ISO/TC 59/SC 13 N 629

ISO/TC 59/SC 13
Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works,
including building information modelling (BIM)

Email of secretary: lla@standard.no

Secretariat: SN (Norway)

prEN ISO 23387 Working Draft

Document type: Working draft

Date of document: 2018-08-14

Expected action: INFO

Background: Please see the attached working draft prEN ISO 23387. This
project is deveoped under the Vienna agreement, with CEN
lead. The document is being developed by CEN/TC 442/WG 4.
The working draft is circulated to ISO/TC 59/SC 13 members for
information at this stage. SC 13 may appiont representatives
(up to four representatives) to participate in the meetings of
CEN/TC 442/WG 4. members wanting to participate in this work
are kindly asked to contact SC 13 secretariat, lla@standard.no.
The next meeting in CEN/TC 442/WG 4 is on 2018-09-13, in Paris
(AFNOR).
The document will be prepared for parallel ISO DIS/ CEN
Enquiry.

Committee URL: https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/open/tc59sc13

 EN ISO 23387

Data templates for construction works

entities
Part 1: Objects, collections, and
relationships defining the general structure
of data templates, and how to link the data
templates to Industry Foundation Classes
(IFC)

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Contents
Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 2
European Foreword................................................................................................................................. 3
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 5
1 Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 5
2 Normative references...................................................................................................................... 6
3 Terms and definitions ...................................................................................................................... 6
4 General structure of data templates ............................................................................................. 10
5 Mapping the data template to IFC classes .................................................................................... 12
6 Mapping data templates to classification ..................................................................................... 13
Annex B EXPRESS-G diagrams, based on ISO 12006-3, representations of the data template model
14
Bibliography........................................................................................................................................... 17

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European Foreword
This document (EN ISO 23387) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 442
Building Information Modelling (BIM)
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication
of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by (Month/Year) and conflicting national
standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by (Month/Year).

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Foreword
ISO (the International Organization of Standardization) is a worldwide federation of
national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International
Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member
body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established
has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on
all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC
Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft
international Standards adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the
member bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval
by at least 75% of the member bodies casting a vote.

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Introduction
Building information modelling (BIM) provides a digital technology for describing and displaying
information required in the planning, design, construction and operation of constructed
facilities. Increasingly this modelling approach is expanding to encompass all aspects of the
built environment, including civil infrastructure, utilities and public space.
EN ISO 19650 sets out the recommended concepts and principles for business processes
across the built environment sector in support of the management and production of
information during the life cycle of built assets when using building information modelling (BIM).
To support the management and production of information in these business processes, the
importance of standardization is of the highest importance. Machine-readable data is essential
to provide a reliable and sustainable exchange of information in an asset life cycle process.
Data templates will enable construction project stakeholders to exchange information about
construction works entities through an asset life cycle, using the same data structure,
terminology, and globally unique identifiers to enable machine-readability. Data templates
should be standardized and made available across the built environment sector through data
dictionaries based on EN ISO 12006-3 Building construction -- Organization of information
about construction works -- Part 3: Framework for object-oriented information. Data
templates should be used in conjunction with EN ISO 16739 Industry Foundation Classes for
data sharing in the construction and facility management industries, to enable and support
open BIM processes.

1 Scope
This International standard sets out the principles and structure for data templates, and it is
developed to support digital processes using machine-readable formats that can be used to
exchange information about any type of construction works entity, e.g. product, system,
assembly, space, building, used in the planning, design, construction and operation of
constructed facilities.
This standard gives the specification of a taxonomy model based on ISO 12006-3 Building
construction -- Organization of information about construction works -- Part 3: Framework for
object-oriented information, and it provides a methodology for creating objects, collections, and
relationships between them. The objects and collections used in this taxonomy model are
representing the following concept types: data template, reference document, construction
works entity, property, group of properties, quantity, unit, and value. The relationships between
objects and collections provide the view for the specific purpose of the template.
This standard describes how data templates shall be used in conjunction with EN ISO 16739
- Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for data sharing in the construction and facility
management industries, within a data dictionary by describing the general rule for creating
relationships between the data template concepts and the IFC classes of relevance. These
relations should be established in a data dictionary based on EN ISO 12006-3 Building
construction -- Organization of information about construction works -- Part 3: Framework for
object-oriented information.
This standard describes how data templates shall be linked to classification systems in a data
dictionary EN ISO 12006-3 Building construction -- Organization of information about
construction works -- Part 3: Framework for object-oriented information.
This standard provides the data template structure, not the content of the information related
specifically to any construction works entity. The structure provided in this standard shall be

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used for developing specific data templates based on standards developed in ISO/IEC,
CEN/CENELEC, national standardization organizations, or other sources describing
information needs.

2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN ISO 12006-3, Building construction -- Organization of information about construction works
-- Part 3: Framework for object-oriented information
EN ISO 16739, Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for data sharing in the construction and
facility management industries
ISO/IEC 19505, Information technology -- Object Management Group Unified Modeling
Language (OMG UML)
ISO 6707-1, Buildings and civil engineering works -- Vocabulary -- Part 1: General terms
ISO 80000, Quantities and Units
EN ISO 23386, Building information modelling and other digital processes used in
construction -- Methodology to describe, author and maintain properties in interconnected
dictionaries

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1
building information modelling (BIM)
use of a shared digital representation of an asset to facilitate design, construction and
operation processes to form a reliable basis for decisions
[EN ISO 19650-1]

3.2
product
Object manufactured or processed for incorporation in construction works

[ISO 6707-1:2016]

3.3
system
Interacting objects organized to achieve one or more stated purpose’

[ISO 15288:2017]

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3.4
assembly
set of related components attached to each other

[ISO 6707-1:2016]

3.5
space
area or volume bounded actually or theoretically

[EN ISO 16739:2016]

3.6
component
named and individually scheduled physical item and feature that might require management,
such as inspection, maintenance, servicing or replacement, during the in-use phase

[ISO 6707-1:2016]

3.7
data dictionary
centralized repository of information about data such as meaning, relationships to other data,
origin, usage, and format
[IBM Dictionary of Computing]

3.8
Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)
specifies a conceptual data schema and an exchange file format for Building Information
Model (BIM) data
[ISO 16739:2013]

3.9
IFC entity
class of information defined by common attributes and constraints

[ISO 16739:2013]

3.10
IFC enumeration type
predefined values of types of an IFC entity

[ISO 16739:2013]

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3.11
IFC property
unit of information that is dynamically defined as a particular entity instance

[ISO 16739:2013]

3.12
globally unique identifier (GUID)
unique identifier generated using an algorithm
[ISO/IEC 11578:1996]

3.13
data template
digital template, using a standardized data structure, providing the information requirements
for construction works entities
NOTE 1 The relevant use of the data template should be used together with the term
“data template”. E.g. a data template for a product should be named “product data template”.
A data template for a system should be named “system data template”, etc.
NOTE 2 ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdBag
EXAMPLE 1 A data template can be used in an information exchange for a specific purpose
for a construction works entity in the planning, design, construction or operation of constructed
facilities.
EXAMPLE 2: A data template provides a view based on an information exchange, e.g. an
HVAC system designer is asking for the descriptions of the behavior of HVAC products that
can be loaded into the design system.

EXAMPLE 3: A data template provides manufacturers a standardized data structure that can
be applied to any internal system and/or process of handling product data, e.g. one or
several product information management systems (PIM/PDM) can apply or map to this
structure to enable machine readability, both internally and with any requests from any
software using the same data template structure. An HVAC product manufacturer can then
answer the request from any stakeholder including the HVAC system designer.

3.14
construction works entity
type of entity relevant for the data template
NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdSubject
EXAMPLE 1 “wall” is a type of system
EXAMPLE 2 “calcium silicate masonry unit” is a type of product

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3.15
reference document
publication that is consulted to find specific information, particularly in a technical or scientific
domain. A reference document can be associated with any data present in a data dictionary.
It shall include document date and version

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdExternalDocument

EXAMPLE Harmonised technical specification:
EN 771-1 Specification for masonry units, Part 1: Clay masonry units

3.16
group of properties
group of properties enabling the properties to be organised

NOTE 1 There are multiple types of possible groups eg class, domain, reference
document, interdependent properties

NOTE 2 A property can be member of several groups of properties

NOTE 3 ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdNest

3.17
generic property
inherent or acquired feature of an item

[ISO 6707-1:2016]

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdProperty

EXAMPLE thermal efficiency, heat flow, sound reduction index, acoustic power level

3.18
specific property
inherent or acquired feature of an item with a contained reference to document element
which defines the technical specification where the instructions to assess the performance
are available (usually standards)

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdProperty

EXAMPLE sound reduction index according to EN ISO 10140-4, length according to EN
12058

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3.19
quantity
property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can
be expressed by means of a number and a reference

[EN ISO 80000-1:2013]

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdMeasureWithUnit

EXAMPLE 1 Mass

EXAMPLE 2 Power

3.20
unit
concept type representing a scale that enables a value to be measured

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdUnit

3.21
value
concept type representing holds the description of a value of a property

NOTE ISO 12006-3 concept type is xtdValue

3.22
UML
Unified Modelling Language. Language to provide system architects, software engineers,
and software developers with tools for analysis, design, and implementation of software-
based systems as well as for modeling business and similar processes.
[ISO/IEC 19505]

4 General structure of data templates

This clause describes the general structure of a data template, and how it is modelled in UML
based on ISO/IEC 19505 Information technology -- Object Management Group Unified
Modeling Language (OMG UML). The concepts of the UML diagram are from EN ISO 12006-
3, Building construction -- Organization of information about construction works -- Part 3:
Framework for object-oriented information.
This diagram provides a data structure for objects, collections, and relationships between
them. Concepts defined in this standard are representing data templates, reference
documents, construction works entities, groups of properties, generic properties, specific
properties, quantities, units, and values.

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This diagram supports the relations between different data templates. This means that the data
structure allows for creating systems with components, e.g. a wall with products, an alarm
system with components, a door with components etc.
This diagram supports dependencies between properties outside the context of templates.
This means that scenarios where a property value of one property is dependent on the value
of another property, is always supported.
Figure 1, showing the UML diagram with objects, collections, and relationships, represents the
structure of a data template within a data dictionary based on EN ISO 12006-3.

Figure 1 – The data template represented in UML

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5 Mapping the data template to IFC classes
Concepts from the data template should be mapped to IFC classes of relevance according to
figure 2. IFC classes shall be established in a data dictionary according to the methodology
and process described by the Product Data Template Working Group in buildingSMART
International.
Figure 2 – Data template to IFC mapping UML diagram

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6 Mapping data templates to classification
Concepts from the data template should be mapped to classification levels of relevance
according to figure 3.

Figure 3 – Data template to IFC mapping UML diagram

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Annex B EXPRESS-G diagrams, based on ISO 12006-3, representations of
the data template model

Figure 1 - EXPRESS-G diagram 1 - Top level with root concept

Figure 2 - EXPRESS-G diagram 2 - Language representation, names and descriptions

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 Figure 3 - EXPRESS-G diagram 3 - Relationships

Figure 4 - EXPRESS-G diagram 4 - Assignment of measures

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 Figure 5 - EXPRESS-G diagram 5 - Basic Types

Figure 6 - EXPRESS-G diagram 6 - Values and external documents

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 Bibliography

[1] ISO 12006-2, Building construction -- Organization of information about construction

works -- Part 2: Framework for classification
[2] ISO 16757-1, Data structures for electronic product catalogues for building services --
Part 1: Concepts, architecture and model

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