What comes to mind when you hear “BIM”? 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D… or maybe CDE, clash detection, or a database? Perhaps IFC, IDS, BCF, or BIM standards like LOD, EIR, or BEP?
Even now, we don’t have a shared understanding of what BIM really means. Each project stakeholder sees only a part of it — like in the parable of the blind men and the elephant.
I wrote the BIM Manifesto to remind what truly brings us together: the pursuit of a better outcome — a thoughtfully designed, well-built, environmentally responsible, and sustainable asset.
Using a set of approaches and practices to create and manage information about a built asset — what we call “BIM” — is one way to get there.
BIM exists to help us achieve better results together. At its heart lies a common data environment, openness, clarity, and mutual trust.
BIM Values
- Transparency, Openness, and Collaboration
BIM sets out clear rules and standards for data exchange and collaboration that everyone on the project can understand. This increases transparency and trust, enabling a new level of cooperation across the team. - Stakeholder Engagement
BIM supports different formats for communicating information — from 2D drawings to immersive 3D/VR models and structured datasets. This helps stakeholders understand the project earlier and contribute insights that improve outcomes. - Integrated and Consistent Data
BIM helps consolidate information from all team members into a single system. This minimizes errors, prevents outdated or conflicting data, and builds trust in the data. - Support for Managerial Decision-Making
BIM enables comprehensive analysis — from automated checks and scenario simulations to comparing design options. It helps decision-makers act at the right time and with the right information. - Quality as the End Goal
BIM sets the stage for delivering the best possible project. At its core is a shared commitment to quality. That pursuit of quality is what makes BIM a sustainable and long-term practice.
To put these values into action, a project team needs clear principles. These principles should guide the planning and implementation of any BIM-enabled project. From aligning the model with project goals to ensuring data can be shared across platforms — these principles help reduce risk, improve quality, and make BIM more valuable with each new project.
BIM Principles
- Principle of Alignment with Project Goals
The project team develops the BIM model with the project’s specific goals in mind and uses it for coordination, documentation, analysis, visualization, and more. Whether the model or derived documents take precedence depends on the information requirements defined in the project. - Principle of a Realistic Model Structure
The project team structures the BIM model to reflect how the actual asset will be built and used. Each element serves its real purpose and construction logic. This reduces the gap between design and construction. - Principle of Lean Data
The requirements for the model and data should be minimal yet sufficient to meet the project’s goals. Extra data means extra work and harder data management. - Principle of a Common Data Environment
The project team uses the common data environment as a unified space for storing up-to-date and coordinated information, facilitating collaboration, coordination, and decision-making. - Principle of Timely Stakeholder Involvement
Project leaders involve key stakeholders when the information has reached a level of maturity sufficient for decision-making. The team ensures clear and accessible data presentation to support timely and meaningful feedback. - Principle of Data Reliability
Each team member is responsible for the accuracy and currency of their data. The team must clearly assign roles for checking and validating information at every stage. Unreliable data is worse than missing data. - Principle of Data Standardization
Team members organize and classify data using accepted standards. This makes the data accessible, compatible, and ready for automation. - Principle of Targeted Coordination
Project participants coordinate discipline-specific models when they reach the required level of maturity. This helps identify issues in time and avoids unnecessary workload for the team. - Principle of Timely Data Delivery
The team delivers data right on time — when it reaches the maturity needed for current tasks. Data exchange is based on agreement and validation. - Principle of Data Interoperability
The project team chooses data formats and storage methods that make the data usable long-term and across different systems.
The BIM Manifesto reminds us: BIM’s power lies not in the tools themselves, but in open standards and a transparent, collaborative environment. That’s how every party understands their role, contributes effectively, takes responsibility for the shared outcome, and strives for quality.
By following these principles and embracing shared values, teams reach a level of trust and coordination where BIM becomes more than a set of practices — it becomes a philosophy of working together on any project, from small buildings to major infrastructure.
BIM Manifesto by Dzmitry Chubryk is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International 
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Current BIM manifesto version: 2. The previous version is available at the link.