The Periodic Table of BIM

If you’re involved in any design capacity you’ll have heard about BIM (Building Information Modelling). The construction industry sadly has a reputation for delivering projects late and over budget, with the end products not quite working as they should.

Adopting a BIM approach can bring predictability to a project, not just around capital delivery but operation too.

BIM is the process of designing a building collaboratively using one system of computer models rather than separate sets of drawings from the different trades and services. BIM can also save both money and carbon by cutting out wasteful processes and activities and making more informed decisions at the right time.

Published by NBS, the Periodic Table of BIM serves as an at-a-glance guide ‘jargon buster’ to the steps you need to take to ensure a successful BIM implementation.

Taking inspiration from the traditional periodic table of elements, NBS recently launched a visual guide to the key terms and concepts you’re likely to encounter along the road towards BIM implementation.

In the Periodic Table of BIM, they document the stages necessary for closer collaboration (of process and people) by way of the technology, standards, and enabling tools that will underpin your efforts.

The original table, published by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, organised 112 named elements (and acknowledge several unnamed ones) using strict rules and hierarchy.

The NBS version sticks to a few guiding principles but is a less rigid affair – broken down into nine groupings with a number of elements in each.

Further information

Find out more and download the Periodic Table of BIM: https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/periodic-table-of-bim-ebook

And you’ll also find articles looking at particular table groupings and an interactive version of the table online: https://www.thenbs.com/periodic-table-of-bim