About Us

The Institute for BIM in Canada (IBC) leads and facilitates the coordinated use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the design, construction and management of the Canadian built environment. Its founding partner organizations represent specific industry sectors that have a keen interest in seeing BIM implemented in a way, and at a pace, that enables the primary stakeholders to understand their roles and responsibilities and to assess their capacity to participate in this process. IBC’s priorities include an awareness program, a practice manual, a bibliography of useful resources, and a full environmental scan/assessment on the use of BIM in Canada and internationally.

Terms of Reference

  1. Authority

      1.1 The Institute for BIM in Canada (IBC) is a joint national organization having the sole authority to endorse its products, services, positions and policies.

      1.2 Marketing, education and promotion of IBC approved documents and suggested practices are the responsibility of the Institute in collaboration with its constituent organizations.

      1.3 The IBC may receive inquiries, make recommendations, and distribute information to improve BIM related procurement/contracting practices, as it deems appropriate.

  2. Mission
    • Act as the authoritative voice for BIM in Canada.
  3. Mandate

    • To lead and facilitate the coordinated use of BIM in the design, construction and management of the Canadian built environment.

  4. Objectives

    • To endorse, develop and maintain Open BIM Standards for the Canadian market through the Canadian Chapter of buildingSmart-International

    • To define collaborative approaches and solutions as between stakeholders in the BIM environment

    • To develop and recommend “best practices” policies, tools and procedures to support BIM utilization

    • To educate the industry about trends and developments relative to BIM in Canada; and about the pace of adoption that is increasing steadily in the Canadian built environment

    • To communicate its activities to the industry at large

  5. Structure and Governance

      6. The affairs of the Institute shall be managed and governed by a Steering Committee comprised as follows:

    5.1 Voting Members:

    .1 Four from public sector owners (ideally with representation from the three levels of government: federal, provincial and municipal)
    .2 Two from private sector owners
    .3 Two from the ACEC
    .4 Four from the CCA, with one member being from the province of Quebec
    .5 Two from CSC
    .6 Two from the RAIC

    5.2 Non-Voting Members:

      .1 One from the legal profession participating
      .2 Senior Staff from the Constituent Organizations

    5.3 The constituent organizations of the IBC are:

      – the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies (ACEC),
      – the Canadian Construction Association (CCA),
      – the Construction Specifications Canada (CSC), and
      – the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

    5.4 The constituent organizations appoint their respective members on the Steering Committee.

    5.5 The Steering Committee appoints the other members, i.e. owner sector representation.

    5.6 At its discretion, the Committee may appoint other non-voting members from sectors which may add value to the work and mandate of the Institute.

    5.7 Regional representation shall be taken into account when selecting members from the above-noted sectors. Each Committee member shall serve for a 2-year term and may be re-elected for two additional terms for a maximum of six years.

    5.8 The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected by the Steering Committee and they shall serve for a two-year term. Their terms of office may be renewed at the pleasure of the members.

    5.9 Members speak in consultation with their respective organizations and perform their duties in accordance with the IBC Terms of Reference which provide them with the authority to act effectively in the work of the IBC.

    6. Meetings

    6.1 The meetings should be scheduled to ensure an anticipated total of five working days each year.

    6.2 In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair assumes the chair. In the absence of both the Chair and Vice-Chair, members of the meeting elect a chair for that meeting.

    6.3 Minutes of IBC Meetings are distributed to the members of the Steering Committee.

    6.4 Quorum: It is achieved when no less than six members are in attendance, including the Chair or Vice-Chair, an owner sector member and one member from each of the constituent organizations.

    6.5 Voting: Consensus must be achieved for the votes to be rendered official. No
    votes can be cast by proxy.

    6.6 Committee members are expected to attend all regular meetings. Failure to attend two (2) consecutive meetings of the Committee, without reasonable justification, is cause for requesting the Committee member’s resignation.

     

    7. Sub-Committees

    7.1 The Steering Committee may appoint sub-committees that shall include at least one Steering Committee member and specialists in the respective disciplines to make recommendations or to draft documents dealing with BIM issues.

    7.2 The IBC may retain legal counsel and may also invite specialists in other disciplines to participate as advisors from time to time on matters requiring special expertise.

    8. IBC Documents

    8.1 The procedure for review or development of IBC documents is as follows:

      .1 IBC documents are only published with the consensus of IBC Steering Committee Members.
      .2 Working drafts of new or revised documents are distributed to the constituent organizations for their comments.
      .3 Final drafts of all new and revised documents are sent to the constituent organisations for information only and are deemed to be endorsed by the Steering Committee.
      .4 Steering Committee Members reserve the right to request that constituent organizations be afforded the opportunity to review and ratify the documents.

    8.2 If applicable, the CCA arranges for the publication, distribution and sales of IBC documents following their endorsement.

    8.3 Copyright of IBC documents is held by the constituent organizations. Reported copyright violations are reviewed and enforced by the constituent organizations.

    9. Administration

    9.1 The services of an Executive Secretary are provided to the IBC by the CCA.

    9.2 The IBC administrative services are defined by the Steering Committee and underwritten by the CCA.

    9.3 The IBC operational costs, that may include the services of experts and advisors, are cost-shared amongst the constituent organizations and owner sector organizations that, through their representation, take part in the work of the Institute

    9.4 Estimates of revenue and expenditures for the year are prepared by the CCA, in consultation with the IBC Steering Committee and distributed at the beginning of each fiscal year for review. For the purpose of IBC, the fiscal year shall be January 1st to December 31st.

    9.5 Quarterly financial statements of operations for the IBC, against the annual budget, are prepared by the CCA and distributed to the Steering Committee.

    10.0 Expense Reimbursement Policy

    The Institute will not reimburse Committee members for expenses incurred to attend meetings. They may seek reimbursement from their constituent organizations.

    11.0 Terms of Reference

    Any revision or amendment to these terms of reference or procedures is subject to the approval of the Steering Committee.

    April 2012