It is not intended to expose here any major news about FC, taking into account the people who have worked with it since its beginning and what has already been exposed in this forum, (in this sense, the full reading of the Yorik post, for example, where he give us a very good description of BIM in FC, is practically mandatory - https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17498). But it is clear that each one can bring new visions and work methods, based on the way the CF is used to develop their activity.
I understand that the development of FC does not intend to follow a path with rigid goals and deadlines set to follow, but its spirit of freedom also allows for the agreement of different work philosophies. This has allowed the discussion and exposure of ideas, expectations, needs and desires regarding FC, the very existence of channels like this forum are proof of this.
1. BIM concept
In order to collaborate on the matter, I have produced a very brief scheme of the BIM process for discussion (figure 01). From the outset, I understand that there is not a single BIM, but several according to the object to be designed, the evolution of project execution, construction or manufacturing, maintenance, operation, recycling or demolition of the built elements, whether they are a small object, machine, isolated building or even an urban complex (with infrastructure, landscaping, etc.).
At the third line of the chart (PROJECTS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) is the traditional evolution of projects (before the advent of BIM). In the intermediate part (BIM 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)), we see how the integrated models (BIM) evolve during the various stages of the entire process. Finally, in the last line (DOCS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), there are the various documents extracted at each stage, in general, these do not necessarily represent a novelty, only in the way they can now be produced from automated, integrated and updated way.
However, PROJECTS, unlike the traditional way, can already be linked and integrated with each other, even before they configure the corresponding BIM. Each original thematic project (eg Architecture) can already receive linked information from other projects as needed. If one of the projects and/or surveys involved changes, the others will receive these changes and will be updated. But wouldn't this already be BIM? In many usual situations I would say yes, but conceptually, not yet.
As we know, with BIM it is possible to carry out analyzes of thermal, acoustic, luminous, cost and quantitative performance, verification of conflicts and compatibility between the various design disciplines, and the compliance with technical and legislative standards. However, the reports resulting from these analyzes and verifications are information that could have originally been prepared outside of BIM, but which will be contained therein in a linked manner. Thus, we realize that each of the BIM (1 to 5) also undergoes its own evolution, before and after the analysis, verification and approval process, and somehow this must be clear and registered.
But, unlike PROJECTS, it would be interesting if BIM would be compound only with linked copies of the various issues involved, in this manner there would be no way to modify information in it, only consultation and extraction of information (DOCs). Only the project's authors could make changes in their respective works. However, for this net of linked file works, it has to work with a platform that reads the files directly, without conversions and imports/exports of different files.
DOC (from 1 to 5) are drawn exclusively from their corresponding BIM (from 1 to 5), and unlike the traditional way, they are not produced from its design discipline, in isolation and disintegrated way. This guarantees the effectiveness of the system and justifies its adoption, as the DOCs in theory already contain information analyzed, verified, reconciled and approved in an integrated manner, otherwise, this must be very well registered in some part of them (“this document is still preliminary and not approved and/or compatible”, for example).
Of course, in reality there are numerous file formats involved (text, images, spreadsheets, 2D CAD, 3D CAD, mesh CAD, solid CAD, parametric CAD, etc.), making the work practically insane, this is one of the greatest challenges to adopt BIM. I believe that in order to start an experiment with FC, it would be wise to simplify it and work with a minimum of files format1.
- 1. Note that any format different from FC would compromise the direct linking of the files, and it would be necessary to export them to a common format such as the IFC, then they must be imported and converted to various formats of the target programs, ie exports/conversions, imports/conversions. All of this threatens the integrity of projects information, as each conversion may result in loss or change of it.
2. Current Status of FC
The projects linked wich others (figure 1 – PROJECTs) already it is possible on the FC platform, either using the current workbenches or creating new ones to meet the pending disciplines. So far, I believe we can reach a good intermediate level (very generally speaking), both in 3D (stronger) and in 2D (not so much). 2D imports and exports, as well as their manipulations and elaborations, are generally more complicated than 3D ones. As for linking between projects, this has taken a big leap lately with applinks resources. It's already perfectly possible and very easy and fast to pass an original content from one file (project) to another and link them (also I tried it on a repercussive way, but I don't know if it's recommended and the only way to close a file is to choose "close everything").
In addition, through BIM with linked copies of the various files, as discussed, make us possible to perform various tasks in a lighter way. It would be nice to have a clash detection tool and automatic reporting of this issue. It would also be interesting to have some tools, or why not say an entire workbench, to verify compliance with technical and legal standards, with regard to physical aspects (such as minimum or maximum size of rooms, ventilation and lighting, natural light, etc.). Thus, a joint verification of the BIM would be carried out before extracting the approvals and execution documentation.
As for the extraction of documents (DOC 1 to 5), the FC still partially answers of it, with some potential to provide an advanced level for some items, for example, in the generation of technical and quantitative drawings and illustrative perspectives. Memorials and reports, still not so much. For this, a mechanism can be adopted that creates a linked dependency between text and CAD files within BIM. Thus, for example, a descriptive memorial of the work would be linked to the 3D file, a change in the material or its technical characteristics would reflect directly in the text and linked to the BIM.