AGC's BIM Forum Draft Specification Open for Comment

The BIM Forum of the Associated General Contractors has released for public comment a draft specification for levels of development of building information models. Interested parties have until June 7 to comment on the draft, which has been under development for two years by a committee of about 20 people.

The 132-page document defines and illustrates characteristics of model elements of different building systems at different levels of development. It is intended as a reference to enable practitioners to specify “with a high level of clarity” the content and reliability of BIMs at various stages in the design and construction process. The goal is for model authors to be able to define for downstream users the specific uses and limitations of their models, says the BIM Forum.

The document's release is scheduled for August, depending on the commentary received. Interested parties can get an electronic copy of the draft by registering at http://bimforum.org/lod/. The final specification will be made available at no charge.

Nadine M. Post, ENR's editor-at-large for buildings, is an award-winning journalist with 45 years of experience covering trends, issues, innovations, controversies and challenging projects. Post has written about many industry giants, including 10 ENR Award of Excellence winners. And she has covered disasters, failures and attacks, including the 1993 bombing and the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Project stories include the redevelopment of the World Trade Center; the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa; Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall; and Seattle's Bullitt Center and Rainier Square Tower. In 1985, Post wrote McGraw-Hill's book Restoring the Statue of Liberty (1986) for the restoration’s architects—Richard S. Hayden and Thierry W. Despont.

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