The Top 8 Free and Open Source BIM Software Tools. Update May 4, 2. 01. Weve found two more free and open source BIM software tools since this article was first posted. The list now includes eight tools. It will only be a matter of time before your construction business no matter how small will start using building information modeling, otherwise known as BIM. While BIM advocates will be quick to tell you all about its advantages, certain clients, notably in the public sector, arent simply relying on carrots to persuade you to become a BIM shop. Governments across the world are making BIM and BIM software a mandatory part of bidding for contracts and undertaking building projects. Your choice will not be if, but how you use it. In the world ofconstruction management software, there are always solutions that are available for free or that use open, non proprietary code to help you avoid being locked into a particular software supplier. BIM is no exception. The challenge is in choosing a free andor open source BIM application that fits your needs. Before we jump into these open source and free BIM software options, well take a look at some of the advantages of using a BIM tool and the different types of BIM tools with varying degrees of complexity. Then well look at some specific options for each type. What is this BIM anywayBuilding information modelling is a process to help manage complexity and improve performance in construction projects. Using BIM as a software application gives users the following advantages 3. D visualization of buildings. Your construction team can work better together, as well as with customers and subcontractors. Spot and correct errors in 3. D designs before they happen in real life, or fix them faster afterward. Change management. Alterations to building structures and furnishings can be automatically checked, conflicts identified, and quality improved. Construction simulation. Try out different designs and optimize for the best cost performance ratio while ensuring overall construction soundness and safety. Data management. Attach different kinds of project data schedules, photos, scans of handwritten notes to be able to find it all again in one place. Operational management. Manual Wheelchair Stair Climb. Check building performance energy consumption for example over the lifetime of a building and improve efficiency in remodels and extensions. Many users and software developers stop at the first benefit. They consider BIM to be a kind of glorified computer aided design CAD. Open Source Pc Power Management Software' title='Open Source Pc Power Management Software' />Yet BIM can go well beyond a static 3. D drawing on a screen to help to reduce costs and accelerate construction schedules. And there are free and open source BIM applications that offer some of the advantages listed above. Reasons for considering free or open source BIM software. At first glance, it seems obvious. Free construction software should help you save money. However, as any IT manager will tell you, initial software costs are often a small proportion of the real cost of using software, including staff time and effort to learn and use it. Free should be interpreted with caution BIM applications built on open source software offers their own set of benefits Open source software typically uses open standards in its design and interfaces. This can make the exchange of BIM data with customers, partners, and suppliers easier. Open source software is booming here we round up over 480 open source applications for you to use or build upon. Feel free to add more apps in the comments. The promise of open source software is best quality, flexibility and reliability. This is the best open source software in the world. Weve compiled a list of the best free and open source CRM software programs on the market Capterra helps businesses find and compare software. Learn software, creative, and business skills to achieve your personal and professional goals. Join today to get access to thousands of courses. Open Source Pc Power Management Software' title='Open Source Pc Power Management Software' />This is a comparison of notable free and open source configuration management software, suitable for tasks like server configuration, orchestration and infrastructure. Index of open source tools for WebGIS, CAD, and remote sensing. Open source intelligence software can be used to discover the cybersecurity intelligence data that may be leaking out of your organisation. Security expert Mike. Open source software also allows you to modify the program itself if you want to. You could, for example, change the user interface, add your own special functions, or make the program interact in new ways with other parts of your IT architecture. Construction manager or software geek Software applications increasingly drive construction management and building work in general. But does that mean you have to know what goes on under the hood Commercial BIM applications often take pains to shield users from this and charge you for it accordingly. The business logic is that you should get more value, faster, for your construction company because you dont have to worry about the inner workings of your software platform. Vendors of free software, on the other hand, may not have the same business perspective. Depending on how deeply you want to get into the software itself, you may prefer to pay for a packaged, user friendly solution. Orperhaps you want to make the effort required to exploit the power and flexibility of certain free or open source solutions. To help you decide, well categorize options for free and open source BIM software into the following types Free BIM viewer. Although BIM advantages can go much further see above, an application to view 3. D models of buildings can help to get workers and customers into the mode of using BIM. Standard office application based BIM. Business information modelling may sound complicated, but sometimes a standard spreadsheet is all you need. BIM as a bolt on for CAD software. While purists argue that BIM software should be designed and built separately, this can be a pragmatic way of getting into building information modelling. The BIM software toolkit. A software toolkit can be adapted or used to build a variety of BIM solutions, including extensions to existing applications. However, that means possessing or having access to the relevant software programming skills. BIM from the start. In this case, the BIM software has been built expressly for building information modelling. Instead of trying to twist 2. D or 3. D drawings into BIM, this kind of BIM application gives you digital building blocks from which to make adaptable, purpose built BIM projects. Free BIM Viewer. Screenshot of BIMx from Graphisoft. BIMx from Graphisoft is available free of charge for Android and i. OS devices. As an interactive 3. D communication and presentation tool, it lets users upload a 3. D drawing and explore it. Construction companies can take advantage of BIMx to Show customers what they will get, and why they should sign that contract nowShow workers on site what the end result will be and therefore how each intermediate step should contribute to that result. Get precise feedback from workers and supervisors about any problems in the construction process by indicating where in the drawing the issue is occurring. An i. Pad or Android tablet offers mobility, as well as a camera for taking pictures of problems and the ability to attach accompanying notes although the website says that the free app is for viewing only and mostly intended for clients. BIMx also won a mobile Product of the Year Award as a testimony to its quality and user friendliness. Another option is BIM Vision, a freeware IFC model viewer that allows the user to view virtual models created by systems such as Revit, Archicad, Advance, DDS CAD, Tekla, and Nemetschek Vector. Works, just to name a few. IFC stands for Industry Foundation Class, which is another kind of data model for describing building and construction industry data. The software allows for lots of tweaking of the 3. D model, including coloring elements based on the type, setting the transparency level for creating cross sections, and comparisons of models to show the geometry changes and element properties. You can also load multiple IFC files in one view for side by side comparisons. BIM Vision works on a PC or tablet with Windows 7 or newer, so Apple users are out of luck. Standard office application based BIMImage from Practical BIMDo Microsoft Excel and the free Open.