Nemetschek Allplan and Plancal enter IFC-based cooperative venture

Munich - Nemetschek Allplan has agreed to enter into a close cooperation in the realm of BIM with Plancal. The goal of this cooperation is to produce an integrated solution for architecture, civil engineering and HVAC technology on the basis of a universal 3D building model. This will benefit customers in that it will increase the speed and effectiveness of their planning processes. In addition to product development, both companies will collaborate in the areas of marketing and sales.

"Nemetschek’s corporate philosophy is based on providing optimum support for complex and heterogeneous planning processes in the building industry by providing focused, "best in class" solutions for individual areas of application. In doing so, we enhance the core competencies of Nemetschek’s subsidiaries by entering into strategic cooperative ventures. The cooperation between Nemetschek Allplan and Plancal brings together two well-established, European market leaders. Or joint aim is twofold. Firstly, we intend to facilitate a significant increase in productivity for planning agencies that undertake projects in the fields of architecture and building services engineering. And secondly, we both want to optimise the software-supported planning processes that exist between architects and planners", states Peter Mehlstäubler, CEO and Managing Director of Nemetschek Allplan.

"In addition to the joint commitment to increasing our customers’ productivity, both companies will benefit from synergies in terms of product development and sales", comments Dominik Rüedi, CEO of Plancal Holding AG.

Jointly tackling the challenge of optimising BIM planning processes

The Allplan product family from Nemetschek Allplan is a well-established platform that uses 3D building models to cater for the entire planning process and which has integrated and practical drafting and design tools.

Plancal has been developing software that caters for building services for more than 30 years. The company’s core product, nova, is a leading HVAC solution which will be a valuable asset to the cooperation.

Planning processes based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) enable the universal use of building data. In such situations, it must be possible for the partners participating in a project to be able choose the software solution that is best suited to their specific requirements. The IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard plays a particular role here; the primary aim of the standard is to link different application disciplines via a neutral, open data model. This will form the basis upon which Plancal and Nemetschek Allplan can work together in order to fully integrate the Allplan and nova product families.

In practical terms, this means that architects, civil engineers and design professionals will be able to access the same 3D model to obtain planning data such as floor plans, sections and elevations, as well as intelligent building elements, quantities, costs and information about heating, ventilation and sanitation. Thus, the individual solution components form the basis for ensuring that project participants can access all the required construction data and circulate it as necessary without losses or interface problems. This enables an optimised planning process in the context of Building Information Modeling.