For the average engineering professional, BIM acronyms can make navigation of the average BIM Execution Plan a tedious endeavour. As if the whole thing wasn’t confusing enough, most people are under the impression that the acronym for the field itself, BIM, stands for Building Information Management. Let’s try to demystify some of these abhorrent abbreviations.
This post lists common BIM and Digital Engineering acronyms you’ll see in BEPs, tenders, and coordination workflows. If you’re scoping deliverables or onboarding staff, it can save hours of back-and-forth.
If you’re trying to translate an RFP/BEP into real project deliverables, see Process. If you’re onboarding or upskilling modellers, see Skills.
Common BIM acronym mix-ups
- BIM ≠ “Building Information Management” (people say it, but it’s not the standard expansion)
- LOD ≠ “Level of Detail” (yet another cause for confusion, see below)
- LOD vs LoD vs LOI vs LOG (see below for what each refers to)
- CDE ≠ “file share” (CDE is more than Dropbox)
- IFC: Do note that an engineer’s definition of IFC is “Issued for Construction” while a BIM Specialist may refer to “Industry Foundation Classes”, a commonly used model exchange format.
Core BIM + delivery
BIM: Building Information Modeling
DE: Digital Engineering
VDC: Virtual Design and Construction
CDE: Common Data Environment (shared project data hub)
BEP: BIM Execution Plan (how the team will deliver BIM)
DEXP: Digital Engineering Execution Plan
IDP: Information Delivery Plan
MIDP: Master Information Delivery Plan
TIDP: Task Information Delivery Plan
EIR: Exchange Information Requirements (what info the client wants and when)
OIR: Organizational Information Requirements
AIR: Asset Information Requirements
PIM: Project Information Model
AIM: Asset Information Model (handover/operations model)
Standards, formats, and interoperability
IFC: Industry Foundation Classes (open BIM data format)
BCF: BIM Collaboration Format (issue/markup exchange)
COBie: Construction-Operations Building information exchange (handover data)
ISO: International Organization for Standardization (e.g., ISO 19650 series)
LOD: Level of Development (model element reliability/definition level)
LoD: Level of Detail (model element geometric granularity.)
(Note: While many people refer to Level of Detail when speaking about model specifications, it is more often LOD/Level of Development that is more commonly used and the more useful metric)
LOI: Level of Information (non-graphic info content)
LOG: Level of Geometry (geometric detail)
LOR: Level of Reliability (sometimes used to express confidence/verification)
GIS: Geographic Information System (integration with spatial data)
Coordination, review, and model checking
CLASH (often just “clash”): Clash Detection (hard/soft/clearance conflicts)
RFI: Request for Information
NCR: Non-Conformance Report
QA/QC: Quality Assurance / Quality Control
IDM: Information Delivery Manual (process + exchange definitions)
MVD: Model View Definition (a subset/“view” of IFC for a use case)
Project stages and procurement (common in BIM conversations)
RIBA: Royal Institute of British Architects (plan of work/stages, UK)
DB: Design-Build
DBB: Design-Bid-Build
IPD: Integrated Project Delivery
Disciplines + building systems (you’ll see these in models and coordination)
AEC: Architecture, Engineering, and Construction
MEP: Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing
HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
ELV: Extra-Low Voltage (security, data, access control, etc.)
BMS: Building Management System (sometimes also BAS: Building Automation System)
FF&E: Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment
Reality capture / scanning
LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging
UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drone capture)
SLAM: Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (mobile scanning workflows)
This was our most comprehensive list of BIM Acronyms. If you enjoyed this article, give it a thumbs up. If you’d like to know about our Capability Support for Managers, see Skills.
Authored by Gideon Botes, Baumass DE — 22+ years in electrical design, drafting, BIM & DE leadership (11+ years substation design, Africa & New Zealand), former BIM Manager/CAD Team Leader. Specialising in capability building for New Zealand and Australian electrical/infrastructure teams. Learn more about my background.