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The Canada BIM Council (CanBIM) and the U.S. National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) have signed an agreement to outline co-operative principles surrounding global building information modelling (BIM) standards.

The Canada BIM Council (CanBIM) has signed an historic Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) to further building information modelling standards around the world.

The agreement outlines principles of co-operation between the two groups as they work to lead the BIM movement in Canada and the United States. The partnership will also draw from experiences, studies, research, and development in other global countries where BIM has been used for construction for close to 10 years.

The agreement includes mutual granting of licensing to reproduce work, including a 'BIM standard for Canada' based on research and development sharing around industry foundation classes and International Organizations for Standardization (ISO) 16739, Industry Foundation Classes, Release 2x, Platform Specification (IFC2x Platform). It also allows for standardized fundamental principles behind facility-related data collection, retrieval, storage, and use.

"This will offer the council clear guidance in a global arena to convey to its members what standards are coming into play as they move around the world to work—and how to adapt to that standard," explained Derek A. Smith, CanBIM's interim CEO.