Lucas Hayden of Unanet explores how AI can reduce busywork, connect AEC business systems, and help firms make faster, better-informed decisions.

The Busywork Disappears, Not the People: Unanet on AI in AEC

ArchOne AI

Technology leaders from Flad Architects, NBBJ, and Stantec on how architecture firms move AI past experiments into governed, repeatable practice that augments professional teams.

How Leading Architecture Firms Are Moving AI From Pilots to Everyday Practice

<div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/61d0ceef-f5e6-476c-99ba-639f5cd60ebc.png" alt="" width="1080"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The client loves the scheme, then asks what the facade looks like in brick instead of stone, and the meeting stalls because the only honest answer is "let me render that and get back to you." Every architect knows that stall.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">At AEC+Tech, we've watched the AEC tools we cover get very good at making the picture look real. What's changing now is where that picture sits in the process, moving from documentation into the decision itself.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">For most of the last decade, progress in architectural visualization has been measured in image quality. Physically accurate lighting, richer material systems, and real-time ray tracing have closed much of the gap between a render and a photograph. <strong>What used to count as exceptional is now the baseline clients expect.</strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Rendering has improved fast. One part of the workflow has barely moved.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Design reviews still lean on static images, pre-rendered animations, and fixed camera paths. Those outputs record decisions well enough, but they sit outside the conversation. The moment a meeting turns toward a different material, a new lighting condition, or an alternate scheme, the presentation stalls while someone prepares fresh visuals elsewhere.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">That gap matters more as practice becomes more collaborative. Clients, consultants, engineers, and developers now weigh in across the whole design process, not only at the end. Meetings have turned into working sessions where decisions take shape in the room. The way architecture gets presented has to keep up with that.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">So visualization is starting to play a different part. Beyond the final picture, it is becoming a medium for discussion, comparison, and decisions made on the spot. The next step forward may be interaction as much as realism.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Every architect knows the moment a client asks to see it another way and the room goes quiet waiting on new visuals. D5 says 3.1 closes that gap, and will <span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong><a href="https://www.d5render.com/webinars/whats-new-in-d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prove it live on July 21</a></strong></span></span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Answer "Can We See It Another Way?" On the Spot&nbsp;</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This is the thinking behind <a href="https://bit.ly/d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>D5 3.1.</strong></a></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Plenty of tools compete on how convincing the picture looks. Fewer ask what happens to it once a room full of stakeholders starts pushing back.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The release starts from a practical question: how does visualization stay useful once the meeting starts?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">D5's answer is Interactive Presentation, a workflow that lets architects organize a review like a slide deck while keeping the live project open behind it.</span></p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/764404fa-3db9-4d3c-b9ec-9e36afea816e.png" alt="Interactive Presentation enables real-time scene switching with slides and 3D triggers." width="1080">
<figcaption><em><span style="font-size: 15px;">Interactive Presentation enables real-time scene switching with slides and 3D triggers.</span></em></figcaption>
</figure>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-465b445f-7fff-6745-c01a-4a6b765aaf09"></strong></div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Instead of preparing several image sets or separate animations ahead of time, teams can move between design schemes, materials, lighting, weather, viewpoints, and object visibility inside a single presentation. A question that used to interrupt the review can be explored right away. Real-time scene switching runs through slides and 3D triggers, so the flow of the meeting holds together.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The presentation becomes a working space for the design, one the team can steer as the discussion moves.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Let Clients Walk the Space Before It Exists&nbsp;</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Interactive Presentation sits inside a wider set of tools aimed at making review more interactive and easier to adapt to the room.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Stereoscopic Panorama brings depth-aware panoramic views to VR, which helps clients and project teams read scale, materials, and how spaces relate to one another. Better VR navigation and controller handling make VR walkthroughs steady enough for everyday reviews rather than occasional demos.</p>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-9ee4bad2-7fff-95c1-c68f-c2647d295577"></strong></div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Spatial Tour has moved along too, with faster scene generation, smoother transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces, and dollhouse views that make it simpler to move through a complicated project.</p>
<p dir="ltr">These tools sit alongside still renders and animations and widen the options, so a team can pick the right way to explore a design based on the audience, the project stage, and what the review needs to settle.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Start Seeing the Design the Moment You Model It&nbsp;</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">The quality of any review depends on everything that happens before it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As visualization gets pulled deeper into design work, architects increasingly want to test ideas while those ideas are still moving, instead of waiting for documentation to finish. In that sense, presentation begins earlier than the slide deck. It begins when a team first tries out form, light, material, atmosphere, and how a space feels to move through.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In practice, the visual thinking usually happens long before anyone opens presentation software, and tools have been slow to meet designers there.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">That continuity reaches past D5 Render itself. After its earlier <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/sketchup">SketchUp</a> release, D5 Lite now works inside Rhino and <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/revit">Revit</a>, bringing real-time visualization into more of the tools architects already use. Designers can preview materials, lighting, and visual direction without leaving the modeling environment, which supports quicker exploration during concept work, massing studies, facade development, and iterative testing.</p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/faae324a-8c58-4578-aac2-06f9faac39b1.png" alt="D5 Lite: Visualize projects directly inside Rhino, Revit and Sketchup" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-724231" data-gramm="false">
<p dir="ltr"><em>Start in D5 Lite, finish in D5 Render, without switching tools</em></p>
<em><strong id="docs-internal-guid-9c1fdd8d-7fff-81f4-8a96-330fd7b85864"></strong></em></figcaption>
</figure>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-ae5b1998-7fff-bf89-9f03-e4a3048f30e0"></strong></div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">D5 Lite is built for that early work, making design decisions more visual from the start. When a project needs higher-end imagery, animation, or an interactive presentation, the work carries on into D5 Render. Paired with Cloud Collaboration, distributed teams can review and share work with less reliance on manual file swaps or local hardware, which keeps things continuous from concept through client review.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Photoreal That Holds Up When Clients Look Closely&nbsp;</strong></span></h2>
<p dir="ltr">As presentations get more interactive, the visuals behind them matter even more. A live scene only works if it holds up when someone leans in.</p>
<p dir="ltr">D5 Render 3.1 adds a set of production-focused improvements that strengthen realism while keeping real-time response.&nbsp;</p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/84679fde-46df-4239-985d-65e93278fb1f.png" alt="ACEScg Color Space preserves richer HDR color detail and supports professional ACES workflows" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-926652" data-gramm="false"><em><span style="font-size: 15px;">ACEScg Color Space preserves richer HDR color detail and supports professional ACES workflows</span></em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p dir="ltr">The move to an ACEScg working color space brings in a production-grade color pipeline, the kind used in film and visual effects, which improves color consistency across visualization and post-production. HeightField Tracing gives displacement materials richer surface relief without adding geometric weight, so brick, stone, and timber keep convincing physical depth even in large scenes.</p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/196052f2-45b2-4577-a1c1-32e97aa7bc83.png" alt="Seasonal Vegetation lets foliage and branch structure change by date, previewing all seasons in one scene" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-626429" data-gramm="false"><em>Seasonal Vegetation lets foliage and branch structure change by date, previewing all seasons in one scene</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p dir="ltr">Landscape work gains more nuance through Seasonal Vegetation, which lets foliage and branch structure change by date and previews a full year of a planting scheme in one scene. A run of smaller refinements rounds it out, including Custom Pivot, MeasureLine, improved City Generator controls, smarter Auto Exposure, and wider Gaussian Splatting support. Each one trims repetitive adjustments and keeps production moving.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It adds up to one point. An interactive presentation is only as good as the rendering underneath it, and that rendering has to hold both fidelity and speed at once.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>From Better Images to Better Decisions&nbsp;</strong></span></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Architectural visualization has spent years chasing realism. That work continues, though realism on its own no longer defines the field.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As projects get more collaborative, the ability to move between options, respond to feedback, and explain a design in context is becoming just as important. Presentations are becoming part of the design process itself.</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><em>"The tools we end up writing about at AEC+Tech are rarely the ones with the longest feature list. They're the ones that change how a decision gets made."&nbsp; &mdash; Niknaz Aftahi&nbsp;</em></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">D5 3.1 reflects that direction. It builds presentation into the design work, making visualization a place where ideas can be explored, compared, and refined with the people in the room.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Whether this turns out to be the next phase of the discipline is still an open question. The goal is clearly shifting, from producing better images toward better conversations about the work.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The biggest change in D5 3.1 sits outside the render itself. Visualization now stays in play through the whole conversation, long after the image is done.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>See it live&nbsp;</strong></span></h2>
<p dir="ltr">D5 will demonstrate the 3.1 workflow in a live webinar on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC, hosted by Jeff Espinoza, D5's Director of Customer Success and Services. The session covers D5 Lite for Rhino and Revit, Interactive Presentation, VR review, Stereoscopic Panorama, ACEScg, HeightField Tracing, and Seasonal Vegetation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">You can register using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.d5render.com/webinars/whats-new-in-d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>this webinar page</strong></a>, and anyone who registers but cannot attend will receive access to the recording.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To learn more about D5 Render, visit their <a href="../../../tools/d5-render" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>page on aec+tech</strong>&nbsp;</a>or explore the latest features on the official <strong><a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu194a _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu18uv _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _ect4ttxp _syaz13af _1a3b18uv _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik18uv _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm18uv _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" title="https://www.d5render.com/" href="https://www.d5render.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">D5 Render website</a></strong>.</p>
<hr>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/b02023eb-2713-4ea3-a35f-e0c2bb302c00.png" alt="" width="160" height="160"></p>
<p dir="ltr">Niknaz Aftahi is the founder of AEC+Tech. This article was produced with materials from D5 as part of a partnership, and independently edited for the AEC+Tech community.</p>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-f383e210-7fff-1c51-cd46-f1e07836aa5d"></strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div style="all: initial !important;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="all: initial !important;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="all: initial !important;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="all: initial !important;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="all: initial !important;">&nbsp;</div>

D5 Render

D5 Render 3.1 turns design reviews into live sessions. Interactive Presentation switches schemes, materials, and lighting on the spot; D5 Lite reaches Rhino and Revit. 

D5 3.1 Wants to End the "We'll Render It Tomorrow" Moment

<div><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/5741b41d-2b98-40f9-9a96-00550e6d0a57.png" alt="InspectMind AI" width="1080"></span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Most conversations about AI in construction start with speed.&nbsp;</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;How many hours did we save?&rdquo;</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">&ldquo;How many pages could we review in minutes?"&nbsp;</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">But a recent aec+tech conversation on AI-driven plan review made a more useful point: the tools save time, but the real reason to adopt them is risk.<strong id="docs-internal-guid-dcacfc00-7fff-ed9c-247a-6474ead9a5a0"></strong></span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0nEGFxC7as">This conversation</a> brought together Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer at Flint Engineering Company; Aakash Prasad, Co-founder and CEO of InspectMind AI; and Simon G. Solorio, President of Solorio Inc. Much of the discussion centered on InspectMind AI's plan-checking tool, though the takeaways apply to any firm weighing this kind of software.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In this article you&rsquo;ll see where AI plan review helps, where it falls short, and why a firm with weak internal processes will not get much out of it no matter how good the software gets.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Reading a Pictorial Language</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Plan review is not just about reading text. Construction documents carry meaning through symbols, callouts, line weights, and schedules that change from one project type to the next. An industrial set does not look like a large residential set. Every new hire has to learn how to read that visual system before they can review anything in it.</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><em>"Construction documents are a language, and on top of that they're a pictorial language. You're relying on graphic and visual cues to display the information, translating heavy analysis and code requirements into those pictures."</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>&mdash; Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer, Flint Engineering Company</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">Solorio described the second half of the problem: volume.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Even with tools like <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/revit">Revit</a> and virtual walk-throughs on Meta Quest headsets, engineers still check ever-changing building codes by hand and coordinate across disciplines. Holding hundreds of pages of drawings against dense architectural, structural, mechanical, and civil specifications is a cognitive load that does not scale. There is only so much one person can keep straight at once, and plan sets keep getting bigger.</p>
<p dir="ltr">That is the gap AI steps into. Not the design work or the engineering judgment, but the slow, repetitive cross-checking that wears people down and still lets errors slip through.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">A Third-Party Reviewer That Works Through Lunch</span></strong></p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/bb52d8a0-3272-45e5-b6a9-e96e1717194f.png" alt="Errors missed in review surface on site, where fixes cost most." width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-8150" data-gramm="false"><em><span style="font-size: 15px;">Fig 2) <strong id="docs-internal-guid-f0f0d1bf-7fff-9eae-31ff-f65259db8b5c"></strong>Errors missed in review surface on site, where fixes cost most.&nbsp;</span></em></figcaption>
</figure>
<span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong id="docs-internal-guid-eeaebb3d-7fff-d5c7-2013-b5845ec20d81"></strong></span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">AI is a third-party reviewer. It&rsquo;s not a replacement for the engineer or the plan checker, but an extra set of eyes that never gets tired and never skips a page.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Prasad said InspectMind AI can typically review a 100- to 200-page project in one to two hours. In that window it catches discrepancies between drawings and specs, flags cross-discipline coordination issues, and checks against </span><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">selected/applicable codes and references. It surfaces a prioritized set of findings while the team continues other work.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">InspectMind AI has flagged a water main running straight into a 12-inch concrete pipe. It has caught a storm sewer drawn with no slope, which means it would never drain. These are the errors that hide on page 140 of a set and get expensive once they reach the field.&nbsp;</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><em><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"This isn't replacing your own diligence or your own quality of work. It's a useful automated review tool that helps you reduce risk and liability and improve quality overall."</span></em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">&mdash; Aakash Prasad, Co-founder and CEO, InspectMind AI&nbsp;</span></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The discussion was honest about the limits, too. AI still struggles to read the purely graphical parts of a drawing when there are no words or numbers to anchor it. That should improve over the next few years, but for now InspectMind AI is strongest where drawings, specs, and code references can be grounded and cited. Purely graphical meaning, where the intent lives only in the picture, is still an area where human review matters.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">From Months of Back-and-Forth to Days&nbsp;</span></strong></h2>
<div>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/c6175af5-f771-4066-a384-2d4991e7ce06.png" alt="InspectMind AI tags each finding by severity, discipline, and code." width="1080">
<figcaption><em><span style="font-size: 15px;">Fig 3) <strong id="docs-internal-guid-a13650af-7fff-54aa-3a87-16247998979a"></strong>InspectMind AI tags each finding by severity, discipline, and code.&nbsp;</span></em></figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A minor discrepancy on a drawing is not just a quality problem. It is a liability problem. Prasad pointed to ADA compliance as an example. A ramp drawn with a 2.2 percent slope instead of the required 2 percent maximum is a small number on a sheet and a frequent target for litigation. Catching it before construction starts is worth far more than the hour it saved.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The same logic runs downstream. Errors that survive review become Requests for Information (RFIs) and change orders once contractors are on site. Each one costs time and money and strains the client relationship. The financial case lives in catching those errors early.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A church project in California shows how that plays out. The design firm ran its full drawing set <strong>(architecture, civil, structural, and specs)</strong> through InspectMind AI before submitting to the city. The AI flagged around 300 issues. The team fixed them first. When the city's review came back, the comments were mostly minor, and the firm closed them out in days rather than the weeks or months a project like this can take.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">That is the payoff that matters. Not the hours saved running the review, but the weeks of back-and-forth with the jurisdiction that never happened, and the rework that never reached the field.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><strong id="docs-internal-guid-27bb7de9-7fff-b993-eb42-f62df9819b79">Garbage In, Garbage Out Still Applies</strong></span></p>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/88271371-af97-4945-8f3f-0a5ee2295ce9.png" alt="AI only reflects the inputs it gets." width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-415377" data-gramm="false"><em><span style="font-size: 15px;">Fig 4) AI only reflects the inputs it gets.</span></em></figcaption>
</figure>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-b3cf7941-7fff-13cb-502d-4de6a919154c"></strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The strongest warning has always been against leaning on the tools too hard. The old 'garbage in, garbage out' rule still stands.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The software is powerful, but it sits on top of a firm's inputs, its standards, and the judgment of the people running it.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Solorio made the case for foundational knowledge. Junior engineers still need to learn the basics through hand calculations and free-body diagrams so they understand how loads travel and what a structural member is actually doing. Without that, an engineer cannot tell when the AI is wrong.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><em>"If you put in garbage, you're going to get out garbage, and that's still true with these new programs. If you put in something wrong, it gives you something wrong. You have to know the basics to know when it's giving you wrong information."</em></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><em>&mdash; Simon G. Solorio, President, Solorio Inc.</em></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Johnson framed the same idea as a sequence. He sees a working AI workflow as a three-tier system.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">A firm establishes good internal processes first. Then it introduces standard automations. Only then does it put AI at what he called the tip of the spear. Skip the first two steps and there is nothing solid for the AI to stand on. When a firm's drawing standards and inputs are inconsistent, there is no realistic way to scale an AI workflow on top of them.</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Own the Output</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Accountability is the other side of this. When an engineer signs off on a design, they own it, whatever tools helped produce it.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><em><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"The motto we live by with AI is own the output. Just because you have a cool tool doesn't mean you get to say that the tool is the reason something was wrong. You own the output."</span></em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">&mdash; Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer, Flint Engineering Company</span></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">That has a practical edge. Johnson raised data security, pointing out that client information needs to stay protected under NDAs when a firm runs it through a third-party AI platform. Owning the output means owning the data path, too. Before uploading project documents, firms should evaluate the data path and the platform's NDA and security requirements. That is a question to settle before the first project goes up, not after.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Built by the People Who Use It</span></strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The panel closed on what actually makes these tools better, and the answer was feedback from the field rather than anything happening in a lab. Solorio and Johnson both pointed to the value of a simple thumbs up or thumbs down on each flagged issue. That input teaches the model the difference between a real problem and an irrelevant false positive, which is the difference between a tool engineers trust and one they learn to ignore.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Because AEC technology moves quickly, the tools that respond to this feedback can change almost daily. Johnson offered an example from a job site. He floated the idea of having the plan checker automatically generate a targeted field observation checklist based on the specific materials and structural elements it found in the drawings. Within hours, the development team had piloted a connection between the plan checker and a site inspection app.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">That speed of iteration is the point underneath the whole conversation.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The AI plan review tools that earn a place in AEC workflows will be the ones built and shaped by the people doing the work, not the ones that promise to do the thinking for them. The engineers on this panel were not looking for software to replace their judgment. They were looking for a reviewer that helps them protect it. That is a smaller promise than replacing an engineer, and a far more useful one.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">To learn more about InspectMind AI, visit InspectMind AI's <a href="../../../tools/inspectmind-ai" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>page on aec+tech</strong> </a>or explore the latest features and request access on the InspectMind AI's <a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu194a _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu18uv _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _ect4ttxp _syaz13af _1a3b18uv _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik18uv _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm18uv _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" title="https://www.inspectmind.ai/" href="https://www.inspectmind.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">website</strong></a>.</span></p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Editor's Note</span></strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/c3806924-0521-483d-b74d-a01f09ed330e.png" alt="Niknaz Aftahi" width="160" height="160"></span></strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This article was independently reviewed and edited by Niknaz Aftahi, Founder of AEC+Tech, drawing on InspectMind AI's product documentation, direct conversation with the panel participants, and hands-on knowledge of plan review and QA/QC workflows. Figures drawn from the panel rather than published material were checked before publishing.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">&mdash; Niknaz Aftahi, Founder, AEC+Tech</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<strong id="docs-internal-guid-f605f145-7fff-93d1-69b0-253c1e092ed5"></strong></div>

InspectMind AI

AI plan review saves hours, but engineers say the real payoff is fewer lawsuits, cleaner permit reviews, and errors caught before they reach the field.

AI Plan Review Isn't About Speed. It's About Staying Out of Court.

Trimble selected 15 AECO startups for its 2026 0-60 Challenge, supporting AI, robotics, and interoperability integrations across construction workflows.

The Next Generation of AECO Innovation: Meet the 2026 Trimble 0-60 Finalists

<h2>About DIRT</h2>
<p>Fresh messaging, branding, and positioning for AEC tech. DIRT is a team of expert brand strategists, copywriters, and website designers who specialise exclusively in AEC tech. Unlike a generic agency, we know the industry inside out.</p>
<p>At DIRT, we work with AEC software tools who want to grow their business and market share. In AEC software, the product is rarely the problem. The positioning is. When it's clear what your platform does and why it matters, trust builds faster - and the right customers find you.</p>
<h2>Signs You Need DIRT</h2>
<ul>
<li>People visit your website and still ask, "so what does this do?"</li>
<li>Your team relies on the demo to explain basic value</li>
<li>You know you have a different product, but can't articulate why</li>
</ul>
<p>Each of these is a positioning failure rather than a product failure, which is why adding features rarely fixes them.</p>
<h2>Services</h2>
<p>DIRT is a strategy-led agency offering:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Positioning</strong> - defining where the product sits and who it is for</li>
<li><strong>Brand messaging strategy</strong> - the core narrative and value articulation</li>
<li><strong>Copywriting</strong> - website, pitch decks, social media and more</li>
<li><strong>Visual identity</strong> - logo, brand colours and design system</li>
<li><strong>Website design and development</strong></li>
</ul>
<h2>What to Expect Working With DIRT</h2>
<h3>01 Competitive Edge</h3>
<p>You stop sounding like everyone else. Your value is clear, your positioning is sharp, and buyers decide faster, without pulling you into price comparisons.</p>
<h3>02 Alignment</h3>
<p>Marketing, sales, and product finally tell the same story. Buyers hear the same thing at every touchpoint, and when every demo, deck and homepage tell the same story, you stop losing deals to confusion.</p>
<h3>03 Momentum</h3>
<p>Sales conversations move faster. The sales team stops relying on demos to explain basic value. Marketing starts working.</p>
<h2>Founder</h2>
<p>Nikita Morell has spent over a decade inside the AEC industry running Nikita Morell, a brand messaging agency exclusively for architects. Now she is bringing that same expert positioning lens to AEC software. She knows this industry, how buyers think, and why most platforms struggle to communicate their value.</p>
<p>That background is the differentiator: a generalist SaaS agency has to learn what a BIM coordinator does before it can write for one.</p>
<h2>Who DIRT Works With</h2>
<p>DIRT works with construction, contech, property and building material teams who suspect their brand is holding them back - from pre-seed companies building their first narrative, through Series A, to post-MVP businesses with a product that works and messaging that doesn't.</p>
<h2>Client Results</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Techne</strong> - "We were in the process of merging two firms. DIRT helped us identify our positioning and communicate our value in a clear, simple and relatable way. DIRT created a website we're proud of - one that not only reflects who we are now, but protects the reputation we've built over years." - Sameer</li>
<li><strong>CORE</strong> - "Nikita and her team helped us go from 'coming soon' to a website we can be proud of. Their structured process helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel and the confidence to embrace a distinct brand voice." - Mark</li>
<li><strong>DeSimone</strong> - "We struggled to tell our story in a way that felt true to who we are. Now, our website copy is clear, energised, and genuinely reflects our firm." - David</li>
</ul>
<h2>DIRT Dispatch</h2>
<p>DIRT publishes a newsletter for construction, contech, property and building material teams covering brand, positioning and messaging in the built environment.</p>
<h2>Working With DIRT</h2>
<p>Whether you are pre-seed and building your narrative, Series A, or post-MVP with a product that works and messaging that doesn't, DIRT works across the full brand and positioning stack for AEC technology businesses.</p>

DIRT delivers positioning, brand messaging, copywriting and website design exclusively for AEC tech, contech and building material companies.

DIRT | Brand Positioning Agency for AEC Tech

DIRT

DIRT is a brand strategy agency specialising exclusively in AEC tech, delivering positioning, brand messaging, copywriting, visual identity and website design for construction technology, contech, proptech and building material companies.

<h2>About Hassell</h2>
<p>Hassell is a leading international design practice founded in Australia in 1938. From its origins as an Australian architecture firm it has grown into a multidisciplinary studio operating across Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States, with studios including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, London and San Francisco.</p>
<p>The practice summarises its purpose simply: it designs places people love. That phrasing sets a higher and more awkward standard than functional success, because affection for a place is determined by everyday experience rather than by the drawing.</p>
<h2>Integrated Disciplines</h2>
<p>Hassell works across four principal disciplines, deliberately combined rather than separated.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Architecture</strong> - commercial, civic, education, health, transport and mixed-use buildings</li>
<li><strong>Interior design</strong> - workplace, hospitality and public interiors</li>
<li><strong>Landscape architecture</strong> - parks, public realm, campuses and waterfronts</li>
<li><strong>Urban design and planning</strong> - district frameworks and city-scale strategy</li>
</ul>
<p>The practice also offers research, strategy and experience design alongside these core services. Its argument for the mix is economic as much as aesthetic: bringing several perspectives together unlocks the economic, social and cultural value of a project in ways a single discipline cannot.</p>
<h2>Integrated Design Teams</h2>
<p>Projects are delivered by integrated teams because, in the firm's view, they produce the best outcomes. Increasingly complex client briefs demand a culture built on collaboration, creativity and innovation in both design thinking and delivery.</p>
<p>This matters most where disciplines meet - the edge between a building and its landscape, or between interior fit-out and base build, is exactly where fragmented teams tend to produce compromised results.</p>
<h2>Sectors</h2>
<p>Hassell works across workplace and commercial development, transport and infrastructure including major rail and station projects, health and medical research, education from schools to university campuses, civic and cultural buildings, residential and mixed-use development, sport and recreation, and public realm and parks.</p>
<h2>Studios as Design Statements</h2>
<p>The practice treats its own workplaces as demonstrations of its thinking. The Melbourne studio at 55 Collins - located within Collins Place, the modernist complex designed by I.M. Pei - occupies an entire floor conceived as a laboratory-like work lab, deliberately arranged for flexibility, creativity and co-creation with clients.</p>
<h2>Global Practice, Shared Values</h2>
<p>Design values are held in common across every Hassell studio, shared by architects, interior designers, landscape architects, urban designers, planners and specialist consultants. That consistency lets the practice move expertise between regions while retaining local knowledge of climate, culture and regulation - particularly valuable across the very different contexts of Australia, East Asia and the UK.</p>
<h2>Market Position</h2>
<p>Hassell is among the most established design practices in the Asia Pacific region and competes internationally on the strength of its multidisciplinary model. Clients include state governments and transport authorities, universities, health services, developers and global corporations.</p>
<h2>Why AEC Teams Should Know Hassell</h2>
<p>For teams working on transport interchanges, campuses, workplace or public realm projects - particularly in Australia and Asia - Hassell is a significant reference point for integrated design across the built environment.</p>

Hassell is an international design practice working across architecture, interiors, landscape architecture and urban design from studios in Australia, Asia, the

Hassell | Architecture, Landscape & Urban Design

Hassell

Hassell is an international design practice founded in Australia in 1938, working across architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and urban design from studios in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

<h2>About Aurecon</h2>
<p>Aurecon is an Asia Pacific engineering, design and advisory company that uses engineering expertise to provide advisory, design, delivery and asset management services. Its stated purpose - bringing ideas to life - describes a business that works from early strategic thinking through to the long-term operation of completed assets.</p>
<p>The group is headquartered in Docklands, Melbourne and is owner-managed, a governance structure that keeps decision-making with the people delivering the work rather than with external shareholders.</p>
<h2>Formation and Structure</h2>
<p>Aurecon was created through the merger of three established engineering consultancies - Africon, Connell Wagner and Ninham Shand - bringing together African and Australasian engineering practices under a single brand. The company today employs more than 6,500 people across a network of offices spanning Australia, New Zealand and Asia.</p>
<h2>Geographic Presence</h2>
<p>In Australia the firm operates from around fifteen offices including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. In New Zealand roughly 900 engineering and advisory professionals work from five offices in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, with further presence across Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>That regional concentration matters. Australian and New Zealand infrastructure work involves specific conditions - seismic design in New Zealand, extreme heat and bushfire risk in Australia, cyclone loading in the north, and long distances between population centres - which shape engineering decisions in ways that generic international practice does not address.</p>
<h2>Services</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Advisory</strong> - asset management and advisory, infrastructure and risk advisory, and sustaining capital planning</li>
<li><strong>Design</strong> - multidisciplinary engineering and design across building and infrastructure projects</li>
<li><strong>Delivery</strong> - support through construction and commissioning</li>
<li><strong>Asset management</strong> - performance, maintenance strategy and whole-of-life planning for completed assets</li>
</ul>
<h2>Technical Disciplines</h2>
<ul>
<li>Water resources, supply, purification and treatment</li>
<li>Transportation and roads</li>
<li>Structures and buildings</li>
<li>Heavy engineering and industrial facilities</li>
<li>Infrastructure services and utilities</li>
<li>Environmental science and sustainability</li>
</ul>
<h2>Advisory and Asset Management</h2>
<p>The advisory and asset management strands are worth singling out. Most engineering consultancies concentrate on design, but Aurecon positions advisory work at the front of its offer - helping clients decide what to build and whether to build at all - and asset management at the back, covering how an asset performs over decades. Sustaining capital advice, in particular, addresses a problem many owners face: allocating limited renewal budgets across an ageing portfolio.</p>
<h2>Sustainability</h2>
<p>Sustainability and environmental science run through the practice, from environmental impact assessment on infrastructure schemes to decarbonisation and climate resilience planning. In a region facing acute climate exposure, resilience is an engineering requirement rather than an optional service.</p>
<h2>Market Position</h2>
<p>Aurecon is one of the leading engineering and advisory firms in Australia and New Zealand, competing with the large global consultancies while retaining a distinctly regional identity and owner-managed structure. Its clients include government agencies, utilities, transport authorities, developers and industrial owners.</p>
<h2>Why AEC Teams Should Know Aurecon</h2>
<p>For teams working on Australasian infrastructure, water or major buildings, Aurecon is a significant reference point for integrated advisory, design and asset management across the built environment.</p>

AUCKLAND CITY RAIL LINK Easing congestion in New Zealand's largest transport network

Aurecon is an Asia Pacific engineering, design and advisory company delivering transport, water, energy and building projects across Australia, New Zealand and 

Aurecon | Asia Pacific Engineering & Design Firm

aurecon

The first large-scale project in Singapore to use prefabricated MEP modular techniques

Aurecon is an Asia Pacific engineering, design and advisory company providing advisory, design, delivery and asset management services across transport, water, energy, buildings and urban development from offices in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

<h2>About FENDER KATSALIDIS</h2>
<p>FENDER KATSALIDIS, which now practises simply as FK, is one of Australia's most recognised architecture studios. Established in Melbourne by Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis, the practice built its reputation on projects that changed the skylines and cultural landscape of Australian cities, and it describes itself as delivering exemplary work across urban design, architecture and interior design.</p>
<p>The studio's stated ambition is to make quality contributions to the fabric of Australian cities that are innovative, sustainable and enduring. It operates from three studios: Melbourne on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country, Sydney on Gadigal Country and Brisbane on Jagera and Turrbal Country, with the head office at Riverside Quay in Southbank, Melbourne.</p>
<h2>Disciplines</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Architecture</strong> &ndash; the core practice, spanning towers, cultural buildings, workplaces and housing.</li>
<li><strong>Interior design</strong> &ndash; interiors developed alongside the base building rather than as a separate commission.</li>
<li><strong>Urban design</strong> &ndash; masterplanning and precinct-scale work shaping how buildings meet the street.</li>
<li><strong>Adaptive reuse</strong> &ndash; a distinct discipline within the studio, reflecting the shift from new build toward extending the life of existing stock.</li>
</ul>
<p>Treating adaptive reuse as its own discipline rather than a subset of architecture is notable. FK frames it around unlocking the potential of renewable real estate, a position that matches where much of the Australian commercial market has moved as owners weigh refurbishment against demolition.</p>
<h2>Landmark Projects</h2>
<p>Two buildings define the practice's public profile. Eureka Tower in Melbourne, completed in 2006 and standing around 300 metres, was for years the tallest building in the city and remains one of the defining residential towers in Australia. The Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, better known as MONA, is a subterranean gallery cut into the sandstone of the Berriedale peninsula; it received the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture in 2012 and transformed Tasmania's cultural economy.</p>
<p>Current and recent work spans a wide spread of typologies and locations: West Tower at Melbourne Quarter, Fitzroy Gasworks Parcel A, 500 Bourke Street and 14-16 Yarra Street in Victoria; Novus on Victoria at Chatswood and the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney; 91 Lytton Road at Balmoral in Queensland; NewActon Nishi in Canberra; and hotel and workplace projects at Melbourne Airport including the Novotel and Ibis Styles and the Aerofoil workspace.</p>
<h2>Sectors Served</h2>
<p>FK works across build to rent, commercial, cultural, education, hospitality, mixed-use, residential, retail, seniors living, social and affordable housing, and workplace. Projects are located across the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria, as well as internationally.</p>
<p>The presence of both premium residential towers and social and affordable housing in the same portfolio is worth noting; relatively few studios of this profile work at both ends of the housing market.</p>
<h2>Sustainability</h2>
<p>FK positions sustainability as a rigorous, evidence-based practice rather than an aspiration, working with specialist consultants to design, measure and deliver holistic architecture and interiors. The studio has delivered large-scale projects achieving five and six star Green Star ratings, and carbon neutral design sits alongside its core disciplines as a stated capability.</p>
<p>The practice frames the reasoning in terms of scale: its work affects not only the immediate local context but interconnected global systems, and the aim is to work with clients, colleagues and partners toward a more sustainable built environment.</p>
<h2>Culture and Recognition</h2>
<p>Alongside its design work, FK maintains programmes covering social initiatives, workplace culture and awards, and publishes acknowledgements of the traditional custodians of the lands on which each studio operates. Nonda Katsalidis has been recognised as an Indesign Luminary for his contribution to Australian architecture.</p>
<h2>Why FENDER KATSALIDIS Matters to the AEC Industry</h2>
<p>FK is a useful case study in how a practice moves from a single-city studio to national scale without losing design identity. Eureka Tower and MONA demonstrate range that few firms achieve: one a technically demanding supertall residential building, the other a largely underground gallery driven by an idiosyncratic private client brief. For architects and developers in Australia, the studio's current emphasis on adaptive reuse and Green Star performance also tracks closely with where the market is heading, making its published approach a practical reference for anyone weighing refurbishment strategy against new construction.</p>

FENDER KATSALIDIS, now FK, is an Australian architecture, interiors and urban design studio behind Eureka Tower and MONA, based in Melbourne and Sydney.

FENDER KATSALIDIS (FK) | Australian Architecture Studio

FENDER KATSALIDIS

FENDER KATSALIDIS, now practising as FK, is an Australian architecture studio founded in Melbourne by Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis. It works across architecture, interior design, urban design and adaptive reuse from studios in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and designed Melbourne's Eureka Tower and Hobart's MONA.

<h2>About DBM Vircon</h2>
<p>DBM Vircon is a global construction modeling, detailing and digital engineering company. It sits in a specialised part of the AEC supply chain: taking design intent from engineers and architects and converting it into the fabrication-level models, shop drawings and data that steel fabricators, rebar suppliers and contractors actually build from.</p>
<p>The business operates across four continents in eight countries with more than 800 trained professionals, including offices in Brisbane, Perth, Vancouver, Phoenix, Tempe and Chennai. It describes its differentiator as the combination of experience, expertise and technology that turns complex data into intelligent, context-rich models.</p>
<h2>History and Formation</h2>
<p>DBM Vircon was created by bringing together three established detailing businesses, each dominant in a different sector. BDS Vircon was founded in Brisbane, Australia in 1964 and grew into a building information modeling, structural steel and rebar detailing firm with a strong international presence. Candraft was founded in Canada in 1979 and became a leading innovator in bridge information modeling. PDC contributed industrial sector expertise.</p>
<p>Through 2016 and 2017 parent company DBM Global acquired these modeling and detailing brands and consolidated them under the DBM Vircon name, producing a single organisation with deep specialisation across commercial, bridge and industrial work simultaneously.</p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Steel modeling and detailing</strong> &ndash; 3D structural steel models and fabrication-ready shop drawings, the firm's founding capability.</li>
<li><strong>Reinforced concrete modeling and detailing</strong> &ndash; rebar detailing, scheduling and placing drawings.</li>
<li><strong>Digital engineering</strong> &ndash; digital project management, data mapping and BIM coordination across the design, build and manage lifecycle.</li>
<li><strong>Pre-construction planning</strong> &ndash; early scoping and constructability input before fabrication begins.</li>
<li><strong>Visualization</strong> &ndash; 3D visualisation supporting design communication and stakeholder engagement.</li>
<li><strong>Industrial engineering and design</strong> &ndash; engineering design services for industrial facilities.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Digital Engineering Approach</h2>
<p>DBM Vircon positions digital engineering as a service that adds value at every stage of the design, build and manage lifecycle, from initial scoping and 3D visualisation through to ongoing asset management. Two choices define the approach: software agnosticism, so the firm works within whatever platforms a project already uses rather than imposing its own, and centralised data mapping, which keeps a single coordinated data source across disciplines.</p>
<p>The stated purpose is to break down silos between project participants, clarify decision-making, de-risk construction and streamline delivery, with governance and transparency for the whole project team. In practice, detailed models produced early surface clashes and fabrication problems while they are still cheap to fix.</p>
<h2>Industries Served</h2>
<p>DBM Vircon works across transportation and bridges, cultural venues, government projects, commercial and residential buildings, healthcare, industrial and mining, energy, education, and convention centres, events venues and stadiums. Representative projects include Perth Children's Hospital and the West Hollywood Sunset Spectacular, a multimedia billboard structure composed of three outer panels arranged in a triangular pattern.</p>
<p>Bridges are a distinct specialism inherited from Candraft, with dedicated bridge detailing teams in Phoenix and Vancouver handling geometry-intensive work that differs substantially from building steel.</p>
<h2>People and Development</h2>
<p>The company traces its Cadet Construction Modeller Development Program back to 1964. The structured on-the-job programme trains inexperienced construction modellers across design, 3D modeling, detailing and digital engineering, with one-to-one mentoring from experienced staff. Given how few formal education routes exist into construction detailing, in-house training of this kind is how the discipline reproduces itself.</p>
<p>The Excellence Development and Accreditation programme supports continuing development through mentoring, subject matter expert sessions, internal and external training and conferences, aligned with the company's stated vision of being the most innovative detailing and digital engineering company.</p>
<p>Five values underpin the culture: integrity, collaboration, excellence, respect and empathy.</p>
<h2>Why DBM Vircon Matters to the AEC Industry</h2>
<p>Detailing is where design becomes buildable, and it is a step where errors are expensive and schedule-critical. DBM Vircon is the largest independent operator in that space, which makes it a useful reference for three things: how detailing scales globally through distributed delivery centres, how machine learning and software development are being applied to modelling workflows given the firm's dedicated technology division, and how bridge, building and industrial detailing differ in practice. For fabricators, contractors and engineers, understanding the detailing interface is often the difference between a smooth fabrication package and months of rework.</p>

Salt Lake City International Airport, Garage and Central Utility Plant

DBM Vircon delivers 3D construction modeling, structural steel and rebar detailing, BIM and digital engineering with 800+ specialists in eight countries.

DBM Vircon | Steel Detailing, BIM & Digital Engineering

DBM Vircon

San Francisco International Airport Terminal 1 Redevelopment

DBM Vircon is a global construction modeling, steel detailing and digital engineering company with over 800 professionals across eight countries. Formed from BDS Vircon, Candraft and PDC, it delivers steel and rebar detailing, BIM, pre-construction planning, visualization and industrial design for complex projects worldwide.

<p>With ARES Commander, users can work both locally and with files stored in the cloud to improve collaboration. Sync files across users and devices. Create and modify DWG drawings in 2D and 3D, leveraging the drafting and design features that you&rsquo;ve come to expect &mdash; all at a significant cost savings. ARES Commander can stand alone or coordinate with ARES Touch and ARES Kudo to form the Trinity of CAD, unlocking productivity-boosting collaboration features. <br><br>ARES Commander by Graebert is a powerful and flexible CAD solution designed for professionals who require full-featured 2D and 3D drafting capabilities in native DWG format&mdash;without the high costs or limitations of traditional CAD software. Compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, ARES Commander is part of the ARES Trinity suite, which includes access to cloud-based editing through ARES Kudo and mobile capabilities via ARES Touch, all under a single license.<br><br>One of the key strengths of ARES Commander is its seamless DWG compatibility, allowing users to create, edit, and share files without worrying about format issues. The software includes robust 2D drafting tools, 3D modeling functions such as push/pull editing, and support for dynamic blocks, splines, and parametric features.<br><br>Beyond the desktop, the ARES Trinity ecosystem enables real-time collaboration through cloud integration, supporting services like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. Users can work from anywhere, review drawings on-site, share view-only links with stakeholders, and keep track of revisions with built-in version control and commenting tools.<br><br>ARES Commander also bridges the gap between CAD and BIM. It allows the import of Revit and IFC files, from which users can extract 2D drawings, automatically generate annotations, and streamline documentation workflows. This functionality makes it easier to work alongside BIM teams while staying within familiar CAD environments.<br><br>The user interface has been continually refined to support productivity and ease of use, with the latest versions offering customizable workspaces, AI-assisted tools, and a simplified transition path for users coming from other platforms like AutoCAD.<br><br>ARES Commander is widely adopted across industries, from architecture and engineering to construction and manufacturing. It's known for its solid performance, affordability, and flexibility, offering a complete CAD solution that meets the demands of modern workflows. Whether working independently or as part of a larger team, users appreciate its robust toolset, intuitive design, and commitment to innovation.</p>

Files created in ARES Commander can also be accessed in ARES Kudo or ARES Touch.

ARES Commander includes BIM drawings automation features.

The ARES Trinity of CAD Software: Create and Modify DWG Files with Modern Collaboration Tools

ARES CAD Software: Top 10 Trinity Features Outperforming AutoCAD | Expert Review by Architosh

DWG Drawings Automation for BIM - ARES Commander Product Review | Niknaz Aftahi of aec+tech

BIM Drawings Automation: From Revit & IFC to DWG in ARES Commander

450+ Dynamic Blocks in Tool Palettes and Trinity Block Library in ARES Commander

AI for CAD in DWG: ARES AI Assist (aka A3) 

Switch from AutoCAD or other AutoCAD Alternatives to ARES effortlessly

ARES Commander | N°1 AutoCAD Alternative for DWG CAD Software on Windows, Mac and Linux

ARES Commander

ARES Commander Standalone [Perpetual License]

ARES Commander [Perpetual License] with Trinity

ARES Commander Flex / Network Seat [Perpetual License]

ARES Commander runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux platforms.

Featuring Graebert at the AEC Innovate Conference

<p data-start="0" data-end="435">Melt Takeoff is built for estimators who need takeoffs that are not just fast, but truly bid-ready and reliable. Unlike fully automated takeoff software that only measures what&rsquo;s drawn, Melt Takeoff is designed around a simple truth: winning bids requires accounting for what&rsquo;s missing from plans &mdash; the scope gaps, incomplete details, coordination conflicts, and implied work that experienced estimators catch through judgment.</p>
<p data-start="437" data-end="894">Melt Takeoff combines AI vision with expert estimator validation to deliver takeoffs with both speed and accuracy. The workflow is simple: upload plans, the AI measures and identifies scope, flags drawing/spec conflicts, adds allowances, and then senior estimators validate everything before delivery. This hybrid model is what makes Melt Takeoff dependable &mdash; AI accelerates measurement, but real estimators ensure completeness and constructability.</p>
<p data-start="896" data-end="921">Key capabilities include:</p>
<ul data-start="923" data-end="1834">
<li data-start="923" data-end="1042">
<p data-start="925" data-end="1042">AI Vision measurement detecting 800+ building elements with counts, lengths, perimeters, areas, and volumes</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1043" data-end="1129">
<p data-start="1045" data-end="1129">Automated scope recognition across architectural, structural, and MEP drawings</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1130" data-end="1256">
<p data-start="1132" data-end="1256">Detailed allowances for scope not shown, added as itemized ROMs based on code requirements and real project benchmarks</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1257" data-end="1351">
<p data-start="1259" data-end="1351">Drawing&ndash;spec conflict detection, with estimator-led resolution before it hits your bid</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1352" data-end="1528">
<p data-start="1354" data-end="1528">Estimator-verified outputs, reviewed by onshore senior estimators with 20+ years of field experience, including delivery of multi-million to billion-dollar projects</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1529" data-end="1691">
<p data-start="1531" data-end="1691">Flexible classification standards, supporting MasterFormat&reg;, UniFormat&reg;, or custom structures, so takeoffs drop directly into your estimating workflow</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1692" data-end="1834">
<p data-start="1694" data-end="1834">Interactive takeoff output, with side-by-side plan review, traceable quantities, and clean Excel exports ready for pricing and bidding</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="1836" data-end="2205">Melt Takeoff is designed for speed without sacrificing trust. Quantities aren&rsquo;t just dumped into a spreadsheet &mdash; they&rsquo;re delivered in a structured, reviewable format so teams can validate quickly, collaborate internally, and confidently move into bid submission. The output stays fully in your control: review, adjust, and export clean files without messy reformatting.</p>
<p data-start="2207" data-end="2608" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">Melt Takeoff delivers a takeoff process that is 40% more accurate, 20% faster, and 10% cheaper, with turnaround times ranging from 2&ndash;3 days for small projects to 7&ndash;8 days for extra-large projects. The result is fewer missed scope items, stronger bid coverage, reduced risk of underbidding, and significantly more confidence in your numbers &mdash; so estimators can bid faster and win more work.</p>

Melt Takeoff

<p>EGNYTE CONTENT CLOUD<br>Unlock the full potential of your mission-critical content by simplifying collaboration, improving productivity with AI, and addressing information governance.<br><br><br>PLATFORM<br>The Egnyte Platform provides robust, secure, and compliant infrastructure that can be customized and scaled to match your business needs.<br><br>Faster Time to Value<br>Egnyte delivers immediate value with little or no customization but can tailor its offering to meet your business needs and integrate with your environment.<br><br>Trusted by IT Leaders<br>Thousand of IT leaders appreciate Egnyte&rsquo;s ease of deployment combined with a secure and compliant architecture.<br><br>Loved by End-users<br>End-users love working with Egnyte because of its accessibility from wherever they work, without forcing them to alter established processes and behavior.<br><br><br>COLLABORATION<br>Collaborate on mission-critical content with distributed teams working from an office, from home, or on the go.<br><br>Collaborate Efficiently<br>Empower teams to work efficiently and confidently, accelerating project timelines while protecting valuable content.<br><br>Manage Complex Files<br>Efficiently collaborate on mission-critical content and empower teams that work with large, complex files (up to 250 GB) in the cloud.<br><br>Streamline Workflows<br>Enhance workflows, improve productivity, drive project momentum, and ensure secure interactions across teams and partners.<br><br><br>INTELLIGENCE<br>Drive productivity and innovation with private and secure AI grounded in your company's data. Get fast answers, surface insights, create summaries, and perform actions via a simple, intuitive interface built into users&rsquo; workflows.<br><br>Private<br>Egnyte&rsquo;s AI respects your governance model and adheres to user-specific permissions, protecting your data with stringent privacy, compliance, and security standards.<br><br>Purposeful<br>Get accurate, relevant, and traceable answers from your data, with complete control over data sources and AI prompts.<br><br>Practical<br>Integrate AI seamlessly into existing workflows without moving data out of Egnyte, eliminating the need for new tools or special skills.<br><br><br>GOVERNANCE<br>Proactively Address Rapidly Evolving Cyberthreats and Manage Compliance Requirements<br><br>Defend Against Ransomware<br>Proactively manage the threat of ransomware; detect known ransomware artifacts; keep pace with rapidly-evolving ransomware variants; take immediate action when users experience attacks; and recover quickly from successful attacks using Snapshot Recovery.<br><br>Protect Sensitive Content<br>Identify and review sensitive content including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) data, and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI); take immediate corrective action to protect exposed data; strengthen your compliance with global data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CPRA; and continuously improve sensitive data protection.<br><br>Manage Regulatory Compliance<br>Comply with cybersecurity and data privacy standards, such as CMMC, ISO 27001, and the CPRA; detect data that&rsquo;s subject to compliance and data privacy standards; keep pace with rapidly-evolving international privacy and cybersecurity standards; and benefit from Egnyte&rsquo;s deep compliance experience.<br><br>Remediate Security Issues<br>Mitigate risk associated with common security vulnerabilities like publicly exposed document links and potential ransomware; automatically respond to suspicious Egnyte login attempts; and enable your team to focus on threats most likely to significantly impact your company.<br><br>Keep Data Confidential<br>Create virtual data rooms (VDRs) for secure collaboration with external entities; generate Document Rooms in support of M&amp;A, asset sales, and investment fundraising initiatives; watermark previewed files to limit the risk of data breaches; gain real-time insights into users&rsquo; document access activity; and terminate external entities&rsquo; access when projects are completed, for peace of mind.</p>

Egnyte Architecture Engineering and Construction Video

GBBN makes end users happier and more productive with Egnyte rollout

Egnyte

3 Ways Egnyte Helps AEC Firms Tap Into the Public Cloud 

Unlocking the Power of Cloud Data in Architectural Practice

Featuring Egnyte's aec+tech Talk: Unlocking the Power of Cloud Data in Architectural Practice

Featuring Egnyte’s article, case study, aec+tech event, and 2025 Egnyte’s Global Summit

Featuring Egnyte's Webinar: How to Find a Trusted AI Vendor

Featuring Egnyte at the AEC Innovate Conference

Egnyte's Article: A Practical, Purposeful, and Private Approach to AI Adoption in AEC; Article with Aaron Vorwerk

Speaking about Egnyte at the conference presentation

Zweig Group Article by aec+tech: Tools Leading the Way in the AEC+Tech Community

Featuring AIA Presentation: AI & AEC with Aaron Vorwerk

Featuring Egnyte: AI-powered Content Cloud Platform for AEC

<p>CRDR BIM, short for "Clash Resolution Diagnosis Report in BIM," is a specialized tool designed to streamline clash resolution documentation within Autodesk Navisworks. It simplifies compliance reporting and enhances workflow efficiency for BIM managers, coordinators, and specialists by providing a structured approach to documenting resolved clashes.<br><br>1. Efficient Clash Resolution Reporting<br>CRDR BIM enables users to generate detailed Clash Resolution Diagnosis Reports that document how clashes have been addressed between different BIM model versions. This feature helps teams maintain accurate records of resolution progress, improving project tracking and compliance.<br><br>2. Seamless Navisworks Plugin Integration<br>Functioning as a dedicated Navisworks plugin, CRDR BIM integrates directly into existing workflows, allowing users to compare &lsquo;before&rsquo; and &lsquo;after&rsquo; BIM models effortlessly. This integration ensures that clash resolution documentation remains within the familiar Navisworks environment, eliminating the need for external tools.<br><br>3. Intuitive &amp; User-Friendly Interface<br>Designed for ease of use, CRDR BIM features an intuitive interface that simplifies navigation and workflow execution. BIM professionals can efficiently document and categorize clashes without technical complexity, improving productivity and adoption rates.<br><br>4. Consistent Viewing Angles for Clear Comparisons<br>CRDR BIM ensures consistent perspective when capturing images of clashes, maintaining uniformity between different model versions. This feature enhances clarity in reports, making it easier for teams to analyze and understand clash resolutions.<br><br>5. Customizable Clash Categorization for Precise Documentation<br>Users can categorize clashes into resolved, unresolved, approved, or resolved but connected manually, ensuring a clear and organized approach to documentation. This categorization allows for better project tracking and compliance verification.<br><br>6. Flexible Reporting Formats for Easy Sharing<br>CRDR BIM supports HTML and PDF export options, enabling teams to save and share reports efficiently. These reports include detailed images and summaries, making them valuable for project documentation and stakeholder communication.<br><br>7. Enhancing BIM Management with Streamlined Reporting<br>By integrating directly with Navisworks, CRDR BIM empowers BIM managers and specialists to document clash resolutions accurately and efficiently. It ensures that compliance reporting is effortless while maintaining a structured and transparent workflow.<br><br>With its powerful reporting features and seamless integration, CRDR BIM is an essential tool for professionals involved in clash resolution documentation within BIM models.</p>

CRDR BIM

<p>BAMROC: Revolutionizing MEP and MEP vs. Structure Clash Resolution in the AEC Industry</p>
<p data-start="90" data-end="551">BAMROC is the first AI-powered software in the AEC industry purpose-built to automate MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) and MEP vs. Structure clash resolution inside real-world BIM coordination workflows. Instead of spending countless hours manually reviewing clashes, modifying routes, and iterating on design options, BIM teams can now rely on BAMROC to act as an intelligent copilot that does the heavy lifting with remarkable speed and consistency.</p>
<p data-start="553" data-end="1020">At its core, BAMROC combines advanced AI-powered decision-making to understand how MEP services interact with structural and architectural elements. It doesn&rsquo;t just highlight problems, it actively proposes and applies optimized resolutions that respect design intent, space constraints, and constructability. This allows BIM MEP coordinators, designers, and engineers to move from reactive firefighting to proactive, high-value decision-making.</p>
<p data-start="1022" data-end="1526">By streamlining a traditionally time-consuming and repetitive coordination stage, BAMROC helps projects meet the highest standards of accuracy, safety, and efficiency. It reduces the back-and-forth between disciplines, minimizes rework, and cuts down coordination cycles, ultimately supporting faster project delivery and more predictable outcomes. BIM professionals can focus on design quality, system performance, and client requirements instead of being stuck in manual clash-by-clash troubleshooting.</p>
<p data-start="1528" data-end="1954">As an advanced BIM clash resolver, BAMROC analyzes design conflicts, explores multiple routing scenarios, and intelligently adjusts MEP systems to create a clash-free environment. The resolutions are generated with precision, preserving clearances, avoiding critical zones, and maintaining the logic of each system. This level of automation and reliability redefines what &ldquo;productive&rdquo; means in BIM MEP design and coordination.</p>
<p data-start="1956" data-end="2390" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">Whether your team is handling dense plant rooms, complex high-rise cores, hospitals with strict service zoning, or large infrastructure projects under aggressive timelines, BAMROC ensures that BIM professionals can achieve lightning-fast coordination with uncompromising quality. Adopting BAMROC is not just a software upgrade, it is a shift toward smarter, AI-assisted project delivery and a more efficient, future-ready AEC workflow.</p>

BAMROC

<h2 class="PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer" data-section-id="13rhl3y" data-start="3142" data-end="3175"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Champ Agents, powered by Wyatt</span></h2>
<p class="" data-start="3177" data-end="3401"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Champ Agents, powered by Wyatt, is Unanet's agentic AI platform designed to help architecture, engineering, and consulting firms turn their ERP and CRM data into actionable insights, recommendations, and automated workflows.</span></p>
<p data-start="3403" data-end="3600"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Rather than functioning only as a traditional chatbot, Champ Agents can work with business data across Unanet to help users analyze information, monitor conditions, identify risks, and take action.</span></p>
<h3 data-section-id="13c37lm" data-start="3602" data-end="3639"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">AI built around AEC business data</span></h3>
<p data-start="3641" data-end="3948"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Users can interact with Champ Agents using natural-language questions and requests. The platform can help project managers, finance teams, business development professionals, marketers, operations leaders, and executives access information more quickly without manually searching through reports or systems.</span></p>
<h3 data-section-id="166ooyv" data-start="3950" data-end="3970"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Key capabilities</span></h3>
<ul data-start="3972" data-end="4321">
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="awd8da" data-start="3972" data-end="4024"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Natural-language interaction with ERP and CRM data</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="bd5dtz" data-start="4025" data-end="4055"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">AI-powered business analysis</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="nfqavn" data-start="4056" data-end="4089"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Proactive monitoring and alerts</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="i9wuck" data-start="4090" data-end="4111"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Workflow automation</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="1yptkoa" data-start="4112" data-end="4144"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Project and financial insights</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="11wnnmg" data-start="4145" data-end="4180"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Pursuit and pipeline intelligence</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="488hqp" data-start="4181" data-end="4209"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Client meeting preparation</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="w69osz" data-start="4210" data-end="4249"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Relationship and account intelligence</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="wamqn5" data-start="4250" data-end="4271"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Risk identification</span></li>
<li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" data-section-id="c4vek6" data-start="4272" data-end="4321"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Interactive AI-generated applications and views</span></li>
</ul>
<h3 data-section-id="19akd3h" data-start="4323" data-end="4362"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Designed for trusted enterprise use</span></h3>
<p data-start="4364" data-end="4595"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Champ Agents is built around governed business data, with permission-aware access, source attribution, and human oversight. This helps firms use AI while maintaining control over how organizational data is accessed and interpreted.</span></p>
<h3 data-section-id="wgwuyd" data-start="4597" data-end="4615"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Why it matters</span></h3>
<p data-start="4617" data-end="4772"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">For AEC firms, the value of AI is not simply generating text. It is helping teams understand their own business data faster and act on it more effectively.</span></p>
<p data-start="4774" data-end="4977" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Champ Agents can help firms reduce repetitive work, identify important changes earlier, prepare for client and project decisions, and make ERP and CRM information more accessible across the organization.</span></p>
<div class="tk0j8o1 _1ibi0s31a _1ibi0s3en"><a id="base-ui-:rn9:" class="wdbi343 wdbi341 _1ibi0s3ec _1ibi0s376" tabindex="0" role="button" href="https://unaverse.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MKTG/pages/2728591474" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Citation 1" data-label="1" data-base-ui-click-trigger="" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-expanded="false"></a></div>

Champ Agents, powered by Wyatt

ARES Touch is a full-featured mobile CAD app that provides a complete set of 2D drafting and annotation commands. It's the perfect companion to quickly review a drawing shared in the cloud or received by email while on the go.

Team members at the jobsite can collaborate efficiently with colleagues back at the office

ARES Touch helps users work more effectively while on the jobsite or  in the field

ARES Touch works on Android and iOS tablets and smartphones

DWG Editing on Mobile: ARES Touch Makes it Quick & Easy!

ARES Touch: Mobile CAD for Android and iOS to View, Create and Annotate DWG

ARES Touch

Work productively on mobile devices with tools tailored to smaller screens

<p>KlashBIM is a next-generation clash management tool designed to enhance efficiency in BIM-based construction projects. Unlike conventional clash detection software, KlashBIM not only identifies conflicts but also streamlines the documentation and reporting process, ensuring a seamless workflow for MEP and structural coordination.<br><br>1. Automated Clash Detection for Accurate Model Validation<br><br>KlashBIM precisely detects clashes within BIM models, ensuring that conflicts between MEP and structural components are identified before construction begins. By automating clash detection, KlashBIM helps teams create more reliable designs, minimizing errors and reducing costly rework on-site. Its accuracy ensures that potential issues are flagged early, allowing project teams to make informed decisions during the design phase.<br><br>2. Customizable Documentation &amp; Reporting<br><br>KlashBIM enhances project documentation by generating detailed and structured reports tailored to specific project needs. These reports provide a clear overview of detected clashes, their locations, and project-wide coordination insights. With customizable reporting options, project teams can extract relevant data efficiently, ensuring all stakeholders have the necessary information for effective collaboration.<br>3. AI-Powered Integration with BAMROC for Enhanced Clash Management<br><br>While KlashBIM specializes in identifying and documenting clashes, it integrates seamlessly with BAMROC to facilitate AI-powered clash resolution. This integration enables smarter processing of detected clashes, ensuring that conflicts can be analyzed and resolved efficiently when used alongside BAMROC. The synergy between KlashBIM and BAMROC creates a streamlined workflow for managing design conflicts in BIM projects.<br><br>4. Seamless BIM Workflow Integration<br><br>KlashBIM is designed to work effortlessly within existing BIM environments. It is compatible with major BIM platforms, allowing construction teams to incorporate its clash detection and documentation features without disrupting their workflows. This seamless integration ensures smooth coordination between different project disciplines, improving communication and reducing project delays.<br><br>5. Enhancing Project Efficiency Through Advanced Clash Management<br><br>By focusing on precise clash detection, structured documentation, and seamless BIM integration, KlashBIM optimizes construction workflows and reduces inefficiencies. It ensures that all detected clashes are well-documented, improving collaboration and preventing oversight in project execution.<br><br>With its advanced capabilities, KlashBIM is an indispensable tool in modern construction management, helping teams maintain accurate designs, minimize errors, and improve overall project coordination.</p>

KlashBIM

Discover how the Kusch Consulting engineering team streamlined their structural engineering projects, saving up to 20% in time using ClearCalcs.

Kusch Consulting is a structural engineering firm based in Australia that specialises in residential, commercial, and industrial projects. With a team of 32 engineers spread across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide, they handle a wide range of projects, from one-story residential homes to power station upgrades.

Richard Faulkner, Senior Structural Engineer at Kusch Consulting, first heard about ClearCalcs from another engineer who recommended it as an alternative to his existing software. Since then, Richard has introduced it to his team at Kusch Consulting, and over time, it has become an essential part of the team’s workflow. 

From quickly estimating beam sizes during initial project discussions to generating detailed reports during the design phase, ClearCalcs has made every step of the process easier and faster for Richard and his team.

A typical structural design project for an engineer like Richard begins with initial discussions with architects or clients to understand the project requirements. Richard often uses ClearCalcs early in this process for preliminary sizing and feasibility assessments. Once a project moves into the design phase, Richard uses ClearCalcs for detailed load analyses, calculations, and report generation.

Kusch Consulting x ClearCalcs

ClearCalcs is changing how the world is built with a platform that gives engineers and designers everything they need to streamline engineering design calculations. <br /><br />Built by engineers, and trusted by thousands, ClearCalcs’ comprehensive calculator library makes it easy to design to your local codes and standards. Our revolutionary drag and drop calculator builder and API enables anyone from a solo engineer to a product manufacturer to create, share, and automate everything from a single spreadsheet, all the way to a full engineering application.

ClearCalcs

Discover how SMARTBuild Engineering is leading sustainable building and social housing design with a forward-thinking approach.

SMARTBuild Engineering x ClearCalcs

The Challenge: Increased Data Required for Design of More Resilient Structures

An increasing number of Aurecon’s clients are following lessons learned from the Canterbury Earthquakes. They are requesting resilient structures in order to facilitate post-earthquake operations of their businesses.

In response, Aurecon designs buildings that employ the most effective known seismic mitigation technologies such as sliding hinge joints for low damage connections and Ringfeder friction springs that cushion seismic vibrations. These technologies allow a building to move during a seismic event with a minimum amount of damage to the building’s structural and architectural elements.

Data Grows in Volume and Complexity

Aurecon Sliding Hinge JointClinton Maulder, Associate – Buildings, Aurecon has needed a way to get data from an engineering spreadsheet into the Revit model without having to transfer it over manually. In one project, just one of many elements, sliding hinge joints – nine or 10 different ones – had to be tabulated. Standard detail tables had to be compiled. Engineering loads needed to be input into piling schedules; plate, bolt, and pre-stressing configurations for Ringfeder connections needed to be tabulated.

Conclusion

In addition to using Ideate BIMLink for this seismic work, it has also recently been implemented to coordinate sheet and drafting information across (65) emergency response service departments, with the work being done by Aurecon’s engineers at three different New Zealand locations. In the words of Clinton Maulder, “It worked a treat, with 65 emergency response facilities ready for people to populate and we didn’t have to worry about naming consistency, because Ideate BIMLink had taken care of it.”

According to Clinton, “Being able to effectively deal with source data and eliminate ‘double handling’ saved time and reduced the chance of errors. Ideate BIMLink is structured to leave a lot to the individual’s imagination. It is hard to come up with a finite list of things it can do.”

Read the full case study at: https://ideatesoftware.com/about/customer-success/spotlight-on-aurecon

Streamlining Seismic Mitigation Work with Ideate BIMLink

<div class="flex flex-col text-sm">
<article class="text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id="request-69739efa-f908-8327-aa73-df64ebb2d711-6" data-testid="conversation-turn-30" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant">
<div class="text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)">
<div class="[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn" tabindex="-1">
<div class="flex max-w-full flex-col grow">
<div class="min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1" dir="auto" data-message-author-role="assistant" data-message-id="321ebfe8-2b4e-4fe2-95ce-077acda9c11e" data-message-model-slug="gpt-5-2">
<div class="flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]">
<div class="markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word light markdown-new-styling">
<p data-start="156" data-end="186"><strong data-start="156" data-end="186">Why choose Ideate BIMLink?</strong></p>
<p data-start="188" data-end="784">Linking Revit and Excel with Ideate BIMLink enables you to export data from Revit to Excel, streamlining data management tasks and dramatically reducing the time they take to perform. By creating a bidirectional connection between the model and a spreadsheet environment, teams can extract large volumes of element data, edit parameters in bulk, validate information, and apply changes using Excel&rsquo;s powerful sorting, filtering, and formula tools. This eliminates the need to manually open and edit individual elements in Revit, significantly reducing repetitive work and the risk of human error.</p>
<p data-start="786" data-end="1485">Importing data from Excel back into Revit means that your models are instantly updated with approved changes, helping ensure they remain clean, coordinated, and accurate. Ideate BIMLink provides access to nearly all instance and type parameters, including many that are difficult to manage efficiently using native Revit schedules alone. This expanded access gives teams greater control over project data, improves consistency across models, supports internal standards, simplifies model auditing, and strengthens overall data governance practices. It also enables collaboration with stakeholders who may not work directly in Revit but can safely contribute through structured Excel-based workflows.</p>
<p data-start="1487" data-end="1547"><strong data-start="1487" data-end="1547">Boost the Power of Ideate BIMLink with Ideate Automation</strong></p>
<p data-start="1549" data-end="1915">Add Ideate Automation to your subscription* to reduce the cost of repetitive BIM tasks by letting them run in the background while your staff focuses on higher-value work. This scripting solution can be run manually or scheduled to operate at convenient times, providing just-in-time insight into key Revit model metrics while automating essential workflows such as:</p>
<p data-start="1917" data-end="2062">Producing document issue records<br data-start="1949" data-end="1952">Exporting PDFs<br data-start="1966" data-end="1969">Exporting health check data<br data-start="1996" data-end="1999">Preparing COBie data drops<br data-start="2025" data-end="2028">Generating quantity takeoff data</p>
<p data-start="2064" data-end="2302" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">By automating these recurring processes, teams improve efficiency, strengthen data accuracy, increase consistency, reduce risk, and deliver more predictable project outcomes without interrupting daily production workflows across projects.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="mt-3 w-full empty:hidden">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>
</article>
</div>

Ideate BIMLink - Overview on Data Management

Ideate BIMLink

Australia

<p>You&rsquo;ve mastered creativity, solved client challenges, delivered great work yet somehow value just keeps slipping away. Not because you&rsquo;re bad at what you do, but because the system you&rsquo;re working in was never built to support&nbsp;<strong>you</strong>.</p>
<p>The remedy is not in better design. It&rsquo;s in&nbsp;<strong>better systems</strong>.</p>
<p>Meet bugleViewer an operating system for protecting your value and accelerating cash flow. We know design consultants lose thousands chasing clients and unpaid work &mdash; so we built a system that puts you back in control of your IP and your cash flow!</p>
<p data-start="790" data-end="810">So how will <span style="color: #ee6002;"><strong><em>bugleViewer</em> </strong></span>help you may ask? The answer &mdash; it&rsquo;s like having a lawyer, a project manager and a collections agent, all working silently in the background.</p>
<ul>
<li data-start="814" data-end="936">Want your next contract approved without the never-ending back and forth? Expedite the execution of your next contract all inside bugleViewer.</li>
<li data-start="814" data-end="936">Want to keep project momentum alive? Use bugleViewer's one click sign-off workflow and forgo the cumbersome email trail.</li>
<li data-start="814" data-end="936">Want to keep your IP safe during feedback loops? Take advantage of our secure document viewing technology and keep your work visible (not vulnerable).&nbsp;</li>
<li data-start="814" data-end="936">Want to keep everyone accountable for what they said? Centralise your communications inside bugleViewer and give every decision, comment and approval <em>a home</em>.</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="1331" data-end="1560">When you deploy bugleViewer into your business, you leave behind the old cycle: the endless chasing, the mis-communication and the frustration that builds on both sides of the client-consultant relationship when value starts to leak.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p data-start="1331" data-end="1560">Curious to see what the future of your practice could look and feel like?</p>
<p data-start="89" data-end="286">Claim <strong><span style="color: #ee6002;"><em><span style="color: #ee6002;"><a style="color: #ee6002;" title="The Modern Professional's Edge Offer" href="https://buglelabs.com/get-started" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Modern Professional's Edge Offer</a></span>&nbsp;</em></span></strong>and see first hand how to turn client back-and-forth into confident project leadership (the kind that boosts your reputation, project morale and your bottom line).</p>
<p data-start="288" data-end="388">If you&rsquo;ve been waiting for a system that works <em data-start="335" data-end="340">for</em> you, not <em data-start="350" data-end="359">against</em> you, then <strong>this is your moment</strong>.</p>
<p data-start="1331" data-end="1560"><span style="color: #000000;">Give us just 30 days &mdash; and we&rsquo;ll show you how well your projects could run <em>forever</em>.</span></p>
<p data-start="1331" data-end="1560"><span style="color: #000000;">If you're not ready just yet to claim your edge, why not see how your existing client systems stack up and where bugleViewer could help you modernise and streamline your process. <a href="https://buglelabs.com/take-the-quiz"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span style="color: #ee6002; text-decoration: underline;">Take the 2 minute Modern Practice Scorecard</span></strong></span></em></a>.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p data-start="1562" data-end="1755">Every business owner deserves systems that protect what they create. You built your business to design <span style="color: #000000;">&mdash;</span> not to chase clients, approvals and unpaid invoices.</p>
<p data-start="1562" data-end="1755">You already know how to design. <br>Now design a business that works just as <em>beautifully</em>.</p>
<p data-start="1562" data-end="1755">Claim your edge with bugleViewer.&nbsp;</p>

bugleViewer

We’re creating a calculation management platform to bring engineering teams, design and data together.<br /><br />Traditional engineers play a vital role in society. They build the infrastructure we depend on a daily basis, from roads, cars, to hospitals, schools and our homes. <br /><br />Problem:<br />40% of an engineers’ time is spent searching through past projects, rebuilding calculations and wrangling data.<br /><br />Solution:<br />CalcTree no/low code platform takes away a lot of the manual steps, freeing up engineers to create more innovative and sustainable designs.<br /><br />

CalcTree

Archistar creates cutting-edge technology that revolutionises the way property professionals plan, design, build, and sell.<br /><br />We are an award-winning, fast-growing PropTech start-up with a smart, fun team. We are investor-backed and are bringing to market exciting SaaS products:<br /><br />🏢 Archistar: Discover new opportunities and unlock the potential of a portfolio within minutes. Learn more: www.archistar.ai<br /><br />🏡 Archistar Homes: Sell more homes using visually striking, user-friendly tools that increase transparency for both home buyers and home sellers. Learn more: www.archistar.ai/for-home-builders<br /><br />🏘️ Snaploader: Bring your projects to life and maximise your sales opportunities with interactive 3D experiences for real estate. Learn more: www.archistar.ai/snaploader<br /><br />🏫 Archistar Academy (formerly IDDA): Rapid online learning for the AEC industry. Whether you’re a student or an experienced professional, we have the online training you need. Learn more: https://academy.archistar.ai/<br /><br />Our team is agile and full of A-players. We hire star performers and are eager for new team members to help us grow and scale up.

Archistar

SkyCiv provides engineers powerful and easy-to-use structural analysis and design software - all on the cloud. No downloading or installing, it's as simple as login from a web browser, anytime, anywhere.<br /><br />In a few simple clicks you can have instant access to powerful Structural Analysis and Design Software that can handle:<br />- 3D Structures including beams, frames, plates and cables<br />- Full Section Builder for custom shapes, built-up sections and US, UK, Aus and Canadian libraries<br />- AISC and other design code checks<br />- Powerful PDF reporting with custom logos<br /><br />With all this included in a single subscription, you can handle any structures that come your way!

SkyCiv

Best for individuals assessing the software

Basic: Best for individuals or short term projects

Professional: Best for medium-large companies with specific needs

Enterprise: Best for medium-large companies with specific needs

Result for “Australia”

Companies "5 results"

DIRT

Hassell

aurecon

FENDER KATSALIDIS

DBM Vircon