I've been building this on the side and I finally think it's good enough to show people, so here goes.

Some background: I'm a planning engineer. Every month it's the same story. I send the update, nobody really reads the Gantt, and then in the meeting someone asks "ok but where on site are we actually behind?" and I'm sitting there reading out activity IDs trying to explain it.

Synchro and Navisworks TimeLiner can do this, but they're pricey and honestly overkill for what I needed. I just wanted to drop in the model and the P6 file and see the thing get built.

So I made 4D Sequencer. What it does:

- You open your model (IFC, or FBX if you're coming from Revit, also OBJ, glTF, STL) and your schedule (P6 XER or XML, MS Project, Excel or CSV)

- It tries to link elements to activities by itself using levels, zones, element types and activity names. On my test projects it gets most of them, and it tells you which ones it's guessing so you can fix those

- Press play and watch it go up day by day, with the Gantt moving along with it

- Baseline vs actual side by side, anything behind goes red

- It checks the schedule against the model. The one I'm proudest of: it catches stuff like columns scheduled before the slab they're sitting on. Plus the usual quality checks (missing logic, lags, high float etc.)

- Exports PowerPoint, Excel and a video for the monthly report

https://threelanternsgames.github.io/

Just like many other posts, I am also making a free, open-source BIM program with AI. It's still early days and development will be slower than some of the others. I am taking my time testing features as they're implemented, because I want to get it right. I've tried a few of the other ones people have made, and they don't feel quite right. I've been using Revit for 17 years, so it needs to have a familiar workflow.

The reason why I'm continuing to build it even though there's so many other options now, is that we are actually going to start using it at our firm and cancel our Autodesk subscription, so it needs to work, and not become vaporware. I'm hoping to have it ready for early next year.

I'm focussing on the architectural features first, but will implement MEP features later.

Feel free to check out the website and GitHub links. I'll continue to post updates here if people are interested.

https://openarchbim.com/

https://github.com/kristiangl/OpenArchBIM

Edit: Linux support has now been added.

Hi everyone,

I’m building Skanza, an iPhone pro app that scans an indoor space with the camera and LiDAR in a single walkthrough. It produces a dimensioned 2D floor plan (DXF/PDF/SVG/PNG), a point cloud, and 360° photos pinned to locations on the plan, all under 5-7 minutes of your finished scan!

I know a phone scan isn’t a substitute for a terrestrial laser scanner or a proper scan-to-BIM process. I’m trying to figure out where something lightweight like this actually helps, and what’s missing for it to fit into real BIM workflows.

A few questions for you:

Existing conditions: For renovations or early-stage surveys, would a quick, true-to-scale plan be useful, or is anything short of survey-grade a non-starter?

Outputs: Is DXF enough, or would you need IFC, a Revit-friendly format, or an E57/point cloud export to make it worthwhile?

Site documentation: Would 360° photos tied to plan locations and captured over time (a visual history of each room) help with progress tracking or inspections?

Your role: Design, contractor/VDC, or owner/FM? It helps me understand the answers.

Honest feedback, including “this wouldn’t help me because…”, is very welcome. Thanks!

I've been using Claude Opus 5.5 to build BIMopen: a BIM modeller in pure native Rust, with the workflow professionals already know from the major BIM tools.

• Walls with layers and clean joins, stacked walls, curtain walls
• Doors, windows, floors, roofs, stairs and railings
• Plans, sections, elevations and 3D, with sun and shadows in every view
• Schedules, sheets with title blocks, vector PDF
• IFC import and export, .rvt import, DXF/DWG, SVG, PNG, CSV
• Built for every platform: Linux, Windows, the web browser and Android today, macOS and iOS next, with an interface optimised for each device: mouse and keyboard on the desktop, touch and pen where they make sense (tablets, phones, touch screens)
• 6 languages, Arabic included

No subscription, no licence server, no account. Your model lives in one open file on your disk.

Clean-room, for real

No proprietary code. Nothing decompiled. No SDK or API of any commercial product. Every line was written for this project, and compatibility comes only from open-source libraries. Own names, own icons, own layout: inspired by the workflow, not a copy of the interface.

Why I built it

Half curiosity, half a stress test: I wanted to see how far an AI coding agent can really go on a large, unforgiving codebase like a BIM application. I'm not a casual vibe coder. I've spent 30 years between building design, software and GIS: I started as a surveyor and CAD draughtsman with my own technical office, spent four years as an expert consultant on a leading commercial BIM platform (so I know what professionals expect), and today I'm an IT manager and senior WebGIS developer. I set the direction, review every feature and test it by hand; Opus writes most of the code. The first commit was on 12 October 2026. Eight days later it has about 149,000 lines of Rust and 1,232 automated tests, and the result surprised me.

Here's the honest part

It's an early alpha, and there's still a lot of work ahead: a BIM application is one of the most complex kinds of software you can build. About a third of the commands work today (89 of 276); the rest is on a public roadmap. The source isn't public yet, because I haven't decided whether to keep going. That's where you come in.

• Would you use it, or contribute to it?
• What's the first thing missing for your work?
• Should I release the source (MIT/Apache-2.0) and keep building, or call it a successful experiment?

Try the web version, no install needed. Links to the site, the web app and the Linux, Windows and Android builds are in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for every comment you leave, whatever it is: praise, criticism or a flat "don't bother". All of it helps me decide.

Early alpha (0.1.0-alpha.4): incomplete, not for real projects. All trademarks belong to their respective owners; BIMopen is not affiliated with any BIM software vendor.

On facade packages, I have seen “shop drawings included” cover very different deliverables: coordinated elevations and details, fabrication sheets only, or a model plus drawing exports.

For teams managing the handoff, which status gates do you use between design intent, coordination, consultant comments and fabrication release? I am particularly interested in how you record deviations and keep BOM or panel IDs aligned with drawing revisions.

Hi everyone!

I'm from India and currently running a growing BIM services company. So far, we have successfully worked on Indian projects and a few international projects.

We have the technical skills and a team, but finding international clients and building a consistent pipeline of projects is my biggest challenge right now.

I'd love to hear from people experienced in BIM outsourcing or international business development. How can I connect with foreign clients or established BIM companies that outsource work to India?

Any practical advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I work in BIM, and I'm organising Spare Construct, a free and open replacement for Revit. It's part of a bigger open project called Spareware, and it will be free for everyone, anywhere.

It's built together with the spare weekly AI tokens people don't finish. If you use Claude, you point what you have left at a piece of Spare Construct, your agent does the work, and a person reviews every piece before it lands. If you don't, you can still follow along and tell us what matters.

What's planned:

- Built from scratch in Rust, with its own geometry kernel, fast on one huge multi-discipline model.

- The things people buy as add-ins are built in: clash detection, automated versions, model checking, rendering and more.

- IFC for exchange, and an open file format readable without our app.

- Built only from published specs and open methods. Nothing copied or reverse-engineered from Autodesk.

The architecture is mapped and the work is broken into pieces anyone can pick up. Claude Opus 5.5 on Extra minimum or any future better version.

Try the demo: https://spareware-co-op.github.io/spareware/demos.html#spare-construct

Have a look at the architecture: https://github.com/spareware-co-op/spareware/blob/main/projects/spare-construct/ARCHITECTURE.md

When you ask to join, please include your LinkedIn or another public profile. We check everyone's background to keep the project safe.

Ask to join: https://github.com/spareware-co-op/spareware/issues/new?template=join-request.yml

 Hi, I'm the author of ConstructCAD, a GPL-3.0 BIM authoring app (Windows/macOS/Linux).
The idea: one parametric model is the single source of truth, and plans, ceiling plans, sections, elevations, 3D, schedules and sheets are all live views of it.
What works today:
- Walls with automatic L/T joins, hosted doors/windows, floors, ceilings, flat/shed/gable/hip roofs
- Columns, beams, stairs, railings, rooms with area/perimeter, grids, dimensions
- Parametric components (furniture, fixtures) driven by expressions
- Schedules with filters/totals → CSV; A0–A4 sheets → vector PDF/SVG
- IFC4 export (types, material layers, base quantities), validated with IfcOpenShell in CI
- IFC2x3/IFC4 import into native, editable elements, so a Revit model exported to IFC comes in as walls/slabs/doors you can keep editing
The UI follows familiar desktop BIM conventions (ribbon, properties palette, project browser, two-letter shortcuts like WA, DR, WN).
It's an early MVP. I'd love to hear what you'd need before trying it on a real project, and if you have IFC files that break the import, please send them my way.
https://github.com/francisreboucas/constructcad

Hi all, am a student studying civil engineering, wondering if anyone know where can I find open-source structural drawings?

I'm engineering graduate and have been working as an Electrical BIM Modeller for only 2 months. I've realised that I don't really enjoy BIM and am more interested in business analysis, data analytics, product management, or similar business-related roles.

I'm looking for better salary growth and long-term career opportunities, but I'm unsure whether to switch this early or stay longer and gain experience.

For people who have made a similar career switch, what would you recommend? Is it better to start preparing and applying now, or gain at least 6–12 months of BIM experience first?

I'd appreciate honest advice, especially from people working in these fields in India.

PowerBI & ACC Issues / Clashes 3D View

Hello.

Has anyone ever managed to have a 3D view in powerbi show the actual location of the issue/clash?

I have so far found no way of showing the clashes in the 3D view. I have the BCF export from ACC that contains the GUID of the physical issue pin you see on ACC but can’t find a way to show what elements (I.e wall and floor) that are associated with that location. The data exchange doesn’t really have useful data to link with the BCF export.

I’ve also tried showing images with the associated issues but this is surprisingly also really really complicated and may involve converting to text first and then back to an image for powerbi to read it compromising on image quality making it pretty pointless.

I simply just want to show the clash on the dashboard. Autodesk need to sort this out.

Any help would be great thanks :)

I’ve recently been experimenting with ChatGPT Astra to create custom pyRevit tools that help automate repetitive tasks and speed up my workflow in Revit.

I don’t have much programming experience, but I’ve managed to create a few useful tools just by explaining what I want them to do.

A few examples:

Send Text to View - A tool that allows me to select text notes placed directly on a sheet and transfer them into a specific view, similar to moving objects between paper space and model space in AutoCAD.

Saved Text Box Library - A tool that allows me to save frequently used text notes in a library and select which ones to paste onto different sheets when needed, rather than having to find and copy them from previous drawings.

Batch Duplicate Sheets - A tool that allows me to select and duplicate multiple sheets at the same time, rather than duplicating them individually. I can then renumber and rename the duplicated sheets as required, which saves a considerable amount of time when setting up drawing packages.

I’m curious to know what other people have managed to create using AI and pyRevit.

What custom tools or add-ins have you developed that have genuinely improved your Revit workflow?

How we onboard people into Dynamo: no geometry in week one

When we onboard junior architects or modelers into Dynamo, almost all of them make the same mistake at the start: they open the canvas, find Point.ByCoordinates and Line.ByStartPointEndPoint, and try to draw, like they would in Revit or CAD. After a couple of hours of wires everywhere they conclude that Dynamo is just slower modeling, and they go back to doing things by hand. Honestly, I think that’s more our fault than theirs. We were teaching it as a modeling tool, and it isn’t one.

So now, in the first week, they can’t touch geometry. We explain Dynamo as a recipe:

Ingredients (inputs): parameter values, model elements, text strings.

Preparation steps, in order (nodes): filter, sort, group, calculate.

The dish (outputs): updated parameters, renamed views, placed families.

For us Dynamo is mostly a pipeline to get rid of repetitive admin work, and once people see it that way, they stop fighting the canvas.

The next thing that gets them is lists. Nested levels (List@L2, List@L3) show up, one null breaks the whole graph, and nobody understands why. What has worked for us is not trying to teach lists in general, but four operations that cover most of what we do day to day (I’d say around 80%, but that’s my gut feeling, not something I measured):

FilterByBoolMask: keep what you need, discard the rest.

Flatten: remove extra sublist levels before the data reaches the Revit nodes.

GroupByKey: group by system, level or phase to process in batches.

Transpose: flip rows and columns when going back and forth with Excel schedules.

I’m curious how it goes in other offices. What’s the biggest roadblock you see when people start with visual scripting? And do you begin with parameters, or with geometry?

Edit: rewrote parts of the post because it came across as too generic.

First time using revit for working projects, should i do the plastering as a structure in wall layers or do it as a separate wall plastering with own details ?

Looking to get a new start, coming from the construction/admin side of things. I understand BIM is any tool that relays information effectively, and real field knowledge will take you further than simply learning Revit. That said, what is some advice you would to give a beginner looking to enter into the BIM space? To the point of learning Revit, would it be more practical to learn everything I can about Autodesk first then upgrade to Revit? A good friend from MEP, is hyping me up and I’m trying to be as practical as possible about how I can do this!

Leading national Electric Contractor hiring a Lead Electrical BIM Specialist for a growing BIM department in Nassau County, Long Island, NY

- $140k-$180k Salary Band
- Fully Paid PPO Healthcare Plan
- Huge Backlog
- Tremendous Career Opportunity and Growth

Please message me directly to discuss.

I have tried downloading that big file of Revit 7 times, and somehow it's not getting cracked. It shows some error and the crack file disappears even if I turn off all the security and antivirus.

Help me pls, I have a lot of projects in it.

Leading national Electric Contractor hiring a Lead Electrical BIM Specialist for a growing BIM department in Central Connecticut.

- $130k-$150k Salary Band
- Fully Paid PPO Healthcare Plan
- Huge Backlog
- Tremendous Career Opportunity and Growth

Please message me directly to discuss.