Currently, many developed countries around the world have a long history with BIM and have established their own systems. In contrast, China is still in the early stages of BIM development and has yet to form strict standards. Some foreign countries do not strictly follow international BIM standards but instead develop standards tailored to their national realities. There are three main internationally recognized industry standards, with IFC being the earliest, introduced as early as 1995. Two years later, after improvements, a complete version was released. Following five years of implementation, IFC was officially recognized by ISO and became an internationally accepted standard. Today, it is widely used across multiple industries and countries.
Although the BIM market in China is growing rapidly, it remains in an exploratory and relatively basic phase. This has led to fragmented applications and a lack of unified standards. Establishing BIM standards has become a pressing issue for advancing BIM applications in China. In 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development initiated the development of a series of national BIM standards. This effort marked the first time China aimed to achieve “consistency in processes and terminology” within the BIM technology field, a milestone that significantly promotes standardized BIM application and technological progress within the industry.
China’s three national BIM standards correspond directly to international BIM standards: the “Building Information Model Storage Standard” aligns with IFC (Industry Foundation Classes); the “Standard for Information Model Delivery in Architectural Engineering Design” corresponds to IDM (Information Delivery Manual); and the “Classification and Coding Standards for Building Engineering Design Information Models” match IFD (International Framework for Dictionaries).
Over ten years ago, China’s industrial standards were co-proposed by relevant organizations and research institutes, serving as a counterpart to IFC (ISO/PAS 16739-2005). In the following two years, national construction authorities, together with Tsinghua University and relevant international enterprises, conducted extensive research and analysis of China’s situation. They developed a set of BIM standards tailored to China’s national conditions. After trial implementation, these standards officially became industry standards in China and were enforced starting July 1st last year.
The BIM standard plays a vital role in promoting the adoption and rapid expansion of BIM technology in China. It offers strong practicality and guidance, driving technological advancement and laying the foundation for a national technical system. Given BIM’s inherently international nature, China not only needs to incorporate international standards to globalize its national standards, but also actively expand its international presence by applying and promoting these standards abroad. The Chinese Institute of Standards plans to organize an international regional alliance to establish cooperation with countries such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea in the Far East. This alliance will be crucial in advancing BIM technology development, application, and even economic growth.
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