BIM acronyms: a useful BIM vocabulary (from I to Z)

Let’s find out what all the BIM acronyms mean. A useful BIM vocabulary for all those professionals and students who encounter these terms daily (Part 2)

In our last article regarding the BIM terminology and related acronyms, we addressed the first group from letters A-H. Today’s post completes this useful vocabulary of terms from letter I to Z.

BIM Acronyms

IAI

International Alliance of Interoperability – An acronym that isn’t used very often if not by the current “building SMART International” association. Derived from the association’s initial name (“Industry Alliance of Interoperability” – 1995), it then moved on to becoming the “International Alliance of Interoperability” following a first change in the association’s name in 1996. (See article “BIM and Software Interoperability“)

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

IDM

Information Delivery Manual – Developed by buildingSMART International, it is a methodology for defining processes and related information flows throughout the lifecycle of a construction.

IFC

Industry Foundation Classes – structured data model (edited by building SMART International), object oriented, open, public and independent from any software vendor. ISO 16739 is the most widely used data exchange format between BIM applications.

IFD

International Framework for Dictionaries – Developed by buildingSMART International, it is an international dictionary whose purpose is to uniquely clarify definitions and their meanings of entities, products and processes in the construction industry.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization – International, Non-Governmental and Independent Entity, established in London in 1946; Its Central Secretariat is based in Geneva. ISO is a network composed exclusively of national standardization bodies, one for each country, and currently has 163 members. – www.iso.org

IT

Information Technology

ITC

Information Technologies in Construction – Information Technologies in the Construction Industry

LOD

Level Of Definition//Development – A commonly used acronym, including Layer Detail Level (LOD) and Layer Information Level (LOI). In other words, the level of development is defined both on the basis of graphical and non-graphical attributes.

LOD

Level Of Detail – Determines the Model’s graphical content at every prerequisite of its development.

LOI

Level Of Information – Indicates the model’s non-graphical content at each expected stage of its development.

MEP

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing – Expression commonly used internationally to indicate planting aspects in civil engineering interventions.

MVD

Model View Definition – Developed by buildingSMART International and its international certification object, the “Model View” defines a subset of the IFC format that needs to be implemented in software to meet the data exchange requirements of a defined process or activity, described nn the “Information Exchange Handbook” (IDM). (See “BIM and IFC: Software Interoperability and buildingSMART International“).

NBIMS-US

National BIM Standards – United States – US Guidelines , drafted by the NBIMS-US Project Commitee, an initiative of buildingSMART Alliance, in turn one of the committees of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

NIBS

National Institute of Building Science – The National Institute of Building Science is a US non-governmental organization approved by the US Congress in 1974. The institute is based in Washington D.C. And brings together government, industry, consumer and consumer representatives with the goal of identifying and solving problems or potential problems that hinder the construction of safe, affordable housing, industry and trade buildings. The institute is organized in a series of permanent councils and commissions, including “building SMART Alliance” – www.nibs.org

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology – United States Department of Commerce Agency. Frequently mentioned for a document, issued in August 2004 (Cost Analysis of Inadequate Interoperability in the US Capital Facilities Industry) on the cost of inadequate interoperability between the various industries in the US construction industry, mentioned in numerous seminars and conferences regarding BIM in order to support the financial benefits deriving from its adoption. – www.nist.gov

OPEX

Operational Expenditure – Operating Expenses. For an economic operator it is the cost you need to manage a product, a business or a system. In other words, this is the O&M (Operation and Maintenance) costs, ie operating and management costs.

PAS

Publically Available Specification – British standards edited at a public assessment stage, and issued to provide a quick response to specific needs of defined production sectors. The 1192 Series of PAS (Part 2, 3, 4, 5), conceived as development and evolution of BS 1192:2007 + A3:2016, were published in response to the British government’s need to implement the BIM methodology in the national construction industry. They are freely downloadable from https://bim-level2.org/en/standards/

PIM

Project Information Model – Within the BIM process, the various project teams create their information models that are enhanced by the progress of the project phases, up to delivery of the complete model (model federation) to the owner or end user. The data model assumes the name of “Building Information Model” or PIM during the design and construction phase.