Document metadata helps organize, filter, and find documents in BIMcollab. By consistently completing metadata fields, teams can ensure documents remain searchable, reliable, and easy to manage throughout a project’s lifecycle.
A document's metadata can be viewed from the document details page.
As a user, you can add metadata either during the document upload process or by editing a document. The values for some fields are preset (are selected from a dropdown list) by the space administrator or project leader, and some can be inserted freely.
⚠️ Attention: Depending on your project's document upload settings (determined by the Project leader), it may be mandatory to enter certain metadata. You can read more about the different upload methods in this article: Upload documents
Document-level metadata
These fields describe the document as a whole and usually apply to all versions.
* Available values are defined by the space administrator or project leader.
** Pre-selected at moment of upload, this cannot be edited.
Types without an asterisk are text fields or date fields that can be freely entered.
Document name*
The name of the document as it appears in BIMcollab. This can be freely defined or follow a document naming convention according to the project settings.
Descriptions
Up to three description fields can be used to describe the document content in more detail. These fields are typically used for summaries or additional context.
Document date
The issue date of the first version of the document.
Location**
The highest level in the spatial structure. It represents the overall location the document belongs to.
Project**
The project within the selected location to which the document is uploaded.
Project phase**
An optional level that indicates the phase of the project the document was uploaded to (for example, design, tender, or construction).
Attached to*
The most specific spatial level in the hierarchy. The document can be attached to a specific element such as a plot, building, storey, or part depending on the project setup.
Document type
Used to classify documents (for example: model, drawing, document). Document types make it easier to filter documents in the Documents tab.
Discipline*
Indicates the discipline the document belongs to, such as Architecture, Structure, or MEP.
Author*
The organization responsible for the document. This is based on the user companies associated with the BIMcollab space.
Labels*
Optional tags that add additional meaning or categorization to documents. Multiple labels can be assigned to a single document.
Work package codes*
A unique identifier that allows documents to be grouped into one or more work packages.
External references
External references provide an overview of all links to resources outside BIMcollab that are related to a document.
They include both manually added external references (at document-level) and External links added to specific document versions, which are summarized here.
Version-specific metadata
Some metadata applies to individual versions of a document and may change over time.
* Available values are defined by the space administrator.
** The publication state is determined by a document's approval, either manually or through a workflow.
Types without an asterisk are text fields or date fields that can be freely entered.
Version number
A number or letter identifying the document version.
Version date
The date of the specific document version.
Version description
A short explanation of what changed in this version.
Status*
Indicates the current state of the document (for example: draft, shared, approved). Status values are defined per space.
Publication state**
Indicates how a document version may be shared and used in accordance with ISO 19650 document states in BIMcollab.
Scale
The drawing or model scale.
Paper size
The intended print size.
File name
Name of the original file that was uploaded to BIMcollab.
This cannot be edited.
External link
External links connected to a specific document version. These links are also summarized under External references, showing which version they belong to.
⚠️ Attention: External References and External Links are distinct from Linked documents and Attachments features. While External References and Links connect documents to resources outside the BIMcollab environment, Linked documents and Attachments are used to associate documents within BIMcollab, such as linking related documents or adding supplementary files. Read more about this topic in the article: document associations.
Using metadata to find and filter documents
Metadata makes it possible to quickly find the right documents, even in large projects. In the Documents tab, you can use metadata to filter and narrow down the document list.
Example
In the example above, the document list is filtered using the following metadata:
Project
A specific project is selected in the spatial structure on the left, limiting the document list to documents uploaded to that project.Document type
The filter panel is used to select the document type showing only documents with the model type.Publication state
The Published tab is selected, displaying only documents with a published publication state.
By combining multiple metadata filters, you can quickly reduce large document sets to a relevant and manageable selection.
Saved filters
Frequently used filter combinations can be saved for quick access. This allows users to reuse and share common searches without reapplying filters each time.
You can read more about Saved filters in this article: Customizing columns in a document list and using filters
📝 Note: The admins can learn how to set up the values such as Disciplines, Status, Label, Author,... from our How to define document metadata article.