Common Data Environment (CDE)
CDE is defined as the place where all the subjects involved in a specific job order can store, share, manage and process information in order to carry out their activities.
BIM-Based Collaborative Building Process Management
The common data environment (CDE), explained in BS1192-2007 by Mervyn Richards OBE and the BSI publication BIP2207, is the single source of information used to collect, manage and disseminate documentation, the graphical model and non-graphical data for the whole project team (i.e. all project information whether created in a BIM environment or in a conventional data format). Creating this single source of information facilitates collaboration between project team members and helps avoid duplication and mistakes.
OpenCDE
Documents API
BIM Levels
If we refer to the Bew-Richards maturity model, (or as it is affectionately known, “the wedge”) Level 2 BIM is described as collaborative rather than integrated, which is the Level 3 description. Collaborative BIM is actually an assembly of distinct, interlinked domain models (rather than a single model) each produced by individual contributors. Known as federation this series of models gives a completed picture of the asset. PAS 1192 refers to the central place in which these models and information are brought together as the Common Data Environment (CDE).