Foreword

buildingSMART International Limited is an international non-for-profit association of regional and national buildingSMART chapters.

The vision of buildingSMART is:

Sustainability by building SMARTER
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The mission of buildingSMART is:

Contribute to the sustainable built environment through SMARTER information sharing and communication using open international standards in the building and construction sector, private and public.
     

The association's values are:

  • Neutral and independent, and therefore not beholden to any group or company, whether software suppliers, building companies, architects or others, or indeed governments;
  • Open and transparent, because the processes by which bSI operates need to be clear and understood by all to demonstrate its independence and neutrality;
  • A not-for-profit organisation, meaning that any profits it might make from commercial or quasi-commercial activities are used for non-commercial purposes such as developing standards.
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The association's goals in pursuit of its mission are:

  • To develop and maintain open international standards for Building Information Modelling (open BIM);
  • To accelerate market assimilation of interoperability through successful sustainable projects;
  • To provide networking opportunities, specifications and written guidance;
  • To resolve high cost problems that hinder data sharing,
  • To extend buildingSMART processes and technology to the whole built environment, over its lifecycle, and encompassing leadership, production, facilities management and engineering maintenance.
  

buildingSMART develops open standards for Building Information Modeling, openBIM. The standards deal with data models, processes and terms. The Industry Foundation Classes IFC specification constitutes buildingSMART's specification for the buildingSMART data model. Property terms, defined in IFC, are linked to terms defined in the buildingSMART data dictionary (IFD).

buildingSMART liaises with the International Standardization Organization ISO, regional and national standardization bodies for developing international, regional and national standards. The Industry Foundation Classes IFC specification is registered as ISO 16739 and, in its current form IFC4 RC3, it is submitted as a separate documentation format to be accepted as an ISO Draft International Standard DIS. Submission is made to the Technical Committee ISO TC184/SC4, Industrial automation systems and integration, Subcommittee SC4 Industrial data.