The document is an extensive glossary of frequently used terms and abbreviations in the construction industry, created by Cobuilder to help navigate the evolving landscape of construction technology and standards. Key terms covered include roles like manufacturer, contractor, and quantity surveyor, as well as regulations and methodologies such as LEED and BREEAM. It also includes explanations of data management practices and software tools essential for modern construction processes.

1. All the trending abbreviations you need to know
‘s
Guide to the
Construction Galaxy

2. Hello!
The emergence of new technologies allows us to build better than ever and by giving us powerful
tools to oversee and control every detail in the building process. Never before have we had such
an in depth knowledge of the products and materials used in a building, which in turn has
allowed the industry to create many new construction standards.
In this rapidly changing environment it becomes sometimes difficult keep track of the
terminology, which is why we at coBuilder decided to sum up some of the most frequently used
terms in the following slides.
This “Guide to the Construction Galaxy” or in other words Construction Industry Glossary is
created by coBuilder and it consists of some of the important terms and abbreviations currently
used in the construction domain.
We hope you find this glossary useful.
Enjoy!

3. The Basics
Manufacturer – A person or a company that makes products for sale
Wholesaler – A large merchant of construction material used by Contractors and Subcontractors
Contractor – A company that undertakes a contract to complete a facility or infrastructure
project in part or in whole
FM (Facility Management) – Is the entity concerned in maintaining, preserving and restoring
buildings or infrastructures
Asset manager – A person who’s line of work concerns the cost-efficient deployment,
operation, maintenance and disposal of the assets

4. The basics continued…
Quantity surveyor – is a professional, who is concerned with construction product quantities,
costs and contracts. Their responsibilities include cost planning and commercial management
throughout the entire life cycle of the project from inception to post-completion
Specifier – A designer, an architect or anyone else, usually with an engineering background,
who would specify the use of particular products in the (technical) design stage of a construction
project
buildingSMART International - a neutral, international organization supporting open BIM
through the building life cycle. buildingSMART International has regional chapters in Europe,
North America, Australia, Asia and Middle East
FIEC – European Construction Industry Federation
UNIEP - The International Union of Painting Contractors

5. Regulations and Documents
REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) - In effect since
1 June 2007. The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals aims to
ensure high level of protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can
be posed by chemicals, the promotion of alternative test methods and the free circulation of
substances on the internal market and enhancing the competitiveness and innovation
SDS (Safety Data Sheets) - A Safety Data Sheet is a document that contains information on
the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with
chemical products and substances. The Safety Data Sheets are a requirement in the REACH
regulation and must be easily accessible by the workers on a construction site in either
digital or paper format

6. Regulations and Documents
CPR (Construction Products Regulation) - The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) lays
down harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products in the EU. The Regulation
provides a common technical language to assess the performance of construction products. It
ensures that reliable information is available to professionals, public authorities, and consumers,
so they can compare the performance of products from different manufacturers in different
countries
DoP (Declaration of Performance) - From 1 July 2013, under the Construction Products
Regulation (CPR), it became mandatory for manufacturers to apply CE marking to any of their
products covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN) or a European Technical Assessment
(ETA). The Declaration of performance is a key document required for the CE marking of the
products. It provides information on the performance of a product according to various
(laboratory) tests performed by EU approved notified bodies

7. Environmental
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) – A
standard for best practice in sustainable building design. A BREEAM assessment uses recognised
measures of performance, which are set against established benchmarks, to evaluate a building’s
specification, design, construction and use. BREEAM is the world's foremost environmental
assessment method and rating system for buildings, with 425,000 buildings with certified
BREEAM assessment ratings and two million registered for assessment since it was first launched
in 1990
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) - LEED, or Leadership in Energy &
Environmental Design, is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class
building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy
prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) - In life cycle assessment, an environmental product
declaration (EPD) is a standardized way of quantifying the environmental impact of a product or
system

8. Classification systems and common exchange formats
Classification system – standardised system being developed to ensure that data is able to be
indexed and structured to make it easily accessible in a common format integrates with the
Digital Plan of Work
BIM – Building Information Modelling. It describes the process of designing a building
collaboratively using one coherent system of computer models rather than as separate sets of
drawings
OpenBIM - OpenBIM is a licence free BIM version. This is an initiative of several leading
software vendors using the open buildingSMART Data Model.
Common data exchange format – A unified data format used for the exchange of common
data structures across design and BIM software tools
CDE (Common data environment) – Single source of information for any given project, used
to collect, manage and disseminate all relevant approved project documents for multi-disciplinary
teams in a managed process

9. Classification systems and common exchange formats
IFC – Industry Foundation Classes. A file format intended to enable communication between
different platforms in the BIM process. It is easily customizable. This is the language of OpenBIM
bSDD – buildingSmart Data Dictionary. It provides definitions, translations and relations for
different concepts related to the construction industry
COBie – Construction Operations Building Information Exchange. An Excel file with a list of
everything installed in a building - a way to see the model of a building. From 2016 in UK a legal
note on passing building information from the contractor to the facility owner/FM
Uniclass – Unified Classification for the Construction Industry. This is a classification system
primarily used in Europe, for the first time published in 1997 in the UK by the construction Project
Information Committee
Omniclass – Construction Classification System. The Omniclass provides classification structure
to the construction projects, however unlike the Uniclass, the Omniclass is primarily used in the
United States

10. Software
Autodesk Revit - is building information modelling software for architects, structural
engineers, MEP engineers, designers and contractors. It is one of the most used system today
Sketch UP - (formerly Google Sketchup) is a 3D modelling computer program for a wide range
of drawing applications such as architectural, interior design, civil and mechanical engineering,
film, and video game design
Bentley Microstation - is a CAD software product for two and three dimensional design and
drafting, developed and sold by Bentley Systems
ArchiCAD - is an architectural BIM CAD software developed by Graphisoft. ArchiCAD offers
computer aided solutions for handling all common aspects of aesthetics and engineering during
the whole design process of the built environment — buildings, interiors, urban areas, etc.

11. BIM Related
Level of Development - Level of development is the maximum amount of information and
geometry that is authorized for use by others to ensure that there is a benchmark for the
complexity of the data throughout the life-cycle of the project. The detail may be defined in terms
of 'geometry' and 'information' needs
Level of Detail (LoD) - This is the amount of information and geometry provided by the content
author or other project participant
Level of Information (LoI) - term to denote stages of non-graphic information requirement
throughout a project
PAS 1192-2:2013 - Specification for information management for the capital/delivery phase
of construction projects using building information modelling
PDT (Product Data Template) - a unified method of providing manufacturer data for
application in the BIM process

12. More BIM related
MPDS (Master Product Data Sheet) – A coBuilder developed data template encompassing
all major product properties including geometry and other technical values. The MPDS makes data
easily exchangeable across software tools and allows easy data attribution to the BIM models
Data drops - the digital equivalent of “Stage Reports” (in the “pre-BIM” world) where
information is fed from the BIM to the client. The actual content of these is not yet defined but
these drops are key points of reference for clients and the design/delivery team. e.g. “COBie
drops”
RIBA plan of work – RIBA Plan of Work is the definitive UK model for the building design and
construction process. The online tool revolves around these eight project stages, providing a
flexible “kit of parts” that can be used to produce a focused practice or project-specific Plan of
Work
Federated model – Compilation of models from one or more programs that can define a
complete or partial data set for a design

13. BIM Levels
BIM Level 0 - Unmanaged CAD, in 2D, with paper (or electronic paper) data exchange
BIM Level 1 - Managed CAD in 2D or 3D format with a collaborative tool providing a common
data environment with a standardised approach to data structure and format. Commercial data
will be managed by standalone finance and cost management packages with no integration
BIM Level 2 - A managed 3D environment held in separate discipline 'BIM' tools with data
attached. Commercial data will be managed by enterprise resource planning software and
integrated by proprietary interfaces or bespoke middleware. This level of BIM may
utilise 4D construction sequencing and/or 5D cost information
BIM Level 3 - A fully integrated and collaborative process enabled by 'web services' and
compliant with emerging Industry Foundation Class (IFC) standards. This level of BIM will
utilise 4D construction sequencing,5D cost information and 6D project lifecycle management
information

14. About us
coBuilder has a long-lasting expertise in the building industry and a proud history of
trendsetting when it comes to comprehensive digital solutions for players up and down the supply
chain.
Over the last 18 years our company has provided thousands of the largest European
contractors, wholesalers and clients with robust and versatile IT solutions, helping them regain
control over their own projects by optimising significantly their workflow and saving them a great
amount of resources in the meantime.

15. Contacts
Vollsveien 9-11, PO box 426
1327 Lysaker
support@cobuilder.no
coBuilder Norway
+44 (0)7471 947346
nick.tune@cobuilder.com
coBuilder UK