Nemetschek’s bim+ cloud-based open building information modelling, BIM, service, launched in Beta in November 2013, now has a no-cost starter edition for small teams. The Munich, Germany-based company says a professional edition will be available soon.
The free Team Edition (5 projects, 5 users, 5 GB storage) connects architects, engineers, building managers and owners as well as their business partners and helps to avoid costly errors. The collaborative platform supports different software solutions (including SketchUp and Autodesk Revit), enabling visualisation of the latest building information in a web browser or on an iPad (bim+ Explorer is available from the App Store, along with bim+ Connect; sister apps bim+ Annotate and bim+ Viewer for iPhone are “forthcoming”). According to Christian Ehl, CEO of Nemetschek bim+ GmbH:
“BIM is an essential prerequisite for efficiency in the building industry and will be decisive for winning projects in the near future. With the free Team Edition we enable small architecture and engineering firms to be a part of this promising future.”
The bim+ extends beyond visualisation to share queries and comments.
“On-site observations or any kind of information can easily be added exactly where they belong. … Including remarks, photos, priorities and due dates helps teams to discover and solve problems. Every project member is kept up to date and costly errors can be avoided. All this happens in real time and wherever people are at the moment. On-site problems can be recorded via mobile devices and monitored and solved by the team.”
This sharing includes distribution outside bim+, via email and social sharing too, another indication of how ‘social collaboration‘ is infiltrating the AEC sector (see previous post).
