Frequently Asked Questions
General
Professional Certification is an international program developed by buildingSMART to support openBIM training and competency assurance. It comprises two levels: Foundation and Practitioner.
The Foundation level is the first Phase of Professional Certification
Professional Certification - Practitioner will be released at different times in different countries. We expect the first release to be in late 2022.
The process for professional ‘certification' is defined in the international standard ISO 17024 and must conform to fairly strict requirements. The Foundation level does not adhere to these requirements and therefore uses the term 'qualification' in place of 'certification'.
The Professional Certification program is currently only offered in specific countries, Please refer to our website, for contact details in your region. https://education.buildingsmart.org/contact/
If there is no local Chapter in your region, you can attend any online courses registered by any buildingSMART Chapter as long as the registered Provider offer the course and exam in your preferred language. Please contact your preferred local Chapter or training provider for further details.
buildingSMART Qualification is conferred on a candidate after successfully completing an online Qualification exam as part of the Foundation level.
The Qualification Exam is a 25 question mutliple-choice test. It is administered through the buildingSMART Qualification Platform, which is built on the Moodle learning platform.
buildingSMART International sets no restrictions on where the online test is taken, however, Chapters are free to require the test be undertaken in training centres. Please contact your local Chapter or training provider for further details.
Yes. Upon successfully completing the Qualification exam, the candidate will be issued with a digital certificate to attest to their qualification.
No, there is no qualification conferred with the Foundation level. However, you will be able to state that you have completed the buildingSMART Professional Certification - Foundation exam and will have a certificate to prove this.
It will demonstrate that you have a basic knowledge of BIM that is consistent with international standards and best practices.
The cost of the exam is set by each buildingSMART Chapter, however, the cost will fall within the range of 75.00-125.00 Euro. This fee is included in the course fee and is paid by the training provider on behalf of the candidate.
Candidates can sit the exam for a second time. Re-exam fee may apply. Please contact your provider for further details
No. You must attend a buildingSMART approved course from a registered training provider before you can sit the qualification exam.
Yes. buildingSMART registered training providers can offer online trainings.
Only the “Basic” curriculum is currently available, however, the curriculum for “Owner/Operator”, “Contractor”, ”Designer”, “Building Performance”, “COBie” will be released in early 2022, with others to follow.
Training Providers
This is to be decided by each chapter individually. Contact your local Chapter to find out more. https://education.buildingsmart.org/contact/
The company must have at least three years' experience in organising and delivering professional training. The training personnel must have three years' experience in the construction industry, experience with Building Information Modeling and didactic experience.
Registered training providers can offer their courses in any country where there is no established buildingSMART Professional Certification program. In countries where there is an established program, the training provider must have their course approved by the national buildingSMART chapter.
Learning Content
The Learning Outcome Framework lists the individual Learning Outcomes (25-30) for a specific curriculum that must be delivered in an approved course.
Yes. The Learning Outcomes are made publicly available by buildingSMART, however, the learning content (the so-called Body of Knowledge) is only provided to registered training providers.
You can download the Learning Outcomes here.
The Body of Knowledge is a resource of all learning content that is covered in the learning outcomes. It is provided by buildingSMART to registred training providers to develop their courses.
