Section 1: Introduces the Part 1 document and provides a guide for readers.

Chapter 1.1 Executive Summary

The National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) Committee is a committee of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Facility Information Council (FIC). The vision for NBIMS is “an improved planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance process using a standardized machine-readable information model for each facility throughout its lifecycle. The products of the Committee will be the National BIM Standard (or NBIM Standard), which includes classifications, guides, practice standards, specifications, and consensus standards.

International standards development processes and products will be recognized and incorporated so that NBIMS processes and products can be recognized as part of a unified international solution. Industry organizations working on open standards have signed the NBIMS Charter in acknowledgement of the shared interests and commitment to creation and dissemination of open, integrated, and internationally recognized standards.

Chapter 1.2 How to Read the National BIM Standard Version 1 – Part 1

This chapter is provided to help readers understand the contribution provided by each element of the Version 1 – Part 1 publication. This version of the NBIMS is not a manual for evaluating, selecting, or using Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications but it is about how to create a standard for exchanging open and interoperable building information

This document presents the need for a lifecycle view of building supply chain processes, the scope of work necessary to define and standardize information exchanges between trading partners, suggestions for a methodology to address this work, and examples of work in progress that demonstrate appropriate principles and results.

This version of the National BIM Standard is intended to help provide direction and, frankly, add some quality control to what is produced and called a BIM. The effort is not intended to slow the process of BIM implementation but to reduce the risk of a BIM being a proprietarily defined product, which will likely reduce the sustainability of information for the life of the facility.