BIMspec allows a design firm to integrate Building Information Modeling with their Office Master Specifications. In 2006, Kalin Associates developed a 9,500-line spreadsheet and database named SPie (Specifier’s Property Information Exchange) for a national organization of specifiers, the Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice (SCIP). In 2009, the National Institute of Building Sciences, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, displayed the initial property set templates on the Whole Building Design Guide’s Product Guide.

BIMspec expands architectural designers’ capabilities in BIM, using language which is currently scattered in the silos of specialists. The design developed by the architect should allow the model to speak in the traditional languages of our industry, from cost estimators using Uniformat to specification writers using Masterformat, from the work letters of the contractors to LEED certification and to the global factories of the product manufacturers and their trade organizations.

BIMspec can be implemented in Revit with attributes and naming conventions, or in your office outline and master specifications.