buildingSMART Canada, a council of the Institute for BIM in Canada, has released a new practice manual to serve the design, construction and operations sectors of the Canadian built environment in the adoption of lifecycle Open Building Information Modeling (BIM).
The Canadian Practice Manual for BIM comes in three volumes designed to provide novice and intermediate BIM users with a framework for developing and adopting company-centric practices to streamline and improve their use of digital information within a Canadian context.
For more advanced organizations, the manuals provide approaches to collaboratively exchange models and information between project participants. These manuals complement existing resources for BIM in Canada, namely the IBC BIM Contract Appendix and the IBC BIM PxP Toolkits.
According to Bill Moore, chair of the Institute for BIM in Canada and member of the board of buildingSMART International, the practice manual is intended to be a guiding document that can be used across Canada.
“Compiled by Canadians, for Canadians, the release of the buildingSMART Canada Practice Manual for BIM provides our AECOO Community with highly sought-after guidance and wisdom related to BIM in a Canadian context,” said Moore.
Over 60 AECOO professionals from across Canada contributed material and expertise in-kind to the practice manual. “Significant effort was focused toward ensuring the Practice Manual for BIM is recognized as a valuable resource by all stakeholders responsible for the Canadian built environment,” said Moore.
Additionally the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program provided financial support to assist this effort.
The three completed volumes work together to explain the context, terminology, approaches, and best practices of BIM.
- Volume 1 is a primer document that covers BIM terminology and overall approaches.
- Volume 2 lays out the most common approaches for organizations who are considering using BIM internally.
- Volume 3 approaches BIM from the project perspective, particularly when it comes to collaborative use of BIM, where models are to be used by multiple stakeholders.
The practice manual is available in both print and digital forms with English and French editions from buildingSMART Canada.
The print version is a bound copy of all three volumes. The digital version is available in PDF format and can be acquired individually or as a complete set.
In addition, for a limited time, Volume One: BIM A Primer will be available in digital format at no cost to practitioners who join buildingSMART Canada.
