BCF stands for BIM Collaboration Format, it is a file that stores annotations used in BIM projects. BCF was created in response to a real need, a few years ago, issues on projects were shared in emails, PDF files, via phone calls and other archaic methods. BCF then came along, it is a format supported in all major BIM softwares, allowing collaborators to create issues, clashes, tasks and so on, directly into their viewers, take to file, send it to their collaborators along the model. This allowed contractors to save millions of dollars thanks to better project management.
BCF allows big projects to be conducted with better communication between the different teams, for example the architect could create an annotation and send it through a BCF to the modeling team which would be able to see the data in a completely different software that the architect used.
The BCF files can be used during many project phases, from the conception to the exploitation, passing by the supply or the construction. When the project is just starting it will be mostly used for quality control purposes or conception coordination issues. When the project is 100% done it will be used by exploitants to update the building company on any post-delivery issues or upgrades that could be made. During the supply and construction, BCF are used to coordinate the different teams as well as transfer information and much more…
BCF allows you to add comments to keep track of the state of the issue as well as discuss it.
The BCF has now become a real BIM standard, the same way the IFC has. Implement BCF in your projects now and improve your management !
To sum up with what BCF's are, we can say that it is a collaboration tool to share annotations between BIM softwares, allowing you to work faster on your projects by limiting and anticipating risks.
BCF files hold on to a lot of information, let's list all the ones that we actually use:
- Title
- Description
- Position (X, Y, Z), also with camera rotation in all directions, including roll.
- Type (Issue, Task, Improvement), we also support Custom types retrieved from the BCF you import.
- Priority (Low, Medium, High)
- Labels
- Due date
- State (To Do, Ongoing, Done)
- Creator
- Creation date
- Last editor
- Last edition date
- An image
Our platform is compatible with BCF 2.0, this is the version we use to export our annotations as well as the version used for the BCF to annotation transformation.
Note that these are the ones used by the platform, if your BCF has more information it will however be kept by our system and given back to you on export.
If you have any problem or difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact the platform's team.