BIM words explained

Area: a part of the window showing one view (the 3D view, a plan, a sheet…) under its own header. See View areas.

Assembly: a named list of layers (material, thickness, function) that walls, floors or roofs are built of. See Layered assemblies.

BIM: Building Information Modelling. Modelling a building as real elements that know what they are, rather than as lines.

Core: the structural layers of a layered wall, floor or roof.

Crop box: a box that cuts a 3D view down to what is inside it. See Crop boxes.

Curtain wall: a wall made of a grid of mullions holding glass or panels. See Curtain walls.

Cut height: how high above its level a floor plan cuts the building.

Edit mode: an element opened so every one of its points, edges and faces can be picked and reshaped (Tab). See Edit mode.

Element: one thing in the model: a wall, a door, a slab, a level, a view.

Elevation: a level's height above the project's zero, or a view of the building's outside from one side. See Sections and elevations.

Extrude: pull a flat shape out into a solid.

Grid: labelled reference lines (A, B, C and 1, 2, 3) for setting out a building. See Grids.

Hatch: the pattern drawn where a section cuts a material.

Host: the element another belongs to: a wall hosts its doors and windows.

IFC: Industry Foundation Classes, the open file format BIM programs share models with. See IFC.

Insertion point: where a profile sits on the path it is swept along. See Profiles.

Instance: one element of a type.

Level: a floor of the building at a height. Also called a storey. See Levels.

Location line: the line a wall is drawn and dimensioned on. See Walls.

Master: the frame and title block a sheet is drawn on; change it and every sheet on it changes. See Masters.

Mass: a free 3D shape, for studies or anything that isn't a standard element. See Masses.

Modifier: a change to a mass's shape (an array, a bevel, a shell…) kept apart from the shape itself, so it can be changed or removed later. See Masses.

Mullion: a bar of a curtain wall's grid.

Override: a value an instance sets for itself instead of taking its type's.

Pitch: the slope of a roof, in degrees.

Plan: a view from above, cut at the cut height. See Views.

Profile: a cross-section drawn once and used for sweeps, extrusions, columns, beams and railings. See Profiles.

Revision cloud: a scalloped outline on a sheet round what changed, with its revision letter. See Sheets.

Schedule: a table of elements made from the model. See Schedules.

Section: a view of the building cut along a line. See Sections and elevations.

Shaft: a vertical hole through the floors between two levels. See Holes.

Sheet: a page of paper with views placed on it and a title block. See Sheets.

Sill: the height of a window's (or opening's) bottom edge above its wall's base.

Slab: a floor, ceiling or terrace plate. See Slabs.

Split: cutting an element in two along a line you choose. See Split.

Snap: the pointer jumping to an exact point, such as a corner. See Snaps.

Style pack: a project's drawing standard in one file: pens, object styles, hatches, view templates and number formats. See Graphic styles.

Type: a shared definition many elements follow. See Types.

Underlay: another level shown faintly under a plan, to trace.

View: a saved way of looking at the model: plan, section, elevation, 3D view or schedule.

Viewport: a view placed on a sheet.

Workplane: the plane sketches and guides drawn in 3D go on. See Sketches.

Workspace: a named layout of view areas: Model, Drawing, Document, Sheets or your own. See Workspaces.