Government Affairs

1. Our approach to public policy

Building and infrastructure information often has to stay usable for decades, long after the software that created it has changed. We therefore advocate for open, vendor-neutral data standards such as IFC (ISO 16739-1), both in the requirements public bodies set when they procure design and construction work and in the way they manage the information about their assets.

When we take part in public policy discussions, we:

• speak in ForensicBIM's own name and make clear whose interests we represent;
• give accurate information that can be checked, and correct it if it turns out to be wrong;
• follow the rules of the institutions we deal with on access, consultation and transparency; and
• keep policy discussions separate from sales, and do not use them to influence a procurement in which we take part.

2. How we engage

We engage with governments and public bodies mainly through:

• technical contributions to the development of open standards (see section 3);
• responses to public consultations;
• the activities of local and national trade associations; and
• meetings and presentations with public officials, on topics such as open standards and the quality of the digital information that public asset owners receive.

3. Standards bodies and associations

ForensicBIM is not a formal member of any standards body or trade association. We do contribute actively to the following:

Our Service checks files against some of the standards we help develop. We therefore take part openly in ForensicBIM's name and follow each organisation's rules, including those on competition law and conflicts of interest. The positions these organisations take are their own and do not necessarily reflect ours.

4. Lobbying and transparency registers

ForensicBIM is not currently registered in any lobbying or transparency register. Before we carry out any activity that requires registration, such as certain meetings with EU institutions or lobbying contacts covered by US federal or state law, we will register and list the registration on this page.

5. Political contributions

ForensicBIM makes no contributions, in money or in kind, to political parties, candidates, election campaigns, political action committees or other organisations whose main purpose is political.

Our staff are free to take part in political activities in their own name and their own time. They do not do so on behalf of ForensicBIM, and we do not reimburse political contributions.

6. Public officials and public procurement

Our rules on bribery, gifts and hospitality for public officials, fair procurement and conflicts of interest are set out under Business conduct on our Compliance page. Information for procurement teams is under Information for public sector buyers, and contract changes that public bodies need are covered in section 19 of our Terms of Service.

When we hire or engage former public officials, we respect any restrictions that still apply to them, such as cooling-off periods.

7. Contact

Questions about our public policy activities, or concerns about how we deal with public officials, can be sent to support@forensicbim.business. Concerns are handled as described under Reporting security issues and concerns.

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