The introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) takes place in different stages, each with different characteristics. A distinction is made between "little BIM" and "big BIM" as well as "open BIM" and "closed BIM".
"Little BIM" refers to a less comprehensive application of BIM that takes place primarily within a single office or discipline, such as a design office or among architects, engineers, contractors or FM – Facility Management. The software used here usually supports only one discipline, resulting in a more isolated use.
In contrast, there is "big BIM", where the BIM method is applied across disciplines. All project participants are included along the entire value chain of a building's life cycle. The software used supports various specialist disciplines, which leads to a consistent solution.
There is also "open BIM" and "closed BIM", which refer to the openness of the software solutions. "Open BIM" describes a software landscape with open interfaces that allow software solutions from different manufacturers to be seamlessly integrated. In contrast, there is "closed BIM", where the software landscape of a single manufacturer offers no compatibility with external solutions and is often considered proprietary..
