Therefore, a BIM object of a building product created for one BIM application is generally not useable in another, unless it passes through a structured, technical translation and exchange process.

Creators of BIM objects have to decide in advance what program they will create the content for, and realize that, at least for now, it is just for that tool.

In keeping with the diverse nature of the construction industry, there are numerous, parallel standards initiatives underway to address this problem. Ones that are particularly relevant to BIM objects for building products are:

• IFC (Industry Foundation Classes)
  • http://www.buildingsmart.com/bim
  • IFC is an open data format for building information models. IFC can be used to exchange and share BIM data between applications developed by different software vendors without the necessity to support numerous native formats. Software applications correctly implementing IFC are said to be IFC compliant. The buildingSMART Alliance is leading the effort to develop and implement the IFC standard in the US.
• SPie (Specifier's Properties Information Exchange)
  • http://www.buildingsmartalliance.org/index.php/projects/activeprojects/32
  • The SPie project is developing BIM templates for building products to include their related property sets. It is a building SMART Alliance project and is actively seeking volunteers to work on developing the templates.
• COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange)
  • http://www.wbdg.org/resources/cobie.php
  • COBie is an information exchange format for the life-cycle capture and delivery of information needed by facility managers.
• NBIMS (National BIM Standard)
  • http://www.buildingsmartalliance.org/index.php/nbims/
  • NBIMS is a committee of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Facility Information Council (FIC). The vision for NBIMS is "an improved planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance process using a standardized machine-readable information model for each facility, new or old, which contains all appropriate information created or gathered about that facility in a format useable by all throughout its lifecycle." There are currently 126 people on the NBIMS-US Project Committee and new members are welcome.
• Green Building XML (gbXML)
  • http://www.gbxml.org
  • The Green Building XML (gbXML) open schema helps facilitate the transfer of building properties stored in building information models to engineering analysis tools, streamlining the ability to design resource efficient buildings and specify associated products and equipment.

Major BIM software makers are committed to improving interoperability between their toolsets. Several are also supporting creation and evaluating adoption of some of these standards. At the same time, the multiple efforts, though each well-intentioned, are creating some confusion in the industry. A primary objective of the buildingSMART Alliance (www.buildingsmartalliance.org) is to help coordinate these efforts, reduce redundancy and communicate effectively to the industry about the purpose, value and status of each initiative.