BIM&CO is introducing the international classification standard ETIM to its platform. ETIM provides a standardised way of classifying electrical and climate control products
BIM&CO is introducing the international classification standard ETIM to its platform. ETIM provides a standardised way of classifying electrical and climate control products, simplifying the process of communicating and exchanging information about them at every stage of their life cycle. By making it easier to provide architects, design offices and construction companies with access to high-quality data for these products, BIM&CO is accelerating the digitalisation of the building sector.
ETIM is one of the main classification standards in use in the electrical and HVAC sector. Most major electrical and climate control engineering companies, such as Legrand, GE, Delta Dore, Hager, Atlantic, Aldes, Müller, Schneider Electric, Philips and Sonepar, are today using the ETIM standard.
Through its working partnership with Trace Software, the company responsible for developing and producing the Elec Calc and Elec Calc BIM electrical calculation and design software applications, BIM&CO has acquired a unique range of expertise in the digitalisation of BIM products manufactured by the electrical industry. This expertise has facilitated the process of adding and incorporating the ETIM cataloguing system. This new form of classification increases system interoperability and product cataloguing, and makes it easier for manufacturers to provide product specifications and recommendations.
Valentin Malemanche, product expert at BIM&CO: “The introduction of ETIM to our platform means technical advisors now have the ability to search using the ETIM classification and can more rapidly find the product or technical data they are looking for, which is consistent with our philosophy of ensuring interoperability between the various industry standards. Manufacturers that already have their own ETIM-based catalogue management tool can now upload their data directly to the platform, with our solution taking care of the process of automatically mapping it. Because it uses the BIM&CO object property system as a basis, this integration of ETIM also simplifies the work of the partners responsible for developing the professional software applications (ElecCalc, ClimaWin, etc.). BIM&CO’s open classification system is currently the only system that enables users to go so far in terms of facilitating the exchange of manufactured product data. “
By making the ETIM classification model available, BIM&CO is increasing the speed at which manufacturers are able to digitise their catalogues. Through its open object property management system, OPMS, the BIM&CO platform enables manufacturers to structure and distribute the data for their products and make it available to serve the needs of BIM software and processes, which feature at every stage of a building’s life cycle.
The objects can all be accessed at https://www.bimandco.com/en/bim_objects
About ETIM
ETIM (Electro-Technical Information Model) is an international classification and standardisation model designed to be used with the rich data associated with electrical and climate control products.
The model enables the data to be used in a rapid, fluid and automated manner to meet the needs of the many different uses to which it is currently put: catalogue creation, technical data sheet population, the supply of data for websites, 3D modelling for the construction industry, etc.
ETIM was introduced at the beginning of the 1990s by distributors and installation specialists in Germany and the Netherlands, with manufacturers from these two countries joining them at the beginning of the 2000s. Since that time, its use has expanded rapidly in the majority of European countries, such as in Denmark, Norway, Finland, and notably France, through a joint initiative of the FGME (Fédération des Grossistes en matériel électrique – Federation of Electrical Equipment Wholesalers) and the ETIM France association.
Enthusiasm for the model has also since spread to the North American continent, with IDEA (the Industry Data Exchange Association), which brings together manufacturers and distributors in the United States and Canada, now a member of ETIM International. Italy recently submitted its membership application, and the UK will likely follow suit in the near future. The ETIM model is currently at version 6.0 and consists of 2,500 classes, 7,500 features, more than 8,000 values/attributes and more than 100 units of measurement in its Electricity section. The model also includes HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) and construction industry products.