Interoperability and Data Exchange

The assigned reading on Interoperability in BIM as well as the exploration I did on the BuildingSMART

website for information on the Industry Foundation Classes combine to bring to light the true interoperability limitations involved in current BIM software packages. The fundamental problem is that each company issues its own copy righted file formats and proprietary software. Currently to transfer the files from one program to another one of the following methods is used depending on which protocols each package supports:  Direct, Proprietary file exchange formats, Public product data model exchange formats, XML-based exchange formats. Another issue for interoperability is when integrating schedule into the model itself. Many of the scheduling software clients require a third party program to be integrated with the model and the BIM programs themselves only have general phasing options available to the developer.  With the expense of the current BIM programs, it is not a feasible option for many of the smaller design firms to obtain licenses for multiple clients. The added expenses make them less competitive than other larger firms that may be employ all of the most common applications.

BIM software clients should be aware of the need of the clients to use models created by another firm in a separate program. As more new construction projects use BIM greater numbers of as built models will exist that will have to be accessed in the future when the structure is going to be modified. This is an interoperability issue in worrying about backwards compatibility as newer versions of the software are released.  The future of these programs will depend on how willing the companies creating them are willing to work with each other.