Certifying BIM professionals: the reference practice open for consultation

Until 20 December 2019, a draft Reference Practice (PdR) on BIM professional roles, developed by the experts of the UNI/PdR working table in collaboration with ACCREDIA, will be available for public consultation on the UNI website.

The aim of the PdR? To give practical guidance on how persons are assessed and certified in accordance with UNI 11337-7, ensuring transparency and consistency in voluntary conformity assessment processes. In response to the need to find qualified staff, whose presence in company organisation charts is also linked to the award criteria of international and Italian tenders, UNI 11337-7 sets out the requirements for the professional activity of the roles in the BIM process, dividing them into the specific tasks and activities carried out by each professional, in terms of knowledge, skills and competence. So we have the CDE manager, who manages the common data environment, the BIM manager, who manages digitalised processes, the BIM coordinator, who coordinates the project information flows, and the BIM specialist, an advanced operator in information management and modelling.

NQA is a certification body that carries out the activities needed to verify whether a candidate meets the required competence, skills and knowledge, and is structured to ensure independence, impartiality, transparency, competence and consistency in assessments by adopting and following a documented management system. Candidates who show that they meet the minimum requirements are admitted to the certification exam, which has three parts: a written test with closed multiple-choice questions, a practical test based on a case study that differs for each role, and finally an oral exam. Each year NQA carries out the necessary document checks to maintain and confirm the validity of the certificates issued to each certified professional, which are valid for five years.