1. What is BIM?

BIM is most recognizable as a product and collaborative process.

As a product, BIM becomes a Building Information Model – a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility, forming a reliable basis for decisions during the facility’s lifecycle from inception onward[1]. A Building Information Model includes 2D and 3D computer graphics enriched with non-graphic attribute information describing the components of the design. It may be requested as a project contract deliverable, provided during facility handover, and used for operations.

As a collaborative process, BIM becomes Building Information Modeling – a process by which a group of designers, contractors, material suppliers, and facility owners work together, sharing information about the project. Advanced BIM offerings provide a collaborative process featuring an increased depth of information modeling – beyond design visualization to performance simulation, optioneering, and operational immersion – and increased breadth of information mobility, facilitating collaboration among multiple project disciplines from design through construction and operations.

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