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March 13, 2007

Contacts: Robert Miller, 202-289-7800 or 202-631-7124, rmiller@nibs.org

National BIM Standard Version 1, Part 1 - Out for Industry Review

Washington, DC.  The first version of the National Building Information Modeling Standard™(NBIMS) was released for a two month industry review period today.  The document titled “National Building Information Modeling Standard Version 1.0 – Part 1:  Overview, Principles, and Methodologies” provides the capital facilities industry with its first comprehensive look at the full scope of requirements for Building Information Modeling (BIM).  The review period will span from March 12, 2007, until May 21, 2007.  Those interested in reviewing the document can obtain it from the NIBS National BIM Standard™ web site.  This document is the first to be issued under the new NIBS buildingSMART^® Alliance initiative announced February 27, 2007.   

The NBIMS will provide the diverse capital facilities industry with a vision of how to support and facilitate communications throughout the facility lifecycle, from project inception through design and construction, even past demolition for improved operations, maintenance, facility management, and long-term sustainability.   

The document was assembled by over thirty subject matter experts from across the capital facilities industry.  It provides both a snapshot of where this burgeoning capability exists today as well as identifies work still needing to be accomplished.  This first part of Version 1.0, which is now out for review, will be followed by Part 2 at the end of the year.  Part 2 will contain items to be standardized across the industry using the NIBS congressionally authorized consensus process.  

The NBIMS has six goals: 1) Seek industry wide agreement, 2) Develop an open and shared standard, 3) Facilitate discovery and requirements for sharing information throughout the facility lifecycle, 4) Develop and distribute knowledge that helps share information that is machine readable, 5) Define a minimum BIM, and 6) Provide for information assurance for BIM throughout the facility lifecycle.  As an initiative under the buildingSMART® Alliance, it is garnering support form the widest spectrum of associations, agencies, organizations, vendors, and individual practitioners ever assembled.  

Deke Smith, the NBIMS Project Committee Chairman stated that “this open standard will allow us to take full advantage of worldwide BIM developments and also to ensure the United States remains competitive in the world capital facilities market.”   

Created as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to spur new building technologies and processes through research and education, NIBS is charged with helping to improve building construction and operation to benefit all Americans.

Additional Collateral
The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), headquartered in Washington, DC, is the building community's authoritative national source of knowledge and advice on matters of building regulation, science and technology. The Facility Information Council (FIC), one of six active NIBS councils, is host to both the US National CAD Standard and the US National BIM Standard Committees. FIC provides industry-wide support for the development, standardization, and integration of computer technologies and software to ensure the improved performance of the entire life cycle of facilities from design, engineering and construction through operation, maintenance and retirement phases.

BIM Working Definition
A Building Information Model, or BIM, utilizes cutting edge digital technology to establish a computable representation of all the physical and functional characteristics of a facility and its related project/life-cycle information, and is intended to be a repository of information for the facility owner/operator to use and maintain throughout the life-cycle of a facility.

NBIMS Committee Mission Statement
The mission of the National BIM Standard Project Committee is to improve the performance of facilities over their full life-cycle by fostering a common, standard and integrated life-cycle information model for the A/E/C and Facilities Management industry. This information model will allow for the free flow of graphic and non-graphic information among all parties to the process of creating and sustaining the built environment, and will work to coordinate U.S. efforts with related activities taking place internationally.