BIMvoice

From IFC Files To Structured Data with Simon Dean | openBIMvoice 11

In the eleventh episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Simon Dean, a BIM Lead working on major infrastructure delivery in the UK.
Simon has worked on major infrastructure projects for many years, and in this conversation he shares what openBIM looks like when it is used on a large live project with thousands of IFC files, client requirements, validation workflows, and real delivery pressure.
The core idea is simple. IFC is not just a file format. It is a schema. Once you understand that, geometry becomes data, requirements become checkable, and openBIM starts to become much more practical.
What we discuss:
IFC 4.3 In Real Delivery. Simon explains what it takes to move from testing IFC 4.3 to actually delivering it on a major infrastructure project.
IDS As The Starting Point. Why Simon recommends starting your IFC journey with IDS, because it forces you to understand requirements, structure, and what good information delivery should look like.
Industrializing IFC Delivery. How a large project team handles thousands of IFC files from a supply chain and moves toward a repeatable validation process.
IFC As Structured Data. Why thinking about IFC as a schema changes how you approach geometry, data, validation, reporting, and AI.
Data Lakes And AI Agents. How structured IFC data can connect to data lakes, reporting, and future AI assisted workflows.
Training Through Real Examples. How Simon’s team uses exemplars, runbooks, and regular BIM crew sessions to build internal capability.
Client Requirements And Adoption. Why openBIM adoption becomes more serious when clients ask for structured information that supports long term asset management.
The strongest point from this conversation is that openBIM becomes much more practical when you stop thinking only about CAD files and start thinking about structured data, requirements, and repeatable validation.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/
Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

Why IFC Is Becoming Standard in Germany with BIM Lead Michael Burij | openBIMvoice 10

In the tenth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Michael Burij, a BIM and digital planning lead based in Berlin, about why IFC is becoming a practical necessity on German projects.
Michael shares how public procurement rules, mixed software environments, and real coordination needs are pushing teams toward openBIM workflows. We talk about IFC exchange, agile coordination, model quality, client expectations, and why BIM works best when it is treated as a communication method, not just a software topic.
The core idea is simple. openBIM becomes much more useful when teams stop treating it like a final export and start using it as part of the planning process itself.
What we discuss:
Why Germany Uses IFC. Why public procurement rules and mixed software environments make IFC the practical way for different disciplines to work together.
BIM as Communication. Why Michael sees BIM less as a software issue and more as a set of communication methods for complex projects.
Start Simple, Then Improve. Why teams should not get stuck debating attributes and data requirements before they even establish a working process.
Agile Coordination in Practice. How regular model exchanges, sprint based planning, and coordination plans help move projects forward step by step.
Cleaning Up the Data Later. How messy model data can be mapped, structured, and improved instead of expecting perfect delivery from every design team from day one.
What Comes Next for BIM Roles. Why Michael believes BIM experts may increasingly shift toward coaching, simplification, and tool development.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

From 2D Drawings to IFC: How a Quantity Surveyor Replaced His Workflow with openBIM | openBIMvoice 09

In the ninth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Stefano Verugi, a quantity surveyor who took an unusual path into openBIM. Instead of starting with IFC models from designers, he began by converting 2D drawings into IFC models himself so he could extract quantities in a more structured and reliable way.
Stefano works on railway and infrastructure projects in Ghana and has rebuilt his workflow around IFC, Bonsai BIM, and structured information. We talk about quantity takeoff, data analysis, open source tools, SketchUp, Blender, and why IFC can give quantity surveyors much more than geometry.
The core idea is simple. When a quantity surveyor works with structured model data instead of disconnected drawings and spreadsheets, the job becomes less about chasing quantities and more about analyzing real project information.
What we discuss:
From 2D Drawings to IFC. How Stefano moved from traditional quantity takeoff into IFC based workflows by modeling from drawings and extracting quantities from structured data.
Why the Old Workflow Breaks. Why manual takeoff from drawings is slow, repetitive, and fragile when project information changes.
Better Accuracy and Better Control. How building the model himself helps Stefano verify drawing quality, spot missing information, and produce more reliable quantities.
openBIM for Quantity Surveyors. Why IFC is not just useful for designers and coordinators, but also a strong workflow foundation for QS work.
Structured Data Over Spreadsheet Chaos. Why properties, quantities, classifications, and standard naming structures give Stefano a better system than disconnected Excel workflows.
Learning openBIM the Hard Way. What made the transition difficult at the start, what helped him push through, and why community support matters.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

They Did Not Wait for the Client to Ask for openBIM | Agron Deralla | openBIMvoice 08

In the eighth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Agron Deralla about a different kind of openBIM story: what happens when an architecture office decides not to wait for clients to ask for it.
Agron works in Vienna and has spent years helping push openBIM from inside the design side. We talk about architectural practice, internal BIM workflows, information exchange, buildingSMART, and why openBIM can be a strategic choice even before it becomes a formal project requirement.
The core idea is simple. openBIM does not only move forward through mandates. Sometimes it moves forward because one team decides to build the capability first and prove the value through real work.
What we discuss:
Not Waiting for the Client. Why their office chose to push openBIM internally instead of waiting for clients to demand it.
BIM Is Not Just Software. Why BIM is still misunderstood as a tool problem, and why it should be seen as a method for managing information.
IFC as Part of the Process. Why IFC should not be treated like a final export, but as part of how teams communicate during planning.
Internal Value First. How openBIM already creates benefits for coordination and internal workflows, even when the project is not formally contracted as BIM.
Award Winning Practice. How their buildingSMART award winning project used openBIM to improve coordination, align information, and reduce mistakes.
From Architecture to Digitalization. How learning openBIM opened a new career path for Agron and moved him from architecture into information management and digitalization.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/  Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

Too Much BIM, Too Little Value with Janis Berkis | openBIMvoice 07

In the seventh episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Janis Berkis about one of the biggest problems in BIM right now: too many requirements, too much information, and too little value in return.
Janis has more than 12 years of BIM consulting experience and works with public and infrastructure projects in Latvia. We talk about Rail Baltica, BIM mandates, openBIM adoption, and why many projects make BIM harder than it needs to be.
The core issue is simple. More BIM requirements do not automatically create better projects. In many cases, they create more cost, more confusion, and more wasted effort.
What we discuss:
Too Much BIM, Too Little Value. Why many clients ask for more information than they can actually use, and why that creates cost without real return.
Start Simple. Why BIM and openBIM should begin with the basics that create real value, not with sophisticated requirements that teams are not ready to deliver.
Rail Baltica and Infrastructure. How one major railway project helped push openBIM adoption in Latvia, and what that revealed about both the value and limits of current workflows.
Facility Management Reality. Why Janis often tells clients not to require BIM for facility management on their first project, and why that is usually the smarter decision.
A Smaller Core Information Set. How his team reduced mandatory model information to a small set of attributes that support identification, quantities, drawings, and coordination.
OpenBIM vs Closed Workflows. Why IFC gives teams more flexibility, allows better tool choice, and makes it easier for more people to work with the information.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

openBIM Is Becoming Mandatory in the Netherlands with Jordan Schuit | openBIMvoice 06

openBIM Is Becoming Mandatory in the Netherlands with Jordan Schuit | openBIMvoice 06
In the sixth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Jordan Schuit, Global Information Manager for Mobility and Infrastructure at Royal HaskoningDHV and buildingSMART Benelux board member. He leads information managers across Europe and Vietnam, sits on the buildingSMART International Awards jury, and spends roughly 60 hours a week between his day job and openBIM volunteer work. The obvious question was: why?
OpenBIM in the Netherlands is not coming. It is already here. The Dutch government has 23 working groups building toward an open standards obligation by 2028. What is slowing things down is not political will or technical capability. It is organizations that collected IFC data for years and never opened it, and a certification pathway that demands experience with something you are still trying to learn.
What we discuss:
The 60-Hour Week. Jordan's reasoning is not idealism. It is arithmetic: fewer engineers entering the sector, AI multiplying the advantage of whoever has standardized data, and the only sustainable answer being automation through standards.
The Netherlands 2028 Mandate. The Dutch strategy has 23 working groups building toward an open standards obligation by 2028. Jordan explains what this means for firms still debating whether to start.
openBIM Before the Client Asks for It. Checking 600 doors against an IDS in seconds, generating reports automatically, running life cycle analysis from model data. The client mandate is not the only reason to start.
Buildings vs Infrastructure. IFC for buildings is largely settled. Roads, tunnels, and water infrastructure are not, and Jordan explains why the missing schema definitions are an excuse, not a reason to stay on IFC 2x3.
IFC Models on a Shelf for 19 Years. Jordan's team is activating IFC models from 2007. The client received them, stored them, worked from PDFs. The information was always there. The sector just did not know yet what to do with it.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

IFC Properties Don't Belong in Revit with Thomas Zwielehner | openBIMvoice 05

In the fifth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Thomas Zwielehner, an architect who now manages BIM workflows on large railway infrastructure projects in Germany. On his current project there are more than 500 IFC files. His team asked one question that changed everything: why are designers the bottleneck for data that has nothing to do with their design?
Most projects never ask which properties actually require a modeller to enter them. Thomas asked. The answer was 80% do not. That single question changed how his entire team works.
What we discuss:
From Architecture to Infrastructure. Thomas explains what changed when he moved from small building projects to railway at scale. With 500 or more IFC files on a single project, every inefficiency multiplies fast.
The 80% Discovery. How they audited every property requirement and found that most properties had no reason to live in Revit or Civil 3D. This single finding changed how the whole team thinks about BIM data.
Building the Database. What they actually built: a browser-based system where anyone on the project can enter data directly, with live IDS-compatible validation at the point of entry. No more waiting weeks for a quality report.
Geometry and Data Separated. Why they deliberately keep the 3D geometry and the property data in separate systems, and how they use IFC OpenShell to merge them back into a compliant IFC file at handover.
AI as an Amplifier. Thomas's view on what AI tools actually do in a workflow like this. Good domain knowledge gets multiplied. Bad domain knowledge gets multiplied too.
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ Questions: petru@bimvoice.com

Stop Modeling for the Project. Start Modeling for the Asset Lifetime with Alexander Worp | openBIMvoice 04

Stop Modeling for the Project. Start Modeling for the Asset Lifetime with Alexander Worp | openBIMvoice 04
In the fourth episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Alexander Worp, Asset Information Manager at Waternet, the department responsible for drinking water and sewage in the Amsterdam region. Alexander manages infrastructure that goes back to 1850. Some of those original drawings are still more useful today than digital models produced 25 years ago because the data was correct.
That is the whole point. Correct data outlives every tool, every format, and every project. Most BIM teams have not understood this yet.
What we discuss:
Modeling for the asset lifetime. Why every BIM modeler needs to understand they are not creating a picture for the project. They are creating information that will be used for the next 50 to 150 years.
Data as an asset. Why information has the same value as physical infrastructure under ISO 55000, and why most organizations still do not manage it that way.
The pirate approach. How Alexander drives openBIM adoption inside a large public organization without waiting for management permission. Show the value first. Explain later.
IFC and the digital twin. How Waternet connects IFC models to a graph database and combines asset management, documents, and geometry into one linked data platform, vendor free.
Certification in contracts. Why Alexander wants buildingSMART Foundation certification as a contract requirement for every modeler on his projects, and why that is not a high bar to set.
Questions? Contact me (Petru Conduraru): 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ 📧 petru@bimvoice.com

I Stopped Opening Revit. My Entire Workflow Is Now IFC with Jocelyn Sapin | openBIMvoice 03

I Stopped Opening Revit. My Entire Workflow Is Now IFC with Jocelyn Sapin | openBIMvoice 03
In the third episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Jocelyn Sapin, a BIM consultant from Switzerland who made a decision most BIM professionals have not: he stopped opening Revit models entirely. His whole workflow runs on IFC. In this conversation he explains exactly how and why he got there.
Jocelyn works exclusively on the client side, which means he receives models, checks them, and uses them without ever opening the native file. If you have ever wondered what it actually looks like to go full IFC in practice, this conversation will show you.
What we discuss:
The full IFC workflow. How Jocelyn stopped relying on native models and what his day-to-day work looks like when IFC is the only format on the table.
The Swiss client model. Why public clients, banks, and hospitals in Switzerland require IFC deliverables and leave designers free to use any tool they want.
Faster quality checks. Why checking model quality in IFC is three times faster than in native Revit files, and how Jocelyn uses IDS templates on every model he receives.
The FM model mistake. Why trying to plan the facility management model from day one is wrong, and why building it from scratch at the end of the project is cheaper and smarter.
Open format for the long term. Why any asset owner thinking in decades should never accept a proprietary file as a final deliverable.
Questions? Contact me (Petru Conduraru): 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ 📧 petru@bimvoice.com

openBIM from the Contractor’s Perspective with Daniel Phillips | openBIMvoice 02

OpenBIM from the Contractor's Perspective with Daniel Phillips | openBIMvoice 02
In the second episode of openBIMvoice, I talk with Daniel Phillips about how openBIM is actually being used on the ground by general contractors. We discuss his journey from 14 years of structural modeling to using Bonsai BIM and Python to fix model loopholes in 2026.
Daniel shares his experience working on massive hospital projects in Norway and why state of the art models still face challenges when they hit the construction site. If you want to know how a BIM coordinator handles missing data and model maturity in the real world, this conversation is for you.
What we discuss:
The GC perspective. Why general contractors need openBIM to control what they receive from designers.
Bonsai BIM and Python. How Daniel uses open source tools and AI to fix IFC models faster than native software.
The IDS dream. Why Information Delivery Specification is the tipping point for project quality and instant feedback on requirements.
Reinforcement success. Why structural models are currently the most advanced part of the Norwegian industry.
Model based construction. The honest truth about why drawings still exist on site and what it takes to go truly digital.
Questions? Contact me (Petru Conduraru): 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/petruconduraru/ 📧 petru@bimvoice.com