The First Version of the National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) is Released for Review

The first version of the National Building Information Modeling Standard™ (NBIMS) was released for a 2-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, through May 21, 2007. Those interested in reviewing the document can obtain it from the NIBS National BIM Standard™ website. This document is the first to be issued under the new NIBS buildingSMART® Alliance initiative announced Feb. 27, 2007.

The NBIMS will provide the diverse capital facilities industry with a vision of how to support and facilitate communications throughout the facility life-cycle, 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 30 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 (National Institute of Building Sciences) 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 life-cycle, 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 life-cycle. 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, NBIMS Project Committee Chairman, states that “this open standard will allow us to take full advantage of worldwide BIM developments and also to ensure that the United States remains competitive in the world capital facilities market.”

This information was provided by and reprinted with permission from the Washington, D.C.-based National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), a national source of knowledge and advice on matters of building regulation, science, and technology. 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.