The recently signed partnership will strengthen the interoperability of open standards throughout the building and infrastructure lifecycle and value chain and improve the broader availability of digital product information.

During its annual General Assembly in Frankfurt in February 2017, Franz Ernst, President of ETIM International, in the presence of most of the country members of ETIM, signed a MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING between ETIM International and buildingSMART International

Following exploratory meetings between the international offices of both organisations in the second half of 2016, complemented by successful collaboration at local level in the Netherlands and Norway, the two parties agreed on the critical benefits of promoting closer coordination of their respective activities to strengthen open-standard based interoperability throughout the building and infrastructure lifecycle and value chain.

ETIM and bSI will work together on a joint project in respect of the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) and ETIM’s product classification standard.  In particular this will consider the inclusion of a single representation of the ETIM standard on the bSDD platform taking account of the governance and work flow requirements of both standard systems.

Franz Ernst, President ETIM International, and Richard Petrie, CEO buildingSMART, agree that their respective working standards share the same strategic direction and complement each other perfectly. In particular, ETIM’s new modelling Class version, ETIM MC, has been identified as an area of common interest.

As part of the co-operation, both organisations will ensure that existing versions of their standards are future proofed.  All new developments after the release of ETIM 7 (due later this year) will be aligned to the requirements of buildingSMART’s processes.  It is therefore reassuring to know that all existing product data based on ETIM can be used in the long term in increasingly digital processes in the construction sector.

About ETIM International: The association ETIM International is a partnership of national ETIM organisations with its registered office in Brussels. ETIM International exists to combine efforts to develop, maintain, publish and promote one Technical Information Model (ETIM) for the classification of technical products. ETIM’s success lies in its collective, independent and sector wide organizations. The focus of ETIM International is on the classification of electro technical and HVAC and building related products, but the association is open to entry by other related industry sectors. Current member countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, USA and Canada. (www.etim-international.com).

About buildingSMART International: The organisation buildingSMART International is a standards body transforming the built asset industry through the creation and adoption of open, international standards. buildingSMART’s openBIM standards support digital representation and exchange of building information. buildingSMART has chapters in 17 countries and has formal liaison status with other standards organisations, i.e. ISO, CEN and OGC. (www.buildingsmart.org)

The buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) is a web service providing an open platform for identification of common, standard building industry terms, definitions, translations, associated properties and relationships and unique digital identification. Along with the buildingSMART’s openBIM standards for building objects and processes, the bSDD provides for open exchange of building requirements worldwide.