buildingSMART International announced that Information Delivery Specification (IDS) v1.0 has reached final standard status. This approval marks a significant milestone in how openBIM workflows are defined and implemented and reflects a growing demand for more accurate and reliable data exchanges.
IDS is a standard for defining information requirements in a way that is easily read by humans and interpreted by computers. It allows for automation for end-users and creates clarity, confidence and consistency.
With this standard, you can specify what data must be included in a BIM dataset and subsequently validate if it is delivered. It is designed as a free, lightweight, standardised approach to delivery specification and subsequent checking as intended in ISO 19650. Traditionally, information requirements are shared in ways that are not computer-interpretable, such as spreadsheets or PDFs – and it is very difficult for the right people to access the data relevant to them for a particular situation or work item.
IDS is an important component in the strategic and technical roadmaps of buildingSMART. IDS helps all stakeholders in our industry to clearly specify the information needs without ambiguity, so the checking procedures can be automated.
Léon van Berlo, Technical Director of buildingSMART International, commented, “IDS becoming a final standard is a major milestone for the buildingSMART community and the openBIM workflows. I’m quite excited about how this will improve information exchanges to be more accurate and reliable. The standard has been developed with over 200 people from 34 different countries. It involved all types of stakeholders, including large clients, modellers, coordinators, software vendors, other standardisation bodies and governments. The fact that we have over a dozen stable implementations already available at the time of the release says something about the maturity of the standard on its release. This initiative is an exemplary effort of how openBIM standards should be developed to guarantee reliability for end-users.”
About buildingSMART International
buildingSMART International is a vendor-neutral and not for profit body that leads the development of open standards that support digital information flows across the built asset industry. Its mission is to proactively engage industry participants who want to develop open standards for planning, design, procurement, assembly and operation of buildings and infrastructure worldwide. It provides the international network plus the necessary technical and process support to develop consensus based open standards. Its members, who range from across the entire built environment spectrum, collaborate under the buildingSMART organization and management. buildingSMART also partners with other international standards bodies such as ISO, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Its core Industry Foundation Class (IFC) standard achieved ISO approval in 2012.