As an acronym BIM stands for Building Information Modelling.

As specified in PAS 1192-2:2013 by the British Standards Institution, Building Information Modelling is “the process of designing, constructing or operating a building or infrastructure asset using electronic object-oriented information.”

[from BS 1992-5] “discrete set of electronic object-oriented information used for design, construction and operation of a built asset”

 
Image courtesy: AECOM

It should be noted that the use of the term “building”, from our perspective, is a verb that explicitly describes the process of creating data rich models for both buildings, civil & infrastructure, new builds and refurbishment projects etc. These models are a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of projects. Simply put, BIM is a digital twin that contains 3D models, non-graphical data and other linked data such as electronic documents in a collaborative environment.

Watch a video of BIM in action (Courtesy of NBS)