A joint initiative between CIBSE, the Construction Products Association (CPA), BIM4M2, and National Building Specification (NBS) has been launched to provide consistent product data parameters and templates. These will enable manufacturers to prepare their product data in readiness for government’s April 2016 BIM mandate.
Building and infrastructure manufacturers will have free and ready access to product data parameters and templates, developed in collaboration, that are relevant to their products.
By using these templates, they will be able to supply product information in a form that aligns with the UK’s Level 2 BIM requirements.
The templates currently identify the minimum product data requirements for Level 2 BIM. They will eventually be extended to include all aspects of a product’s life-cycle and operational performance, building on the work so far completed by CIBSE, BIM4M2 and others.
Extended templates already developed by CIBSE can be found on the CIBSE Knowledge Portal. Common product data parameters will enable easier development of further templates.
The benefit of this initiative to the supply chain is significant. The availability of product data in a structured form equips designers with the information they need to create project information models reliably and accurately. This will lead to the provision of higher quality project data that can be checked and validated by clients, designers and contractors.
Through this joint initiative, all templates will be maintained and developed to support the evolving needs of a digital construction industry, and to ensure product parameters align with the requirements of relevant standards.
The templates and common product data parameters will be made available on both the PCA and NBS BIM Toolkit websites, as well as on the CIBSE website. The current product data templates can be found at http://toolkit.thenbs.com/articles/pdts.
Organisations within the initiative will engage with other industry groups, including the wider BIM4 Communities and trade associations, to ensure industry product data requirements continue to be supported.
To view the product data templates (PDTs) on the CIBSE Knowledge Portal, visit www.cibse.org/knowledge
