BIMvoice

There is a lot happening around free openBIM tools, and IFClite is giving me plenty of reasons to be excited.

The latest development covers cost information in IFC, terrain surfaces, profiles, cross-sections and pipe networks. The cost work alone went from nothing to reading, displaying and creating IFC cost information in about four days.

Think about that. A free, open source project is expanding into things we need for construction and infrastructure, while also improving how it handles the models we already have.

For me, this is where it gets really interesting. Opening a model is the beginning. The useful part is what you can do with the information inside it, and how many more people can participate when they have access to the tools.

A student who wants to explore IFC beyond geometry. A small consultancy trying a new workflow. A project team with an idea they want to test. This is the kind of development I want them to see.

There is still testing and refinement ahead, of course. I'm excited about the progress, not claiming every workflow is finished.

Louis Trümpler and the contributors are building something worth following. If you still think of IFClite as just a way to view a model, keep an eye on what is coming.

1 day ago | [YT] | 3

BIMvoice

One test I would add to a BIM software demo: show me how I leave.

Take a small set of equipment, with its identifiers, properties and related documents. Export it, open it somewhere else and check what arrived. Can I identify the same equipment? Are the values still usable? Can I find the documents?

An export button would not answer those questions for me. I would want to see the result.

This came to mind after a conversation this week about asset information and long-term operations. We discussed the concern of putting too much information into one vendor's system and depending on it for the years that follow.

I like good software, including commercial software. What matters to me is whether the owner has a practical choice later, without having to rebuild information they already paid to collect.

That is one reason I care about IFC and openBIM. But I would not assume that one IFC export contains everything the owner needs. Define what must be handed over, including information outside the model, and test it in the receiving system.

Ask for that demonstration while you are choosing the platform, not when you have already decided to leave it.

2 days ago | [YT] | 1

BIMvoice

I heard something in a meeting this week that made my day.

It came from someone working on a large project, close to the client. They told me the client has started to ask a simple question: what happens to our building data in year 20, when the software we use today has changed its price, its format or its owner?

For years I heard that question only from people like me, the ones who open IFC models for a living. Owners mostly did not care, because the model was something the design team delivered and nobody opened again.

That is changing, and the reason is money. If you operate a bridge or a water plant for 25 or 30 years, your asset information has to outlive every tool you buy. When it sits in one vendor's format, you pay that vendor for as long as you want to read your own data.

So the owner asks for IFC as the format that carries the information between tools, and asks for the requirements to be written down so they can be checked.

This is the best news I have had in a while, because openBIM moves fastest when the people who pay for the building ask for it.

Do you see owners asking for this on your projects yet?

3 days ago | [YT] | 2

BIMvoice

I'm launching an open source project, and I'm looking for five public organisations to help shape it.

A 2026 study prepared for the European Commission on BIM in public procurement identifies a problem I care about: many smaller public clients lack the capacity to define information requirements, check what they receive and use that information in their work. Having access to software does not solve that on its own.

After 11 years in Norwegian construction and infrastructure, and years inside the openBIM community, I want to help make this more accessible.

The project is called OpenPermitting. Today, it is a manifesto and a method published in the open. The aim is to develop practical tools for digital permit pre-checking, for buildings and infrastructure.

The workflow we want to build is simple to explain: submit an IFC model, check it against an agreed set of machine-checkable requirements, and produce an evidence report for a person to review. The software checks. People decide. Nothing gets automatically approved.

The technical direction is to build on IfcOpenShell and IFClite, using IFC, IDS and BCF, with local deployment and no proprietary software licence required. We will start with simulated cases based on publicly available requirements and be clear about what can and cannot be checked.

The first five public organisations to join will receive free advising and implementation support for one agreed pilot workflow. We will choose a specific submission type, define the requirements and test the checks together. Their reviewers will validate the results, and we will document what works and what still needs improvement.

Know a municipality or public authority willing to work with us on a pilot? Introduce us.

If you are part of the EU BIM Task Group, I would also welcome a chat about this work and where it could be useful. Please get in touch.

Project:
lnkd.in/ec4_SysB

EU study, BIM and Public Procurement:
lnkd.in/eU3Fut2c

5 days ago | [YT] | 4

BIMvoice

I generated a simple 4D schedule by storey from an IFC model in a few clicks inside IFClite. No MS Project.

Joe asked in the chat during the openBIM Clinic what IFClite could do for construction management. Scheduling is not my speciality, and I had not tried this feature before, so we opened a sample model and tested it live.

We chose a start date, set the days per storey and generated the schedule. Then we played the build animation, all in the browser.

It was a basic sequence, not a construction programme ready for site. But as a starting point, I thought it was very useful.

Then Joe joined on mic. He develops his own 4D application with IfcOpenShell and loaded one of his own IFC models to test it. IFClite detected the work plan, but missed the schedules nested inside it.

We created GitHub issues during the session, and I now have a Claude Code agent researching and building support for those nested schedules. It is still work in progress.

That is why I like testing these tools with people who actually do the work. Joe brought his own model, showed what was missing, and gave us something concrete to work on.

The screenshot is from that live test. Have you tried using your IFC models for construction sequencing?

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 19

BIMvoice

The EU just put in writing what everyone on public projects already knows.

Last week the EU published a study on BIM in public procurement, written for the European Commission ahead of the revision of the procurement directives. Six countries. I read it live on Wednesday. One finding stands out.

"While technology availability is no longer a primary constraint, small contracting authorities often lack the internal expertise necessary to define appropriate information requirements, assess BIM deliverables during procurement procedures and ensure that digital information is effectively used throughout the asset lifecycle."

And one line later: "The barriers identified across Member States are predominantly structural rather than technological."

So the problem is not the software. It is the client. The client who cannot write what information they need, cannot check what comes back, and cannot use it after handover. I have said this since the first day of BIMvoice, and I saw it on every public project I worked on in Norway. It is good to see it in an EU document.

The study calls it client capacity. In practice it means people. People inside public bodies who can read an IFC model, write an information requirement, and tell a good delivery from a bad one.

Which side of that line is your public client on?

op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/0…

You can watch me going over it: youtube.com/live/yXD9IO6zK7E

1 week ago | [YT] | 4

BIMvoice

Close to 20,000 people hold a buildingSMART certification. About 350 hold the one that changes what you get paid.

Here is what the three levels actually are, in one minute.

Entry is the awareness level. What openBIM is, why IFC exists, what the standards are for. No requirements, a short exam. Good for people who work around BIM without working in it.

Foundation is the theory. 26 learning outcomes across five modules: BIM terminology, ISO 19650 information management, the open standards, IFC, IDS, BCF, bSDD, and the asset lifecycle. An official buildingSMART exam, no experience needed. There is no modelling in it, and it is the prerequisite for the next level.

Practitioner is the applied level. You need a valid Foundation, two years of documented BIM experience with openBIM exposure, at least 24 hours of training with an approved provider, and then a practical, open book exam on information requirements, IFC, IDS, BCF and model validation. This is the one that assesses whether you can decide what a model must contain and check that it does.

All three are issued by buildingSMART International, valid globally, and listed in a public registry anyone can check.

So when someone says they are buildingSMART certified, the first question is which level. The answer tells you almost everything.

Which of the three do you hold, and which one are you planning?

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

BIMvoice

Being good at Revit and knowing what a project needs from your model are two different things.

That is where my collaboration with Milos Temerinski from Balkan Architect comes in. He teaches Revit, I teach openBIM, and we want more people to understand the work beyond the software.

I recorded an Introduction to BIM course for his training library. About two hours across five modules, covering information requirements, IFC, project roles and the standards behind the work. The things that help you understand why you are modelling something, who needs it and what they will use it for.

Now I am also joining the Balkan Architect Summit as one of 12 speakers, alongside people from Autodesk, Parametrix and Nonica. It is an honour to be part of this, Milos.

My session is Data First BIM. I start with what the client needs to know, turn those requirements into IDS, and use them to guide a small IFC model in Bonsai. Then we check the model, correct the information and check it again.

You do not need to leave Revit to take something useful from this. I want you to look at your next model and ask what information it needs to carry before you start adding geometry.

The recorded sessions open on 1 October. You can watch at your own pace and submit questions before the live Q&A sessions on 15 and 16 October. You keep access to the recordings.

Early bird tickets are $79 before 28 September.

You can join here: lnkd.in/dnMyDR-x

This is my affiliate link. I receive a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you.

See you in October.

1 week ago | [YT] | 17

BIMvoice

From October, I have capacity to help teams set up openBIM delivery and coordinate the IFC models on their projects.

Some teams are starting and need to decide what information to ask for, who provides it and how to check it. Others already receive IFC models, but need help making sure those deliveries meet the project requirements.

That is the work I want to take on: writing clear information requirements, turning them into IDS checks where appropriate, checking the models that come back and working with the team to resolve the issues.

I spent eleven years in Norway as an engineer and BIM coordinator. On the new water supply tunnel for Oslo, we used IFC models directly for construction. The information in those models had to be useful to the people doing the work on site.

Over the past year, much of my time has gone into building BIMvoice's Foundation and openBIM Practitioner training and becoming an approved buildingSMART Training Provider for both. Both trainings are now running with recorded lessons and weekly live support, and I am opening capacity for project work alongside them.

I can help you review an existing setup, define the requirements for a new project or provide ongoing openBIM coordination support on a running one. We can agree on the work and level of involvement your team needs.

If your team could use that support from October, send me a message and tell me about the project.

1 week ago | [YT] | 8

BIMvoice

Most BIM professionals I speak with tell me they don't need another certification.

The people who joined my buildingSMART Practitioner training had specific plans for what they wanted to do with the knowledge and qualification.

One was helping a client move towards IFC. The client was starting to write its delivery standards, and he wanted the knowledge and confidence to help shape them. He had already started creating IDS files and knew where he wanted to improve.

Another was writing information requirements and wanted more practice connecting them to the IFC schema. He wanted to work through how to structure those requirements and which properties to check, and was also thinking about providing training himself.

A third already worked with IFC every day and had built a reputation in his market. He wanted advanced qualifications to support that reputation and recognised that he still had more to learn. His calendar was full, but he wanted to make time for it.

The conversations also covered the value of having experienced people to discuss questions with. One student wanted to understand ISO 19650 more deeply after encountering it through his project work.

They brought their own reasons to the training, from helping a client with IFC delivery to developing the knowledge to teach others.

What would you like to feel ready to take on next in your openBIM work?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0