BSI joins NIBS BIM Council

July 6, 2021

This membership allows BSI to participate as the National Institute of Building Sciences helps to develop a national Building Information Modeling (BIM) program for the US

BSI, the business improvement and standards company, has become a member of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) BIM (Building Information Modelling) Council. The Council will help develop a national BIM program for the US that aligns with international standards.

The BIM Council is one of eight NIBS councils with the mission to lead the development and deployment of broadly adopted national information management standards and processes.

BIM is well established outside the US, in countries such as the UK, and supported by the international standard, ISO 19650-1:2018 – Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modeling (BIM) — Information management using building information modeling.

Recently, NIBS and the UK’s Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to adapt the UK program model and materials as a guide for a US roadmap to encourage greater adoption of ISO 19650 as a best practice and industry benchmark.

“We’re delighted the NIBS and CDBB have signed an MoU to work together on this important undertaking. This partnership represents a step forward in the development of the US National Building Information Management (BIM) program,” said Joe Muratore, Americas Director Product Certification, BSI.

“The US built environment sector has adopted BIM best practice to a degree, however the standardization rate remains low,” said Andy Butterfield, Managing Director, Built Environment, BSI. “ This new US program will align with ISO 19650, the international standard for BIM, and will help move the US industry forward. We’re excited to be a part of the process and look forward to working on this exciting project.”

BIM has been in the US building construction market for about two decades having been more heavily used in the past ten years. The challenge the MoU and BIM Council hope to address is the proliferation of standards and requirements throughout the industry. Many owners, federal, state and private, have developed their own BIM standards with variations between them. One example of this is the Level of Development standards; in her study published in 2016, Marzia Bolpagni identified 28 different LOD standards internationally. The development of a cohesive US program will lead to a greater level of adoption of ISO 19650 and cohesiveness.

For more information about ISO 19650, click here.

- ENDS