As soon as you try and get into BIM you’ll quickly come up against all kinds of big words
and terminology that can throw you. This video is your way-in, your cheat card and your reference
sheet; preparing you for the daunting new world and helping you actually understand
what is going on in those important meetings that you go to.
Now my colleague Tom has already counted down the Top 10 BIM Acronyms but that was acronyms
and this is words. You might also have been distracted in that video by his facial, beard,
thing. No chance of that here.
First up is Information Model.
Within a building information modelling (BIM) process, project teams contribute information
and data about a proposed built asset in a shared digital space called a common data
environment (CDE).
The digital information contributed could include specifications, schedules, performance
requirements, programmes, cost plans and so on, and of course some drawings.
Those drawings are created in 3D by different members of the project team in private. They
are then put together into one 3D model to check that they co-ordinate, before being
shared with the wider project team.
The information we mentioned earlier (the non-graphical information) is linked to the
graphical 3D model. When you explore and click on different parts of the 3D representation,
you’ll be able to access the information about it. Clicking on a door for example might
give you information on its manufacturer, cost, performance level, lead-time and when
it will need replacing.
The whole thing is known as an information model. So when you hear people say building
information model or BIM model – this is what they mean.
Next up is Data Set …and this is reasonably straight-forward as it is another term for
the information model we have just described. The model formed of graphical and non-graphical
information in its entirety is known as a data set. It will build in richness as more
information and details are added over a building’s life-span.
Next we have Federate …which is a particularly serious sounding word for the reasonably simple
concept of putting those different information models together into one.
For the graphical information you do this using a software tool, making sure that the
separate models you are federating (i.e. putting together) have been created to the same scale
and co-ordinates. The non-graphical information comes over with each graphical model too.
The entire thing is then known as a federated model and is shared in the common data environment.
At BIM Level 2 this enables different members of the design team to work on their elements
before overlaying them together to undertake clash detection and pick up issues with co-ordination
before heading to site. It also gives all parties one clear source of structured information
rather than lots of different pieces from many different people.
And that’s it. Federating is just the process of bringing two or more models together, bringing
things together. You might like to federate with your friends at the weekend for example.
If you thought federate was a bit of a geeky word then get a load of this one: Interoperability.
Yes it’s a real word, yes you might hear people using it. In basic terms it means the
ease with which different software programs talk to each other. So if you create a document
using one piece of software in your office, how easily can it be shared and opened by
somebody using a different piece of software in their office?
In a BIM environment, with lots of different people creating different pieces of digital
information that all need to come together, its key to work out file interoperability
from the outset.
For example if your three different designers create their models in three different types
of software and then federate them in a fourth type of software before sharing them with
you, you need to ensure that files can be exchanged, opened, viewed and interrogated
easily between all the platforms and that pieces of data are not lost or corrupted in
the process.
The standardised Industry Foundation Classes (or IFC) file format developed by Building
Smart has helped hugely with this. Most model authoring software tools give you the ability
to save things in IFC format – a common language that all other software types can
read.
Next we have The Originator.
And whilst it might sound like the bad guy in a Batman film, it simply means the person
or organisation that created a specific piece of digital information in the first place.
So if you created a piece of model data and it went on to form part of a federated model
in a common data environment, for that piece of digital information you are known as The
Originator.
Next we have Attribute Data.
Earlier on we spoke about non-graphical information being linked and referenced to a graphical
3D model. We highlighted that you could select a door then see all kinds of information about
it. Well that information is known as its attributes and is hence called attribute data.
Attribute data about all kinds of different elements and systems in a project forms part
of what is known in overall terms as non-graphical data.
We saved perhaps the techiest term to last; Data Drop.
All this means is the process of presenting fixed information at a given point or milestone
in a project; for example when submitting planning permission or at handover. The British
Standard guidance document PAS 1192-2 highlights a number of points in the project process
were sets of information can be extracted from the information model. These are what
we call data-drops.
Now we have chosen to tackle the big terms here but of course there are many more out
there. If there are some that are really leaving you stumped comment below, let us know and
we’ll have a go at answering them.