Following the merger of the UK BIM Alliance and buildingSMART UK&I this month, the Alliance have published a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) relating to the merger
As announced at the BuildingSMART International Summit on 30 October, the UK BIM Alliance has merged with buildingSMART UK & Ireland. The merger makes the Alliance the UK & Ireland branch of buildingSMART, with the chair of the Alliance becoming the chair of the Chapter.
The FAQs, which are published on the Alliance website, explain the reasons for and benefits of the merger, along with detail about how the practicalities of the merger will happen over the next 12 months. The FAQs also include answers to common questions such as:
- What will happen to the bSUKI brand?
- What will happen to the International work of bSUKI?
- How will the merger affect Software Vendors?
- Will Open Standards work be affected? And
- I’m a member of bSUKI – will I have to pay again?
The merger agreement has taken just two months to develop and Martin Penney, vice Chair of UK BIM Alliance, who led the merger group, explained that the process went very smoothly.
“The merger agreement, whilst a complex document, was developed quite quickly because the two parties have so many aligned values. We’re very pleased with the result and look forward to working more closely together.”
Vice chair of bsUKI Nick Nisbet will head up the buildingSMART work within the Alliance, and outlined the benefits of the merger for both parties:
“As the home of open BIM standards in the UK and Ireland, bsUKI needs to work closely with the community it serves,” he said. “The Alliance benefits from the international contacts of the Chapter, and the Chapter benefits from organisation of the Alliance, and the opportunity to draw on the community of BIM advocates that the Alliance can reach.”
The FAQs also confirm that for the time being the Alliance will use a logo which combines its existing logo with that of buildingSMART, pending a branding review in the coming year.
