New ETIM BIM portal of ETIM Deutschland simplifies processes in digital building planning

The starting signal for the ETIM BIM portal was given several months ago. With the support of CADENAS specialists, ETIM developed neutral BIM objects based on the EC classes of the free classification standard ETIM and the extension by the so-called ETIM Modeling Classes (MC). All existing MCs are thus available for planning in the electric sector. ETIM uses the technology by CADENAS to convert ETIM features into different export formats for various 3D software solutions. The creation of further necessary Modeling Classes is already underway. It is the future goal of ETIM to provide specialist planners with all necessary BIM objects from one single source: the ETIM BIM portal.

BIM product data in all common CAD formats for electrical planners and architects

For the manufacturer-independent planning data to be integrated quickly into building plans, the new ETIM BIM portal acts as an interface between all involved parties: ETIM and the ETIM standard, the component manufacturers with their BIM data, and the electrical planners and architects integrating the 3D CAD data directly into their general building designs.

After free registration on http://etim-de.partcommunity.com specialist planners and architects can use the full-text or structure search to find the required building components and then configure them according to their needs. 3D previews and the display of the respective dimensions support the selection and configuration of the required components. The 3D CAD data is then generated on-the-fly and made available as free download in all common 2D & 3D BIM formats (such as Revit, ARCHICAD, Allplan, SketchUp, Tekla, etc.), including their ETIM MC attributes.

The initial general planning phase must contain manufacturer-neutral data, at least for public tenders in Germany and many other countries. When a project is in its detailed planning phase, architects and specialist planners also require manufacturer-specific information of building components. Therefore, ETIM began to add specific product data from well-known component manufacturers to the ETIM BIM portal.

"The goal of the new ETIM BIM portal is to provide planners with everything they need for their planning in one place. This includes both neutral BIM objects for basic planning and concrete manufacturer products for detailed planning," says Heiko Dehne, project manager for the ETIM BIM project at ETIM Deutschland e.V.

This is how easy it is for component manufacturers to make their product data available to planners in the ETIM BIM portal

In the age of digitalization, planners and architects need easy and fast access to BIM component data for their detailed building plannings. Based on a cooperation agreement with ETIM Deutschland e.V., CADENAS offers component manufacturers numerous other options, in addition to the ETIM BIM portal, that allow them to effectively market their ETIM classified product data with minimal effort. Within the scope of a CADENAS hosting contract, the existing ETIM classified products are transferred to a BIM catalog using BMEcat, open datacheck or CSV product data template. The BIM CAD data is subsequently available on various channels: as an embedded portal on the manufacturer’s website, as an integration in CAD systems via BIM plugins, via 3D CAD download apps and other BIM download platforms.