Based on an experimental standard in France, standard NF EN ISO 23386 relating to the semantics used in Building Information Modelling (BIM) goes international. With these digital catalogues of objects and materials, building professionals will be able to easily understand each other! BIM, or Building Information Modelling, is a digital process that gives building professionals the opportunity to design and document construction and architectural projects. It functions as a digital catalogue of objects and materials enabling a project to be modelled digitally, object by object, including all the technical characteristics related to the project and moving beyond a purely visual representation.

To be effective and universal, it is essential to adopt a common language for all this data. All trades must be represented, otherwise it’s a wasted effort! This is precisely what is enabled by new standard NF EN ISO 23386 published in March 2020 in the AFNOR collection. Developed from a French experimental standard (XP P07-150), this voluntary standard is the result of a representative round table of professionals in the field from more than 20 countries: companies, architects and industrial unions including in France the AIMCC (French Association of Building Products Industries). Its drafting is the result of several years of collaboration which has not always been easy. “It has been a long road, but today, with all the contributing countries, we are proud because we are convinced that the standard meets a market need,” says Roland Dominici, CEO of Cobuilder France and leader of the standards working group.

NF EN ISO 23386: a common language

The text marks a turning point in the creation of BIM dictionaries. As Frédéric Grand, from the firm Quod Semantics and one of the experts around the standardization table, explains,“this standard is the result of a need: that of industries asked to provide information associated with their products. Depending on their audience, they were having to describe the same information many times, adapting the level of language to the people to whom they had to communicate it.” In short, cumbersome, and above all a source of confusion.

It was therefore urgent to propose a tool for all BIM users that would enable data to be standardized, with a standard format and common descriptions, and then to establish a common methodology for building a library of digital objects that could be understood by all trades. Taking, for example, the object “wall” or “window”, the architect will extract information about its appearance or aesthetics, the design office will be interested in its strength and the engineer in its composition. The properties listed are numerous and useful to all parties involved in a project but they still had to be established on the same grid.

Voluntary standard NF ISO 23386 now makes this possible. “Digital technology leaves no room for interpretation, hence the need for a shared methodology for describing and managing properties. How could players in the industry exchange information with each other if they don’t speak the same language?” explains lsa Lucas, Project Manager with AFNOR Standardization and who assisted the professionals in drafting the standard.

NF EN ISO 23386: creating interoperability and trust

As well as saving time, and therefore reducing costs, Frédéric Grand emphasizes the fact that “previously, users didn’t know where the information came from. They were therefore naturally reluctant to use it. Now they are able to verify the content and therefore trust it. It’s more efficient and also more controlled.” A sentiment shared by Roland Dominici: “Interoperability is not possible without reference to the standard. The standard is irrefutable. If you comply with a standard, there’s no question, it’s a trusted third party.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]