BIM Collaboration Format


The BIM Collaboration Format is a structured file format suited to issue tracking with a building information model. BCF is designed primarily for defining views of a building model and associated information on collisions and errors connected with specific objects in the view. The BCF file format allows users of different BIM software, and/or different disciplines to collaborate on issues with the project.. The use of the BCF format to coordinate changes to a BIM are an important aspect of OpenBIM.
The format was developed by Tekla and Solibri and later adopted as a standard by buildingSMART. Most major BIM modelling platforms support some integration with BCF, typically through plug ins provided by the BCF server vendor.
Although BCF was originally conceived as a file base there are now many implementations using the server based collaborative workflow described in the bcfAPI, including an Open Source implementation as part of .
Research work has been done in Denmark looking into using BCF for a broader range of information management and exchange in the AEC sector.

Supporting software

BCF is supported natively by modeling software Vectorworks, ArchiCAD, Tekla Structures, , DDS CAD as well as BIMcollab ZOOM, BIMsight, Solibri, Navisworks, simplebim, Vectorworks. Standalone BCF plugins include BCF Manager, BCFier. Cloud services offering BCF based issue tracking include BIMcollab, BIM Track, bimsync and OpenProject.