Collaboration par excellence

Example: Hasselt City Hall, Belgium — The building of the new municipal administration center in Hasselt, Belgium, demonstrates how seamless collaboration in building projects can minimize risks and save costs from the design phase all the way to commissioning.
A joint project of several brands of the Nemetschek Group.
Nemetschek brands involved: Allplan, GRAPHISOFT, Solibri

Pioneering planning and project execution with Open BIM

“The end-to-end use of BIM solutions constitutes genuine added value for all stakeholders in the building process
because it enables seamless and efficient collboration”
Steven Hendrickx, Head Architect in Hasselt

Large-scale, highly complex building projects in particular require ongoing, reliable and efficient coodination between all stakeholders – both internal and external – across disciplines and between companies. Therefore, in association with other market players, the Nemetschek Group is promoting the Open BIM data standard. This is a universal, collaborative approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings based on open standards and workflows It makes it possible for project stakeholders to collaborate, even if the type of software varies from user to user. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) interface has established itself as an open standard and is therefore of central significance.

Sharing and evaluating data throughout the entire product life cycle saves time and money and improves quality. The administration of data is key to this digital transformation, for it is only possible to take full advantage of the potential if each stakeholder can access the data that he or she needs at any given time. This begins with a realistic BIM building model, which is an essential prerequisite for a genuine 5D workflo. This model is no longer limited to just 3D construction data; it also includes data concerning the dimensions of time and costs.

Seamless collaboration exemplified by the Hasselt City Hall

Under the management of the architect team comprising Jaspers-Eyers, MASS Architects and Michel Janssen, a new municipal administration center is being built in Hasselt. The complex, consisting of a renovated building section and a new building, provides approx. 17,000 m2 for the city administration and social services as well as offices. The architects and their most important partners are using Open BIM software solutions for the entire construction process. Three Nemetschek solutions are being implemented for this project: Archicad from Graphisoft for the design and planning of the architects, Allplan Engineering for civil engineering, and the Solibri Model Checker for the BIM quality control carried out by the construction company.

From the beginning, all information concerning the building project is contained in the digital building model – from the draft to implementation – including all design details, desired materials, fire protection requirements, acoustic properties, insulation and building structures, and administration. This constitutes considerable added value for all stakeholders compared to the old standard model, which was purely 3D. Thus, this improvement ensures more than just seamless collaboration between all those involved. The complex project can be turned over to the municipality – the proud building owner – with the required quality, on time and within the specified budget.

Hasselt City Hall is groundbreaking – in terms of design, planning and project implementation.

Independent and yet consistent

Steven Hendrickx, the head architect in Hasselt, recognized four decisive factors with Open BIM over the course of the successful project:

  • Individual partners design their model with their preferred BIM software, and with their own templates. Outstanding collaboration is ensured, though, thanks to a common, uniform standard which is specified in advance.
  • The division of labor is defined at the beginning of the project. Data on statics, for instance, have an essential impact on the architecture and structural design. Data on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, on the other hand, are also important but don’t generally flow directly into the architecture. These data, for example, can be sufficiently analyzed with the BIM solution for quality assurance from Solibri.
  • Design changes in one area don’t necessarily affect the plans of all the others involved in the project. The architecture and the building stage are inherently the most closely linked.
  • The expertise of the staff, i.e., extensive holistic knowledge of the various building disciplines, is also critical for the success of the project.

Two examples of the advantage of precise planning

In Hasselt, the construction company was commissioned with excavation, among other tasks. An assessment of the amount of sand that needed to be removed was done based on a cal culation using conventional 2D planning methods, which yielded a result of 800 cubic meters. The engineers used the Solibri Model Checker based on Open BIM and the data provided by the architects and arrived at a figue that was just half this amount, i.e., 400 cubic meters of sand. This shows how exact the work with Open BIM solutions can be.

The steel struts to be installed are another example: With the interface function IFC Exports from Allplan, it was possible to use the BIM model to automatically calculate which steel struts needed fieproofing. All it took was a mouse click to obtain precise results, right down to the running meter. In projects that don’t use Open BIM solutions, these calculations are made by manually entering the data from 2D drawings in Excel or some other software and then recalculating and evaluating the data for use in quotations and planning, a process that is susceptible to error and one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. These errors often go undetected until the actual cost planning is already completed. In the case of the Hasselt City Hall,  it was possible to avoid such errors from the outset.

Converting to Open BIM pays off

As is the case with any change, it takes a certain amount of time for companies and employees to accept BIM as the norm. The best way, according to Steven Hendrickx, is to start out by planning smaller projects using BIM. The experience thereby gained will make it possible to complete successively larger BIM projects. The advantages of collaborating through Open BIM are obvious: The entire workflow is much simpler for all project stakeholders, and building projects are completed within time and cost budgets.

CONCLUSION

Consistent standards and open interfaces in par-ticular are essential for successful building projects. Stakeholders need solutions that can “work together” for all and any individual tasks being performed. Seamless collaboration between humans and machines: This is ensured with Open BIM, and backed by the brands of the Nemetschek Group.

Reference projects on this topic:

Nemetschek confirms outlook for 2009

Corporate News Company News

  • Nine-month figures presented
  • revenues fall by 11 percent
  • EBITDA margin stable at 20 percent
  • cash flow from operating activities 18.1 million euros
  • expectations for 2009 confirmed

Munich, November 6, 2009 – Nemetschek AG (ISIN 0006452907), Europe's largest vendor of software for architecture, engineering and the construction industry achieved revenues of 96.9 million euros in the first nine months of 2009. Revenues therefore fell by 11 percent compared to the strong same period of the previous year (109.0 million euros). However, the company was able to keep its operating margin (EBITDA) more or less stable at 20 percent. In the same period of the previous year, it was 21 percent. The EBITDA amounted to 18.9 million euros, compared to 22.7 million euros in the first nine months of 2008. The net income was 6.5 million euros, compared to 9.4 million euros in the previous year.

Revenues from maintenance contracts rose slightly

Despite the difficult economic environment, the Nemetschek Group was able to increase revenues from maintenance contracts by two percent, from 45.3 million euros to 46.1 million euros. As a result, revenues from maintenance made up 48 percent of total revenues, compared to 42 percent in the same period of the previous year. Revenues from license sales, on the other hand, fell by 21 percent from 55.9 million euros to 44.0 million euros. Revenues from consulting and training dropped by 12 percent from 7.8 to 6.8 million euros.

In the German domestic market, the company saw revenues rise slightly, with 42.0 million euros following 41.3 million euros in the same period of the previous year. In the foreign markets, however, revenues fell from 67.7 million euros in 2008 to 54.9 million euros. The company's foreign revenue consequently fell from 62 percent of total revenues in 2008 to 57 percent.

Profitable segments

All four of the Group's segments were profitable in the first nine months of 2009. The companies in the Design segment, which are, in particular, responsible for the software solutions focusing on architecture and engineering, achieved revenues of 78.4 million euros, compared to 90.2 million euros in the previous year. This corresponds to a drop of 13 percent. The EBITDA margin was 17 percent, compared to 20 percent in the previous year.

In the Build business unit, which comprises the alphanumeric software products supporting the actual construction process, the companies were able to increase their revenues by 5 percent, from 9.3 million euros to 9.8 million euros, while the EBITDA margin rose to 34 percent (previous year: 27 percent).

The Manage segment, which develops solutions for commercial real estate management, achieved practically the same revenues as in 2008, namely 3.0 million euros. The EBITDA margin fell slightly from 19 to 16 percent. After revenues totaling 6.3 million euros in the same period of the previous year, the Multimedia segment (3D software for visualization and animation) achieved 5.8 million euros in the first nine months of 2009. The EBITDA was 1.5 million euros, corresponding to an operating margin of 26 percent, compared to 30 percent in the previous year.

Costs reduced further

Thanks to strict cost management, Nemetschek was able to absorb the bulk of the drop in revenues. Overall, operating costs fell by 9 percent and the measures implemented to date will continue to positively affect the company results.

Compared to the second quarter 2009, personnel expenses fell by 6 percent. Other operating costs were reduced by 18 percent from 35.7 million euros to 29.3 million euros. This is due among other things to savings in advertising, sales expenditure and external personnel costs.

After depreciation of intangible assets from the purchase price allocation for Graphisoft and Scia of 5.3 million euros, the Group's operating profit (EBIT) was 11.7 million euros, compared to 15.2 million euros in the same period of the previous year. Net income amounted to 6.5 million euros (previous year: 9.4 million euros). The earnings per share (consolidated shares) were 0.65 euros, compared to 0.93 euros in the same period of the previous year.

Net debt reduced

In the first nine months of 2009, the company achieved cash flow from operating activities of 18.1 million euros, compared to 22.8 million euros in the previous year. The cash flow from financing activities amounted to -11.5 million euros (previous year: -24.8 million euros). The previous year's amount contained repayments of 14.8 million euros as well as paid dividends of 6.3 million euros. Until September 30, 2009 the Nemetschek Group had repaid loan debts of 9.6 million euros.

Compared to December 31, 2008, the Group's liquid assets increased by 3.5 million euros to 26.7 million euros. As a result, the Group's net debt is 13.0 million euros (December 31, 2008: 26.1 million euros). The equity capital totals 73.7 million euros, compared to 67.9 million euros on December 31, 2008 - the equity ratio is 46 percent.

Drop in number of employees

As of September 30, 2009, the Nemetschek Group employed 1,069 people; at the end of 2008 the company had 1,114 employees worldwide. In recent months, the number of employees fell primarily in the subsidiaries in the United States and Belgium.

Outlook confirmed

The construction industry is still feeling the effects of the global economic crisis. Following a predicted drop in revenues of almost 10 percent in 2009, the European industry association Euroconstruct also anticipates a fall in revenues of 2 percent for 2010. The industry in Germany is performing comparatively well: for Germany, the construction industry association HDB expects a fall in revenues of 3 percent for the current year. The relatively stable development here is due not least to the federal government's massive economic programs, which are slowly having an impact: investment in refurbishment and the preservation of existing buildings has risen considerably, for example.

The Nemetschek Group is also profiting from this. 'With their solutions for energy-efficient construction and renovation, our subsidiaries are addressing exactly the right topics,' states Ernst Homolka, CEO of Nemetschek AG. In view of this and Nemetschek's strong position in the domestic market, management confirmed its previous forecasts. According to these, the Group expects a fall in revenue of around 10 percent, but should be able to keep its operating margin (EBITDA) steady at around 20 percent.

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