These are some of the most important standards that provide the framework for modelling data in the built environment:
EN ISO 12006-3 Building construction — Organization of information about construction works — Part 3: Framework for object-oriented information – The standard specifies a language-independent information model which can be used for the development of data dictionaries used to provide information about construction works. It is an enabler of the common data language since it provides all users with common rules to “speak it.”
EN ISO 23386 Building information modelling and other digital processes used in construction — Methodology to describe, author and maintain properties in interconnected data dictionaries – This standard describes the rules for defining and a methodology for authoring and maintaining the content of a data dictionary. Practically, this adds up to a common governance process for all users, responsible for developing a common data language. Every new entry in a data dictionary is held up to the same scrutiny, all of them are equally well described. That happens by referencing actual relevant sources (ideally standards and regulations) and approval by domain experts, so that the content of the dictionary reflects the actual language used on projects. This framework is very important to ensure interconnectivity between the different data dictionaries in the construction sector, thus enabling one common language for the entire industry.
EN ISO 23387 Building information modelling (BIM) — Data templates for construction objects used in the life cycle of built assets — Concepts and principles – This is the document that will enable the common structuring of data for construction sector through the so-called data templates. The data templates are structured representation of construction objects and their features. It leverages both above standards to provide data structures, based on the common language from a data dictionary, subjected to a rigorous governance process according to EN ISO 23386. That makes data templates digital human-understandable, machine-readable, interoperable representations of the very standards and regulations they were derived from.
