ThisIndustry Alliance for Interoperability opened membership to all interested parties in September 1995[3][4] and in May 1996 was renamed theInternational Alliance for Interoperability[1] as Autodesk users insisted that the IFCs should be non-proprietary and urged development of the IFC standard.[5] The first version of IFC was published in June 1996 at which point 26 companies, including Autodesk,Bentley,Nemetschek and IEZ, committed to making their software IFC-compliant.[1] The IAI was reconstituted as a not-for-profit industry-led organisation, promoting the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) as a neutral product model supporting the building lifecycle.[6]
In 2005, partly because its members felt the IAI name was too long and complex for people to understand, it was renamedbuildingSMART.[6] It has regional chapters in Europe, North America, Australia, Asia and the Middle East.
buildingSMART Data model - the organisation manages the software-neutralIndustry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model
buildingSMART also maintains theBIM Collaboration Format (BCF), a structured file format used for issue tracking in relation to building information models.
^abEastman, Charles M., and Eastman, Chuck (2008)BIM handbook: a guide to building information modeling for owners, managers, designers, engineers, and contractors John Wiley & Sons, pp.72-73.
