About buildingSMART International
buildingSMART International (bSI) is the global, vendor-neutral, non-profit organisation that leads the development of open digital information workflows across the entire construction industry. It is the most prestigious standardisation and technology organisation in the field — the creator and developer of the IFC standard, the backbone of openBIM collaboration. buildingSMART Romania is the official national chapter of bSI.
IFC — created, maintained and developed by buildingSMART
Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)
IFC is the open, neutral, software-independent standard through which BIM models are exchanged between different applications without loss of information. buildingSMART International created it and continuously maintains and updates it — from the versions for buildings to the extensions for infrastructure (roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, ports).
IFC is also an international standard, ISO 16739-1 — officially recognised worldwide. Through it, an open-source file allows you to view and query three-dimensional building models and learn about the materials, products and properties of each element, throughout the construction's entire life cycle.
The buildingSMART family of standards
Beyond IFC, buildingSMART develops and maintains a complete set of open standards covering information exchange, requirements, data dictionaries and cross-discipline collaboration.
IFC
Industry Foundation Classes — the open format for exchanging BIM models between applications.
IDS
Defines, in a machine-readable way, exactly what information must be delivered in a model — automatically verifiable.
bSDD
An online dictionary and service of classifications, properties and terminology, for consistent data across countries and languages.
BCF
Exchange of issues and comments between different platforms, without sending the entire model.
IDM
Information Delivery Manual — describes the processes and information requirements for each data exchange.
MVD
Subsets of the IFC schema, tailored to a specific purpose or concrete workflow.
What else buildingSMART International offers
Professional Certification
An international programme certifying openBIM competencies — Foundation, Practitioner and advanced modules.
Compliance & Certification Software
Certification of applications that import/export IFC, for real interoperability between tools.
Use Case Management
A collaborative platform where the community defines standardised use cases and information requirements.
The Chapters network
Over 40 national chapters — including buildingSMART Romania — that localise and promote the standards.
Rooms & technical domains
Domain working groups (Building, Infrastructure, Product, Regulatory…) that develop the standards.
Collaboration with ISO, CEN & OGC
bSI works with the international standardisation bodies — IFC became an ISO standard in 2012.
The national chapter of buildingSMART International
buildingSMART Romania, through the BIMTECH Association, brings the open bSI standards to the Romanian AEC industry — through education, certification and advocacy.