Resources

The following information includes links to other organisations and documents that have been referenced as a resource for the information included in the NATSPEC BIM Properties Generator. Resources are grouped into categories which relate to the information included in the NATSPEC BIM Properties Generator.  

Property Source

BIMForum Level of Development Specification

The Level of Development (LOD) Specification is a reference that defines and illustrates characteristics of model elements of different building systems at different Levels of Development. Model elements are organized by UniFormat classification, but also includes the corresponding OmniClass and Uniclass classifications and, where applicable, Masterformat sections. It enables AEC practitioners to clearly and unambiguously specify and articulate the content and reliability of Building Information Models (BIMs) at various stages in the design and construction process. The BIMForum LOD Specification can be found at this page: https://bimforum.org/resources/ 

COBie

COBie is an information exchange specification developed by Bill East for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), for the life-cycle capture and delivery of information needed by facility managers. With this use in mind, COBie links information about building systems and assets to the spaces or locations from where they can be accessed.

The process of creating COBie deliverables follows the same processes used in current design and construction practice, but COBie transforms the information provided in paper documents, or proprietary electronic formats, to an open, standard format that can be re-used throughout the project.

In its simplest form COBie can be implemented in simple spreadsheets, making it accessible to anyone with basic computer skills. It can also be viewed in design, construction, and maintenance software. The UK have also developed a variant of the original COBie schema titled COBie UK. The primary difference between COBie UK and the US version is that it uses the Uniclass classification system instead of Omniclass.

An overview of COBie with links to resources including COBie spreadsheet templates can be found at this page: https://www.wbdg.org/bim/cobie 

Useful COBie links

For an introductory video, click here 
The COBie Guide that includes many schedules of plant and equipment parameters/properties can be found at this page: https://www.wbdg.org/bim/cobie/cobie-guide 

IFC

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is a platform neutral, open file format specification that is not controlled by a single vendor or group of vendors. It is an object-based file format with a data model developed and maintained by buildingSMART to facilitate interoperability in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. It is registered by ISO and is an official International Standard ISO 16739-1:2018. Both the IFC2x3 and IFC4  schemas have been provided as property sources in the NATSPEC BIM Properties Generator.
IFC2x3:  https://standards.buildingsmart.org/IFC/RELEASE/IFC2x3/TC1/HTML/ 
IFC4:  https://standards.buildingsmart.org/IFC/RELEASE/IFC4/ADD2_TC1/HTML/ 

Useful IFC links

buildingSMART international: www.buildingsmart-tech.org/ 
buildingSMART provide a list of software certified by buildingSMART that can be used for IFC2x3 Coordination View 2.0 and IFC4 Reference View 1.2 (commonly used views used for exchange of data between different software applications) . Note: other software may be useable for these views, even though they have not been certified. 

The buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bsDD) is also useful resource and can be found here: https://www.buildingsmart.org/users/services/buildingsmart-data-dictionary/ 

NATSPEC BIM

The properties assigned to the source of NATSPEC BIM have primarily been derived from those previously found in the NATSPEC BIM Object/Element Matrix. This document is now superseded by the NATSPEC BIM Properties Generator and is no longer available. 

The original NATSPEC BIM Object/Element Matrix was derived from the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) BIM Object/Element Matrix. 

NATSPEC Spec

The properties assigned to the source of NATSPEC Spec have primarily been derived from the prompts and schedules included in the corresponding NATSPEC specification worksections that relate to that object.

Further information on the NATSPEC specification system can be found at this page: www.natspec.com.au 

Classification

NATSPEC

NATSPEC maintains the National Classification System to assist specification writers organise the content of specifications, and their users to find the information they are looking for. The system structures information in a logical and consistent way to introduce predictability from project to project.

Download a number of National Classification System resources from this page: www.natspec.com.au/resources/national-classification-system 

Download keynoting framework files based on NATSPEC’s National Classification System from this page: http://bim.natspec.org/tools/keynoting-framework 

Uniclass

Uniclass is a unified classification for the UK industry covering all construction sectors. The following link provides an overview of the Uniclass 2015 system including downloadable Excel files of the tables: https://www.thenbs.com.au/uniclass 

OmniClass

The US facetted classification system with tables for many aspects of construction including Spaces, Elements, Work Results, Products, Materials and Properties.

The latest editions of OmniClass Tables can be downloaded from this page: www.omniclass.org/ 

UniFormat

UniFormat mirrors Table 21 – Elements of the OmniClass classification system.

Uniformat documentation can be downloaded from this page: www.csiresources.org/practice/standards/uniformat 

Property Categorisation

CoClass

CoClass is a Swedish digital classification system for the built environment, managed by Svensk Byggtjänst. CoClass has been used as the primary source for categorising the properties included in the updated Properties Generator
More information on CoClass can be found at this page: https://coclass.byggtjanst.se/ 

Other resources

NATSPEC BIM Paper 001: BIM and LOD

This BIM Paper provides an introduction to the concept of Level of Development (LOD) and its value in the management of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process.

It includes recommendations about implementing LOD on projects and guidance on developing and interpreting LOD Tables. A copy of the paper can be downloaded from this page: https://bim.natspec.org/documents/natspec-bim-papers 

USACE M3

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Minimum Modelling Matrix (M3) is a spreadsheet that specifies the expected LOD of model elements for design models (for construction documents) and record models (As-built). Model elements are organised by UniFormat/OmniClass Table 21 classifications, with associated Masterformat codes included where applicable.

The M3 Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded from this page: https://cadbimcenter.erdc.dren.mil/default.aspx?p=a&t=1&i=14