.

"The question is, what value does this serve? What is really going to help the practitioner, the owner, or the person in the supply chain to apply this to their practice? That’s where this survey is really important," she explains, adding one of the questions asks respondents if a BIM standard is used in their office. "There’s a lot within an office standard that if we see it across the board, we can elevate and have it as part of a national standard or a recommended office standard framework. We’re looking for those commonalities."

For Keenliside, the standard shows true collaboration, which is something that will continue on as more information and feedback comes forward.

"It’s not meant to be a complete picture. It’s an evolving product. It’s a consensus industry-based process," she says. "From the Canadian perspective, cross border, this was important, that we’re looking at a common vision over the long-term."

For more information, visit www.buildingsmartcanada.ca.