About the Program
The COBie Professional Certification™ examination exists to support individuals wishing to demonstrate their technical qualifications in understanding, producing, and checking data delivered in the open-standard COBie format. A presentation on the COBie Certified Professional™ effort was presented at the 2020 Virtual Summit.
This examination is administered directly by buildingSMART International and is currently available in English-only. As this program grows, we will add offerings in additional languages.
Goals
- To standardize qualifications producers and users of COBie data.
- To support owners who require COBie Certified Professionals.
- To support and accredit individuals.
Benefits
- Facility Owners
Owner’s need consistency and reduction of risk when specifying COBie deliverables. Owners need to validate bidder’s claims of competence. To ensure each team member can provide verified and validated COBie deliverables. With correct COBie data building portfolios may be put in operation more quickly and efficiently.
- Prime Contractors
Prime Contractors typically need to deliver standard-compliant COBie data. Their Certified Professionals™ reduce the risk in taking on projects with COBie requirements since they can quickly resolve unclear or conflicting project requirements.
- Contractor BIM Coordinators
Much of the production or testing of COBie data is accomplished by the prime contractor’s BIM Coordinator. A COBie Certified Professional™ does not need on-the-job training to accomplish this task. They are fully qualified and ready to take on the largest and most difficult projects. Having current as-built COBie data eliminates equipment room surveys, streamlines system commissioning, and reduces general contractor handover costs.
- Subcontractor MEP BIM Coordinators
BIM coordinators employed by Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing subcontractors often create the majority COBie construction deliverables. The COBie Certified Professional™ can reduce friction and delays in the capture and production of COBie data and ensure real-time as-built data is available for the entire duration of the project.
- BIM/COBie Consultants
For many projects, COBie data is subcontracted to third-party consultants who check and merge COBie data delivered by project teams. The COBie Certified Professional™ can reduce risk due to friction and delays in the capture and production prime and subcontractor data.
- Software Companies
COBie import and export testing began in 2007. Since that time, over 30 software products have been tested however there is no guarantee that these products have been contumacious in checking COBie input and/or export requirements as part of their updates. Software company COBie Certified Professionals™ can provide you with quality assurance that their software can be trusted to assist in the production and/or consumption of COBie data.
Next: Examination Structure