Pedia
BIM, in plain language
Standards, terms and workflows explained simply, with pointers to the documents to read next.
79 entries
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- 4D and 5D BIM (time and cost)WorkflowsLinking model elements to the construction programme (4D) and to quantities and cost (5D), and what each is useful for.
- Appointed partyGlossaryA party appointed by a lead appointed party to provide information, such as a consultant or specialist subcontractor.
- Appointing partyGlossaryThe ISO 19650 term for the client: the organisation that receives information about the works from those it appoints.
- Asset registerGlossaryA list of the assets an organisation maintains, with their identity, location, type and key data.
- BCF (BIM Collaboration Format)SoftwareAn open format from buildingSMART for exchanging model-based issues — with viewpoints, comments and element references — between BIM tools.
- BEP (BIM execution plan)WorkflowsThe delivery team’s plan for how it will produce, check and deliver information to meet the client’s requirements.
- BIM authoring softwareSoftwareThe main families of software used to create models — architecture, structure, services, civils and fabrication — and what to agree when teams use different ones.
- BIM coordinatorGlossaryThe role that brings models together, checks them and manages coordination issues between disciplines.
- BIM objectGlossaryA reusable model component, such as a manufacturer’s product or a generic element, with geometry and information.
- BIM usesWorkflowsThe specific purposes a model serves on a project — such as coordination, quantity take-off or handover — and why every requirement should name one.
- bSDD (buildingSMART Data Dictionary)StandardsAn online service from buildingSMART that publishes classifications, properties and their definitions, so requirements and models can refer to shared, unambiguous terms.
- CDE (common data environment)WorkflowsThe agreed source of project information, with a workflow that moves containers through work in progress, shared, published and archived.
- CDE platformsSoftwareThe software used to run a common data environment — document management, model hosting, workflows and approvals — and what to check when choosing or setting one up.
- Clash detection types (hard, clearance, duplicate)WorkflowsThe three kinds of clash test — physical overlap, insufficient clearance and duplicated elements — and what each is good for.
- Clash groupGlossaryA set of related clash results treated as one coordination problem, such as one duct run crossing several beams.
- COBieStandardsConstruction Operations Building Information Exchange — a spreadsheet-shaped format for handing over asset information to the people who run a building.
- Coordinate reference systems and EPSG codesBIM + GISHow positions on Earth are described — datums, projections and grids — and why every project should name its system with an EPSG code.
- Coordination and model checking softwareSoftwareThe tools used to federate models, run clash and rule checks, and manage issues — what they do and how they fit into the coordination cycle.
- Coordination issueGlossaryA recorded problem between models or disciplines, with an owner, status and due date, tracked until it is resolved.
- Data dropGlossaryAn older UK term for a planned delivery of information at a project stage, now called an information exchange at a milestone.
- Delivery teamGlossaryA lead appointed party together with all the appointed parties and task teams under it.
- Digital twinWorkflowsA digital representation of a physical asset that is kept in step with it through live or regular data, used to monitor, predict and decide.
- EIR (exchange information requirements)WorkflowsWhat the client needs from an appointment — which information, in what form, at which milestones — written so the delivery team can plan and price it.
- EPSG codeGlossaryA number that identifies one coordinate reference system or transformation exactly, from the EPSG registry.
- GeoreferencingBIM + GISPlacing a model in its true position on Earth — linking the model’s local coordinates to a real coordinate reference system with an origin, an angle and a scale.
- GIS and survey file formatsBIM + GISThe common open formats for geographic, survey and infrastructure data, and how each one relates to IFC and BIM workflows.
- GUID (IFC GlobalId)GlossaryThe unique identifier that every IFC object carries, which should stay the same each time a model is exported.
- HandoverGlossaryTransferring the completed works and their information from the delivery team to the client and operator.
- IDS (Information Delivery Specification)StandardsA buildingSMART standard for writing information requirements as machine-readable rules, so IFC models can be checked automatically.
- IFC (Industry Foundation Classes)SoftwareThe open, vendor-neutral data format and schema for exchanging building and infrastructure models between software.
- IFC entity (class)GlossaryA type of object defined in the IFC schema, such as IfcWall, IfcDoor or IfcSpace, which tells software what an element is.
- IFC versions and MVDs (IFC 2x3, IFC 4, IFC 4.3)SoftwareWhich IFC versions exist, what changed between them, and how model view definitions limit what an export contains.
- IfcBuildingElementProxyGlossaryThe generic IFC class used when an element has no better classification — usually a sign of a missing export mapping.
- Information containerGlossaryAny named, persistent set of information in the CDE — a model file, drawing, document, schedule or data set.
- Information container namingStandardsThe field-based naming convention for files and other containers — project, originator, volume, level, type, role and number — and why each field exists.
- Information delivery milestoneGlossaryA point in the project when information is due to be exchanged, checked and accepted.
- Information managerGlossaryThe role responsible for information management: requirements, the CDE, the BEP, plans and checks, rather than modelling itself.
- Information modelGlossaryAll the structured and unstructured information about a project or asset — not just the 3D model.
- Information protocolGlossaryThe project-specific terms for information — rights, duties, liabilities and use — incorporated into each appointment.
- Information requirements (OIR, AIR, PIR, EIR)StandardsThe four kinds of information requirement in ISO 19650 — organisational, asset, project and exchange — and how each one feeds the next.
- ISO 19650 overviewStandardsThe international series of standards for managing information over the life of a built asset using BIM — what each part covers and the ideas they share.
- Lead appointed partyGlossaryThe party appointed directly by the client that coordinates information from a whole delivery team, for example the lead designer or main contractor.
- Level of accuracy (LOA)StandardsHow closely surveyed or modelled positions match reality — the USIBD scale from LOA10 to LOA50 — and how it differs from level of development.
- Location breakdownGlossaryHow a project is divided into buildings, levels and zones, used consistently by models, programmes and cost plans.
- LOD levels (100–500) explainedStandardsThe Level of Development scale used to say how far a model element has been developed and how much it can be relied on, from conceptual 100 to field-verified 500.
- LOD vs LOINStandardsHow the Level of Development scale differs from ISO’s level of information need, and why ISO 19650 projects describe geometry, data and documents separately.
- MetadataGlossaryInformation about an information container, such as its status, revision, classification and author, stored alongside it in the CDE.
- MIDP and TIDPWorkflowsThe delivery plans in ISO 19650 — each task team’s list of information containers (TIDP) and the lead appointed party’s combined master plan (MIDP).
- Model checkingWorkflowsChecking a model against rules before it is shared or accepted — information, naming, geometry, structure and coordination — and recording the result.
- Model elementGlossaryAn object in a model that represents a physical or functional part of the asset, such as a wall, beam, pipe or space.
- Model federationWorkflowsCombining separate discipline models into one coordinated view without merging them, so each team keeps ownership of its own model.
- Model health checksWorkflowsRoutine checks of an authoring model’s condition — warnings, file size, links, unused content, worksets and set-up — that keep it fast, stable and fit to share.
- National annexGlossaryA country-specific supplement to an international standard that fills in local details, such as naming codes in ISO 19650.
- O&M informationGlossaryOperation and maintenance information handed over with a building: manuals, warranties, certificates and maintenance instructions.
- OmniClassClassificationThe North American classification system for the built environment — 15 linked tables covering facilities, spaces, elements, products, work results, roles and more.
- openBIMGlossaryAn approach to BIM based on open, vendor-neutral standards such as IFC, BCF, IDS and bSDD.
- Parameter (property)GlossaryA named value attached to an element or type in an authoring tool, such as height, fire rating or manufacturer.
- PAS 1192 and BS 1192 (the UK predecessors)StandardsThe UK documents that ISO 19650 grew from — what each covered, which parts of ISO 19650 replaced them, and why you still meet their terms.
- PIM and AIM (project and asset information models)StandardsThe two information models in ISO 19650 — the project information model built up during delivery, and the asset information model used to run the asset.
- Point clouds and scan-to-BIMWorkflowsMillions of measured 3D points captured by laser scanners or photogrammetry, and how they are turned into models of existing buildings and sites.
- Project base pointGlossaryThe point in an authoring model that serves as its local origin for design coordinates.
- Project information standardGlossaryThe project’s rules for producing information: naming, codes, classification, units, coordinates and formats.
- Property sets (Psets) and quantity setsSoftwareHow IFC groups element information into named sets of properties and quantities, the standard Pset_ and Qto_ sets, and custom sets.
- Quantity take-off (QTO)WorkflowsMeasuring quantities — counts, lengths, areas, volumes — from a model instead of drawings, and what has to be true of the model for the numbers to be trusted.
- Record model (as-built)GlossaryA model updated to show what was actually built, used as the basis for handover information.
- Responsibility matrixWorkflowsThe table that assigns who produces, checks and approves each piece of information and each information management task, at high and detailed levels.
- SchemaGlossaryThe formal definition of a data structure: which objects, attributes and relationships a format may contain.
- Security-minded approachGlossaryManaging information about sensitive assets so that it cannot be used to cause harm, as described in ISO 19650-5.
- Shared coordinatesGlossaryAn agreed coordinate system used by every model on a project, so they line up when federated.
- Shared parameterGlossaryA project-defined parameter with a fixed identity that can be used across many families, models and schedules.
- Suitability and revision codes (S1, P01, C01…)StandardsThe metadata codes that say what a container may be used for (status) and which version it is (revision), as defined in the UK National Annex to ISO 19650.
- Survey pointGlossaryA point in a model that corresponds to a known point in the real-world coordinate system, linking the model to the survey grid.
- Task teamGlossaryA group of people performing one specific task within a delivery team, such as the structural design team or a cladding subcontractor’s modellers.
- Tolerance (clash)GlossaryThe distance below which a clash test ignores an overlap, so tiny modelling overlaps are not reported.
- True north, grid north and project northGlossaryThe three norths on a project: towards the geographic pole, along the map grid, and the drawing’s convenient up direction.
- Type and instanceGlossaryThe two levels at which elements carry information: the shared definition (type) and the individual placed element (instance or occurrence).
- UniclassClassificationThe UK’s unified classification system for the built environment — tables for complexes, entities, spaces, elements, systems, products and more, with codes like Ss_25_10_30.
- ViewpointGlossaryA saved view of a model — camera position, visible and selected elements, sections — used to show exactly where an issue is.
- Work in progress (WIP)GlossaryThe CDE state in which a task team develops information before it is checked and shared with others.