OmniClass™ and NBIMS-US Greg Ceton, CSI, CDT Director of Technical Services Construction Specifications Institute January 9, 2013

Agenda –What is OmniClass? –Why Classification? –OmniClass 101 –OmniClass in NBIMS –Looking Ahead Image courtesy of Mortenson Construction

So what is OmniClass? 15 table faceted classification system In development since 2001 North American in focus Designed to classify concepts in all types of construction through the full facility life cycle

OmniClass Tables: 11 Construction Entities by Function 12 Construction Entities by Form 13 Spaces by Function 14 Spaces by Form 21 Elements – UniFormat™ 22 Work Results – MasterFormat ® 23 Products 4 31 Phases 32 Services 33 Disciplines 34 Organizational Roles 35 Tools 36 Information 41 Materials 49 Properties

Why Classification? Classification Uses: –Storage –Retrieval –Analysis –Presentation Classification’s value comes from the order it provides to information – the “human-facing side of BIM”

Classification Basics Classification is the grouping of like concepts and their arrangement into a hierarchy – broader concepts (parents) to narrower concepts (children) Two basic types: Enumerative Faceted

Enumerative Classification All concepts are arranged in a single hierarchical listing More traditional and common (Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress) Considered easier to use Fundamentally “flat” architecture More prone to conflict Less flexible

Enumerative Classification Image courtesy

Faceted Classification Concepts are arranged in multiple parallel hierarchies that view the subject area from a variety of perspectives or “facets” Less commonly used Sometimes difficult for users Individual tables tend to be smaller and simpler Multi-table architecture makes it far more useful in databases Far more flexible Less prone to conflict

Faceted Classification Object Classification Tables Color Table Red Materials Table Rubber Ball Shape Table Object = Red Rubber Ball

OmniClass 101

Roots of OmniClass Table Concept Classification of Information in the Construction Industry ISO TC59/SC13/WG2: –ISO Technical Report (1994) Organization of information about construction works –ISO :2001 Framework for classification of information –ISO :2007 Framework for object- oriented information exchange

OmniClass Administration OmniClass administered by CSI and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) OmniClass developed by an all-volunteer cross-industry committee (OmniClass Development Committee) –Content is reviewed in alternating two-year cycles –Committee membership open to all

OmniClass Review Cycles Table reviews scheduled: Review Cycle 1 ( , ) – Tables 13, 23, 31, 32, 36, 49 Review Cycle 2 ( , ) – Tables 11, 12, 14, 33, 34, 35, 41 Tables are occasionally moved between review cycles as needed 14

CSI is US partner for bSDD OmniClass Tables added to bSDD after successful balloting in NBIMS-US consensus process Six Tables currently in bSDD: 13 – Spaces by Function 21 – Elements 22 – Work Results 23 – Products 32 – Services 36 – Information OmniClass and buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD)

OmniClass in NBIMS 16

The following tables were successfully balloted for inclusion in NBIMS-US v. 2.0 as Reference Standards: –Table 13 – Spaces by Function –Table 21 – Elements –Table 22 – Work Results –Table 23 – Products –Table 32 – Services –Table 36 – Information

OmniClass in NBIMS Review Cycle has just completed Tables reviewed during that cycle: Table 11 – Construction Entities by Function Table 12 – Construction Entities by Form Table 31 – Phases Table 33 – Disciplines Table 34 – Organizational Roles Table 41 – Materials Table 49 – Properties All were approved by the OmniClass Development Committee All above tables will be balloted for NBIMS-US version 3.0 as Reference Standards 18

Review Cycle just started Working Groups charged: –Spaces (Tables 13 – Spaces by Function and 14 – Spaces by Form) –Products (Table 23 – Products) –Activities and Process (Tables 32 – Services, 36 – Information, and 35 – Tools) Intent is to add content, not shake everything up Review Cycle scheduled to complete in June OmniClass Status

Looking Ahead

New OmniClass.org New site being developed to allow web services access to table content. In Alpha status now, planned for July 2013 launch. 21

New OmniClass.org Can select from several different web services with different outputs. 22

New OmniClass.org Example: GUID returned for Table 13 class – “Healthcare Spaces” 23

24 Interested? For more information: To join the OmniClass Development Committee, send an to:

Thanks Greg Ceton, CSI, CDT Director, Technical Services,