Plain-English definitions of the BIM, Revit and AEC terms used throughout the Nexar Group product suite — including Nexar Docs, Nexar Plan and Nexar Core.
The use of software to generate dimension lines on a Revit model automatically — across plans, sections, elevations and 3D views — based on geometric rules and company standards. Replaces manual dimension placement, eliminating hours of repetitive work per sheet. Nexar Docs is a Revit automation plugin that performs automated dimensioning.
Related: Revit, BIM, Nexar Docs.
The automated placement of element tags (door tags, room tags, wall tags, etc.) on a Revit view, with controlled leader geometry to avoid overlaps and crowded areas. Reduces manual click-and-place work across hundreds of elements per sheet.
Related: Revit, Nexar Docs.
A digital approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings using a coordinated 3D model enriched with structured data. BIM models are produced in tools like Autodesk Revit and contain geometry plus parametric information about materials, performance, classifications and lifecycle. Used by architects, engineers, contractors and facility managers.
Related: Revit, IFC, Digital delivery.
An open data standard for capturing asset information about a building during design and construction so that facility-management teams can ingest it on day one of operations. COBie is typically delivered as a structured spreadsheet or IFC file containing rooms, equipment, components, spares and warranty information. Mandated on many UK and US public sector projects.
Related: BIM, IFC, Nexar Docs.
A unified UK construction classification system maintained by NBS, used to classify everything from project locations to systems, products and activities. Applied to BIM elements as parameters so that schedules, cost plans and asset data can be filtered consistently across disciplines and projects.
Related: BIM, COBie, Omniclass.
A classification system for the North American construction industry, developed by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). Provides classification tables for products, work results, elements, services and other construction information. Often applied to Revit elements via shared parameters.
Related: BIM, Uniclass.
The process of identifying geometric collisions between elements in a coordinated BIM model — for example, a duct passing through a beam or a pipe clashing with a structural column. Performed in tools like Autodesk Navisworks, Solibri, or directly inside Revit. Nexar Docs includes in-Revit 2D and 3D clash detection with PDF, HTML and Excel reporting.
Related: BIM, Revit, Nexar Docs.
A binary CAD drawing file format developed by Autodesk and used as the native format for AutoCAD drawings. DWG drawings carry 2D and 3D geometry on layers and are the most common source format for legacy architectural, structural and MEP drawings. Nexar Plan converts structured DWG drawings into native Revit elements.
Related: CAD, Revit, Nexar Plan.
Autodesk Revit is the industry-leading BIM authoring application for architecture, structure and MEP design. Revit models contain parametric system families, host-based elements, sheets, schedules and views — all coordinated from a single project file. Nexar Group products run as Revit plugins and currently support Autodesk Revit 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Related: BIM, Revit family, Revit plugin.
A parametric component definition in Revit. Families come in three categories: system families (walls, floors, roofs — built into Revit), loadable families (.rfa files for doors, windows, equipment etc.) and in-place families. Each family contains types and instance parameters that drive geometry and information.
Related: Revit, BIM.
An external application that extends Autodesk Revit, typically built using the Revit API in C# or .NET. Plugins appear as ribbon panels, push-buttons or external commands inside Revit and can automate documentation, geometry, data management or import/export workflows. Nexar Docs and Nexar Plan are Revit automation plugins.
Related: Revit, Nexar Docs, Nexar Plan.
The collective industry covering the design and delivery of buildings and infrastructure — architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers, contractors, BIM managers and digital delivery teams. AEC software is the category of design and engineering tools used across these workflows.
Related: BIM, Digital delivery.
The discipline of structuring, automating and quality-assuring information flows across a construction project — from design models through to handover data. Digital delivery teams set BIM execution plans, manage common data environments (CDEs), enforce naming and classification standards, and oversee model health and information deliverables.
Related: BIM, BIM manager, COBie.
A quality-assurance review of a Revit model checking for issues that affect performance, consistency and downstream usability — warnings, unplaced elements, broken references, missing parameters, oversized worksets, naming-convention deviations, etc. Nexar Docs automates model health reporting with project-level dashboards.
Related: BIM, Revit, Nexar Docs.
An open, vendor-neutral data schema for sharing BIM information between different applications. Maintained by buildingSMART. IFC is the format of choice for openBIM workflows and is mandated on many public sector projects. Revit can export and import IFC.
Related: BIM, COBie, Revit.
The building services disciplines covering heating/cooling, ventilation, electrical distribution, lighting, fire systems, water and drainage. MEP modelling in Revit uses dedicated system families and connectors. Nexar Plan supports MEP DWG-to-Revit conversion.
Related: BIM, Revit, Nexar Plan.
The role responsible for setting and policing BIM standards across a practice or project — Revit templates, family libraries, classification schemas, model health, deliverables and training. BIM managers are the primary internal customer for Revit automation tooling such as Nexar Docs.
Related: BIM, Digital delivery.
A scale describing how reliably a BIM element represents the real-world component at a given project stage. LOD 100 is conceptual; LOD 200 is approximate geometry; LOD 300 is precise geometry; LOD 400 is fabrication-ready; LOD 500 is as-built. Defined by the BIMForum LOD Specification.
Related: BIM, Digital delivery.
The extraction of measurable quantities (areas, volumes, lengths, counts) from a BIM model for use in cost estimation, procurement and construction planning. Revit schedules provide the base data; Nexar Docs automates quantity takeoff outputs with Excel sync.
Related: BIM, Revit, Nexar Docs.
A live tabular view of model elements and their parameters in Revit — door schedules, room schedules, equipment schedules, etc. Updates automatically as the model changes. Nexar Docs accelerates schedule creation and provides bi-directional Excel sync.
Related: Revit, Quantity takeoff, Nexar Docs.
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