BuildingSMART Moves Toward Standards for BIM Management

The role of BIM (building information modeling) means many things to many different people in construction. In some respects that is precisely the challenge with BIM—no clear definition on the process or the ways in which technology fits in at different parts of that process.

Trimble, www.sunnyvale.com, Calif., is one such company looking to take a leadership approach in helping the construction industry get its arms around the concept of BIM. The company, which spearheaded the BIM to Field alliance in late 2010, announced late last week it has joined the buildingSMART alliance, www.buildingsmartalliance.org, Washington, D.C.

The buildingSMART alliance leads technical, political, and financial support for use of advanced digital technology associated in the construction industry. Operating within the National Institute of Building Sciences, www.nibs.org, Washington, D.C., the alliance leads the development and promotion of open data standards in effort to establish best practices around information management in the digital age of construction. (Construtech.com)