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 Group continues double-digit percentage growth with high profitability in the third quarter

Corporate News Company News

  • Continued strong development despite negative currency effects in Q3: revenues for the nine-month period grow by 18.1% to EUR 289.8 million
  • EBITDA rises to EUR 76.5 million
  • EBITDA margin as of September 30, 2017 with a high 26.4% almost at the level of the previous year’s period despite strategic investments
  • Forecast for fiscal year 2017 confirmed

Munich, October 27, 2017 – The Nemetschek Group (DE ISIN 0006452907), an internationally leading software provider for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) industry, continued on its course of strong growth and maintained high levels of profitability. This was possible despite negative currency effects in the third quarter as a result of the euro’s increase in value vis-à-vis the US dollar. The greatest growth impulses originated from abroad and from recurring revenues from maintenance contracts and rental models.

Major indicators of the Group’s success

  • In the third quarter, Group revenues rose by 14.3% (currency-adjusted: 17.3%) to EUR 95.8 million (previous year’s quarter: EUR 83.9 million). Organic growth amounted to 12.0% (currency-adjusted: 14.9%). Revenue for the nine-month period was EUR 289.8 million, which is 18.1% (currency-adjusted: 18.3%) higher than the corresponding value from the previous year (EUR 245.4 million), whereby organic growth reached 13.9% (currency-adjusted: 14.1%).
  • The Nemetschek Group further reinforced its international alignment. In the first nine months of this year, revenue abroad rose over-proportionally compared to total revenue by 21.7% to EUR 202.0 million (previous year’s period: EUR 166.0 million). Growth regions were primarily North America, Asia and Scandinavia. Irrespective of the strong growth abroad, Nemetschek was also able to achieve double-digit growth in Germany and increased revenue by 10.6% to EUR 87.8 million from January to September.
  • With a plus of 27.2% to EUR 134.8 million (nine-month period 2016: EUR 106.0 million) recurring revenues from maintenance contracts and rental models constituted further growth drivers. The share of recurring revenues compared to total revenues rose to 46.5%. Revenue with software licenses increased by 10.6% to EUR 142.8 million (previous year’s period: EUR 129.0 million).
  • Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew over-proportionally to revenue by 18.1% (currency-adjusted: 23.0%) to EUR 24.8 million (previous year’s quarter: EUR 21.0 million). The EBITDA margin in the third quarter increased accordingly to 25.9% (Q3 2016: 25.1%). EBITDA for the nine-month period rose by 14.9% (currency-adjusted: 16.9%) to EUR 76.5 million (previous year: EUR 66.6 million). The EBITDA margin in the first nine months of 2017 of 26.4% almost reached the level of the previous year’s period (27.1%) despite strategic investments in future growth.
  • The net income for the year (Group shares) increased by 18.1% to EUR 42.8 million (first nine months of 2016: EUR 36.3 million). The earnings per share for the nine-month period rose from EUR 0.94 to EUR 1.11.

“After the first nine months and the development of the final quarter to date, we are on the way to another record year despite negative currency effects. The business development confirms our strategic initiatives such as product innovations and strengthened internationalization. We are growing organically in the two-digit range and are accelerating this growth as a result of our acquisitions,” says Patrik Heider, Spokesman and CFOO of the Nemetschek Group.

Development of the segments in the nine months of 2017

In the Design segment, revenue rose by 12.1% to EUR 181.9 million (previous year’s period: EUR 162.3 million). Purely organic growth was around 10% without considering dRofus, which was acquired at the beginning of the year (revenue amount EUR 3.9 million). EBITDA increased by 10.3% to EUR 50.5 million (previous year’s period: EUR 45.8 million). The operating margin thus remained practically unchanged compared to the previous year at 27.8% (previous year’s period: 28.2%).

The strongest growth was achieved in the Build segment. Segment revenue increased by 36.5% to EUR 84.6 million (previous year’s period: EUR 62.0 million). Organically – without the acquired SDS/2 with a revenue contribution of EUR 8.2 million – revenue rose by around 26%. EBITDA increased over-proportionally compared to revenue by 58.9%, reaching EUR 18.4 million (first nine months of 2016: EUR 11.5 million), which caused the EBITDA margin to jump from 18.6% to 21.7%.

In the Manage segment, revenue rose by 17.7% to EUR 5.8 million in the first nine months of 2017 (previous year’s period: EUR 5.0 million). EBITDA climbed to EUR 1.2 million. The EBITDA margin reached 20.1%, a slight increase compared to the previous year’s level (19.3%).

Revenue in the Media & Entertainment segment increased to EUR 17.5 million in the first nine months, a rise of 8.7% compared to the previous year’s period (EUR 16.1 million). The EBITDA margin reached 36.9% (previous year: 39.7%).

Prospects: Forecast for 2017 confirmed

Excluding currency effects, the executive board anticipates Group revenue in the range of EUR 395 million to EUR 401 million (+17% to +19% compared to the previous year). Purely organic growth is expected to be between 13% and 15%. There may be further negative effects as a result of exchange rate fluctuations, in particular from EUR to USD.

Regarding Group EBITDA, the executive board anticipates an increase of between EUR 100 million and EUR 103 million. The objective is to maintain the high margin level of 2016 despite strategic investments in future growth and EBITDA margins which are still below average for the strongly expanding brands acquired.

Overivew of key figures

In EUR millionQ3 2017Q3 2016Δ in %
(FX-adj)		9M 20179M 2016Δ in %
(FX-adj)
Revenue95.883.9+14.3%
(+17.3%)		289.8245.4+18.1%
(+18.3%)
- thereof software licenses45.943.3+6.0%142.8129.0+10.6%
- thereof recurring revenues46.137.3+23.7%134.8106.0+27.2%
EBITDA24.821.0+18.1%
(+23.0%)		76.566.6+14.9%
(+16.9%)
Margin25.9%25.1% 26.4%27.1% 
EBITDA (w/o one-time effect)24.821.0+18.1%76.564.7+18.3%
Margin (w/o one-time effect)25.9%25.1% 26.4%26.4% 
EBITA (normalized EBIT)22.819.2+19.0%70.561.3+15.1%
Margin23.8%22.8% 24.3%25.0% 
Net income (Group shares)15.112.1+25.4%42.836.3+18.1%
Earnings per share in EUR0.390.31+25.4%1.110.94+18.1%
Net income (Group shares) before PPA depreciation17.414.2+22.6%50.042.3+18.3%
Earnings per share before PPA depreciation in EUR0.450.37+22.6%1.301.10+18.3%

Key figures by segment

In EUR millionQ3 2017Q3 2016Δ in %
(FX-adj)		9M 20179M 2016Δ in %
(FX-adj)
Design      
Revenue61.055.5+10.0%
(+12.3%)		181.9162.3+12.1%
(+12.2%)
EBITDA17.416.6+5.2%50.545.8+10.3%
Margin28.5%29.8% 27.8%28.2% 
Build      
Revenue27.521.6+27.0%
(+32.3%)		84.662.0+36.5%
(+36.5%)
EBITDA5.62.4+127.7%18.411.5+58.9%
Margin20.2%11.3% 21.7%18.6% 
Manage      
Revenue2.11.7+18.0%5.85.0+17.7%
EBITDA0.50.4+23.0%1.21.0+22.3%
Margin23.8%22.8% 20.1%19.3% 
Media & Entertainment      
Revenue5.35.0+5.6%
(+9.2%)		17.516.1+8.7%
(+9.7%)
EBITDA1.41.6-16.0%6.56.4+1.0%
Margin25.9%32.5% 36.9%39.7% 

The complete nine-month report for 2017 is available for download in the Investor Relations section of the company website.

About the Nemetschek Group

The Nemetschek Group is driving digitalization for a better built world. The unique holding structure gives our 15 strong brands the flexibility to innovate in an entrepreneurial way while closely engaging with their 2.3 million customers worldwide. Our Open BIM approach is lifting Building Information Modeling to the next level: Architects, engineers and construction companies can seamlessly exchange data and choose the best technology for their needs. Founded by Prof. Georg Nemetschek in 1963, the company today employs more than 2,000 experts who are building the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries of the future. Publicly listed since 1999 and quoted on the TecDAX, the company generated revenue of EUR 337.3 million and an EBITDA of EUR 88.0 million in 2016.

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