ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a general introduction to the fundamental concepts behind the paradigm of building information modelling (BIM) and to elaborate its importance in the land administration domain. It describes open BIM standards and relevant Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) entities for urban land administration. The foundation of the BIM-based paradigm is underpinned by two related computer-based models, namely Computer Aided Design models, and building product models. The chapter presents a comparison between the IFC standard and other 3D spatial data models, particularly the CityGML standard, to highlight the capabilities of the IFC standard in digitizing urban land administration data. It also provides an overview of relevant BIM projects in the land administration domain. The common perception of the BIM environment is that it is a collaborative process for creating and managing 3D physical dimensions of a built asset. Proprietary BIM environments would result in significant data interoperability issues during the project lifecycle.
