At BIM Show Live this week, Drew Wiggett, Chris Vickers and Ian Chapman from NBS all presented the latest developments around the NBS BIM Object Standard. This resource for all has been short-listed in the BIM category at the upcoming Building Awards.
This is a standard that may be used for free by any organisation that authors BIM objects with the aim of setting a level of quality across the industry. The new mini-website went live last week and this now includes pages and pages of useful technical guidance.
This blog post looks at some of the clauses in the standard and their associated guidance. Early feedback from the industry on the standard are good. In addition, we are starting to see more and more design and construction organisations using it and also manufacturers either adopting it when authoring their own objects or asking others to author for them.
Each section has numbered clauses and uses consistent terminology. When the user hovers over a term a definition pops up in a tooltip. There is also a "G" icon which can be clicked on to display the guidance. Examples of these from each section are below...
Example of the definitions of each term (highlighted with dotted underline)
Technical guidance giving commentary and examples of what to do and what not to do
Suggestions on how to model space data associated with an object
Practical recommendations on file sizes and host objects
Sensible rules on file naming - without trying to duplicate information that exists within the property values
A very well researched piece of work that references international and national standards
Terms and definitions that are consistently used throughout
It will be great to see the whole industry get behind this standard and allow a level-of-quality to be set for all those creating or asking for BIM objects.
We're approaching the end of the six month contract period and preparing for the soft launch on April 8th at BIM Show Live. So the Toolkit is now starting to look really good in terms of functionality and scope of content.
Looking back over the last few months, it's been a bit of a whirlwind, but it has been a really fantastic team effort and the launch is now in sight.
At NBS (RIBA Enterprises) we continue to grow and recruit for more experts who can help us deliver construction knowledge to the UK industry through innovative digital solutions.
Currently, we have a number of fantastic positions open in both our Research and Development Team (the team where I've worked for 15+ years) and our Technical Team.
Excellent benefits. Award winning team. Latest technologies. Innovative market leading products. A focus on User Experience and Agile methodologies. City Centre location. Interested?
Product Design Manager
Manage a team of interface designers and beta testers. An expert in UX, agile methodologies, excellent creative and visual skills and an inspirational people manager.
Interface Designer
Design innovative visual interface design solutions across our portfolio of desk top products and websites including NBS National BIM Library and NBS Create.
Software Developer
Using leading edge development tools, the latest software and agile methodologies, you will work on innovative products that are truly leading the way in the construction industry.
Graduate Software Developer
An entry level role within the Software Development team. We are seeking candidates enthusiastic about gaining experience working within a commercial organisation who would relish the opportunity to be instrumental in the development of industry leading software products.
Of course, the downside of all of these jobs is that you'd be working with me on a daily basis :) :) :)
Our R&D team was originally a research centre at Newcastle University and came across under the NBS wing back in 2002. The ethos around innovation and pushing technologies to produce fantastic solutions to meet industry needs is core to what we do.
2. Technical Content Team
Set the standards in the UK for digital construction
The quality of our technical content within our products is what our customers primarily need. This is researched, authored and maintained by our expert Technical Authors. These Technical Authors are construction professionals who are experts in their field.
If you are an expert architect or engineer and would like to research, author and maintain the specification content and guidance that is then used by industry on thousands of projects. Or if you are a data modelling expert who wants to influence and help set the standards for level-2 BIM and shape the emerging level-3 UK BIM picture. Then find out more about some of the exciting posts in our Technical Team at our careers page too.
So if you want to join a growing organisation based in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre that's producing fantastic digital solutions for the construction industry - then check out the jobs at the web link below:
A quick blog post to say a massive well done to the NE1ForBIM team, that included NBS, for their success winning the best multi-disciplinary BIM and interoperability award in the ASITE 48 hour Build Newcastle Live event.
Award winners
A great team effort
Planning for success and considering information structures and the management of this
NBS utilised for defining responsibilities, modelling and specification
An early beta version of NBS BIM Toolkit was used to manage information requirements and responsibilities
The NBS BIM Object Standard was used for modelling rules - in particular for building Xtralite rooflights (who were also team members)
NBS Create specifications were automatically created for the team members responsible for specification
A digital mock-up of what the building would look like
A great effort by the whole team
A big shout out to NBS Jane and Adam - hope you have caught up on your sleep
...and finally, a big well done to those at FaulknerBrowns, Edwards Architecture and Colour UDL who were part of the team that won the main prize. More good news for North East BIM...
We're hoping that the judges will recognise the impact that our standard is making across the whole industry. The standard documents all of the best practices we have refined internally over the years we have worked on the National BIM Library. The standard defines requirements for the information, geometry, behaviour and presentation of BIM objects, to give reassurance of quality that will enable greater collaboration and efficient information exchange across the construction industry.
The NBS BIM Object Standard
As always with these awards, we are up against some very stiff competition. All of the very best to the others that have been shortlisted.
I'm sure there will be some familiar faces and good banter from "the competition" there on the night. In particular BIM Academy and Laing O'Rourke who are working alongside us on the BIM Toolkit Project. If you are attending the awards, please be sure to come over and say hello.
Currently the NBS BIM Toolkit is being taken on the road around the UK in association with the UK Government's BIM Task Group's BIM Hubs.
These are free events with an opportunity to hear about the BIM Toolkit and then with time for discussions and networking afterwards. Sign up now to avoid missing out on a ticket:
- http://www.bimtaskgroup.org/bim-regional-hub-events/
I'll be speaking at the London event on Wednesday 18th March. A 6pm start at the University of Westminster. Many thanks to London/South East BIM Hub members David Miller, John Eynon and Rob Garvey for putting the event on.
The London BIM Hub organisers
Other events are spread across the UK: Bristol, Newcastle, Belfast, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, and Glasgow.
To find out more about The NBS BIM Toolkit and how it can help your organisation/project team reach level-2 BIM please see - http://www.thenbs.com/bimtoolkit/
NBS Software Development Manager Andrew Brook presents in the BIM-capital-of-the-world Newcastle
No seats left to watch the presentation at the ecobuild BIM Theatre last week
The NBS National BIM Library is now the biggest library of UK BIM objects and it is growing faster than any other. For the 2015 Spring conference season we have developed a new video explaining the key benefits of the library. This can be viewed below:
The BIM objects are designed to work in parallel to the NBS specification workflow
All three of these points are really important to any organisation developing an approach to BIM.
1. Standardised information:
I have spoken with a number of organisations in the construction industry over recent months about their BIM strategy. These conversations always come down to process and structured-information. In terms of structured-information, at NBS we have learned a lot in our BIM journey. Everything we have learned here we have documented in our BIM Object Standard. Whether you are a client, contractors, designer or manufacturer, authoring objects to a standard is absolutely critical. NBS National BIM Library can provide a large number of objects, but organisations will also want to create additional content for their office master BIM library, or if a manufacturer, they may have their own in-house team of BIM technicians to create their objects. The NBS BIM Object Standard can be used to ensure that all objects are to this standard of quality that is pragmatic and references the international and UK national standards.
2. Generic and manufacturer content:
As a model develops through the project timeline, typically this model will start with generic content. As the project approaches construction, the percentage of objects where a decision is known in terms of the product specification increases.
The NBS National BIM Library contains a wealth of both generic and manufacturer objects that ensures that this typical user work flow can be followed.
3. A coordinated model and specification:
The coordinated set of project information contains many more sources than just the model.
All NBS National BIM Library objects are aligned to the NBS Create specification system. Free plug-ins are also available for many of the leading BIM design tools. This allows project teams to consider a coordinated BIM strategy that goes much further than simply the model – but also ensures consistency of information between model and specification.
Finally, it must be said, that once again, friends of NBS, Soluis, have done an absolutely top class job with the video.
,Some stills from the promotional video below:
The model used in the video is from our laser scan of our NBS premises in Newcastle
Great visual effects as the model grows from the basement up through the floors
Never mind one of Newcastle’s finest listed buildings, let’s have a look at the boiler room
The video emphasises the importance of standardised information at all times
