Naming Objects in BIM: A Convention and a Semiautomatic Approach

Abstract

A consistent and easily recognizable name is the primary identifier of an object in building information modeling (BIM). Existing naming conventions vary significantly and require extensive manual work that is often tedious and error-prone. This study (1) develops a standardized naming convention for BIM objects and (2) devises a semiautomatic naming approach for saving manual work. In the proposed naming convention, each segment is included by referencing BIM standards with a consideration of BIM users’ actual needs, and the semiautomatic approach is formalized for both completed and ongoing BIM models. Validated by a control experiment and feedback from the project manager and BIM engineers of a real-life project, this research can be immediately applied to realize standardized BIM object names. This study also generates practical implications for BIM-based project management, where standardized BIM object names are required for supporting object identification and information incorporation throughout a project lifecycle.