BIM (Building Information Modeling)
A process for creating, managing, and exchanging digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings and infrastructure assets. A BIM model contains not just geometric information about a structure but also data about materials, systems, components, schedules, and performance properties. BIM is the standard working method in most large-scale architecture, engineering, and construction projects and is increasingly required by governments and clients as a condition of project contracts.
Why does it matter?
BIM is the point at which the geospatial world and the architecture and construction world most directly intersect, and the boundary between them is becoming less distinct over time. Geospatial data, particularly lidar point clouds and drone photogrammetry, provides the as-built context that BIM models are built into and updated against. For geospatial practitioners, understanding enough about BIM to communicate effectively with architects and engineers, and to understand what they need from a scan or survey deliverable, is an increasingly important professional skill.
