The BIM Marketplace is a global multivendor platform for exchanging 3D BIM objects, software and project templates, project files, material textures, addons, plugins, and visualisation pre-sets, among other digital products.
On this platform, individual creators and businesses have access to a pool of Architecture, Engineering and Construction professionals, students, builders and educators who visit the site in search of quality objects, models and templates to add to their BIM workflows.
The platform’s powerful e-commerce solutions are available for free in support of making BIM universally accessible to all. This access will bring to the construction industry all the automation capabilities and advantages of BIM.
The main goal is to help improve the industry’s productivity and profitability as well as support the move towards a more sustainable construction industry soon.
Before we dive more into the detailed specifics of the BIM marketplace and its business model, let us first look at what BIM is and how BIM models are put together. This will form the foundations of understanding the business/market need behind the creation of the BIM Marketplace.
What is BIM?
BIM is the acronym for Building Information Modelling.
BIM is a collaborative way of working where construction project participants share project information in a single database that is continuously updated. This database is made accessible anytime, anywhere on all devices.
Further, this collaborative way of working is supported by simple, yet powerful software and hardware systems. The processes and people involved create these working relationships and technology only serves to automate manual repetitive tasks and make complex work easier.
In summary, BIM involves creating a digital representation of the proposed facility before it gets constructed. Here, all issues get explored, and design iterations are created to come up with the best solution for the client’s problem.
Cost estimating, project scheduling, planning and visualisation are important in any proposed project as it helps make sure that the proposed solution is feasible and will be successfully actualised in the real world. All this process starts with a complete model that accurately represents the proposed facility.
Having said this, let’s look at how BIM models are built.
How are BIM Models Built?
BIM software relies on a collection of intelligent objects to form a model linked to a dynamic database.
BIM models are an aggregation of a library of intelligent objects linked to a database rich in non-graphical metadata. It contains geometric data of the building elements, a description of the properties of the building components and details of the interrelationships between these properties and the building components.
When an update is made on the BIM objects, it automatically updates the relevant 3D, plan, sectional, elevational and detail views, and non-graphical and cost-related data found in the elements schedule.
Besides the use of objects, building elements get modelled using the corresponding design tools found in the software. For example, walls are modelled using the wall tool in ArchiCAD.
Also, project templates are an important part of the whole mix. Templates help save time by duplicating repetitive parts of the project model from one project to another so you don’t have to make the customizations afresh.
Stuff like title blocks, formulas and customizations for extracting building quantities from the model, and document presentation styles, can be standardised and passed on to other projects in a template.
BIM Objects Libraries
BIM software vendors supply a library of standard objects, families and CAD blocks as part of any new installation. Templates are also included in this. These objects represent the most common items in the global market, including furniture, lighting fittings and fixtures, sanitary appliances, plant and vegetation, and other building components and accessories.
However, the standard library of objects included in a BIM authoring software installation is not exhaustive and may not cover all the items that you want to include in your models. As a practice, you can develop in-house libraries to supplement these.
Also, product manufacturers can be asked to supply a library of BIM objects for the range of products they manufacture and sell to be incorporated into the project. These libraries from the manufacturers need to be more detailed and accurately capture all technical details and specifications of the products.
However, most vendors don’t have their line of products digitised and this poses a challenge when such detailed information is required from them.
Nevertheless, the BIM community is full of talented architects, designers and engineers whose talent can be tapped to help the global community. That’s why we have opened the BIM Marketplace to both individuals and businesses to participate in creating value for the construction industry.
This is possible by developing and distributing BIM objects, software templates, high-quality material textures, and architectural visualisation pre-sets to supplement the standard ones that come with the default software installations.
What are you waiting for? Start selling on the marketplace today.
The BIM Marketplace – for Everything You Need to Power Your BIM Projects
We want to develop and grow the BIM marketplace to serve the global market of all users regardless of the software they operate. This is the one-stop shop for all BIM-related digital products.
Whether ArchiCAD objects and templates, Revit families and templates, SketchUp models and blocks, Twinmotion materials, or AutoCAD blocks, every software is represented.
All you need to do is create high-quality products, register on the platform and list the products. Other users will find them easily on our product pages and using the search feature. You can make money by listing your products as paid products. It is free; we only charge a small fee for maintaining the site and keeping the platform active.
Sounds great? Let’s hear more from you in the comments section below.
