Bradley BIM-Revit Resource Portal

Bradley BIM is testing the BIM file format output and downloads of a new online BIM library BIMcatalogs.net.

Our initial focus is to provide our global clients with access to Bradley BIM product files in a variety of file formats used by the AECO community.

1. Revit, AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Inventor
2. ArchiCAD, All Plan
3. Bentley AECOSim
4. Trimble SketchUp and others
5. IFC, DXF, SAT, PDF 

Visit Bradley BIMcatalogs Web Page

Secondarily, Bradley has been using BIM for our international products in the Middle East (UAE, Dubai, Saudia Arabia), UK/EU and Latin America. These regions use a variety of BIM file formats and work in metric rather than imperial units.

BIMcatalogs.net provides multi-BIM file support for a Bradley International Team that has served International, global projects with Bradley plumbing fixtures, washroom accessories and industrial fixtures for over 45 years. 

Bradley BIM is currently testing the delivery of BIM files for our Bradley Diplomat Series of Washroom Accessories. 

Here's an example of product download page; check out the 3D viewing, sectioning and visual tools at the bottom of the product page.

#1 - Building Product Manufacturer (BPM) Website Hosts BIM Files

Typically, a Building Product Manufacturers' (BPM) Marketing Department creates BIM files to promote the specification of their products; within their clients’ BIM design projects.

While BIM files promote the manufacturer’s brand; successful pre-built BIM files provide real cost-savings to the BPM's design + contracting customers. BPM BIM files provide the manufacturers' distribution network with digital planning tools to assist designers + contractors' with their project product selection process.

Logically, a Marketing Department should choose the building product manufacturer's website as the first and best location for file-hosting of their BIM files.

1. Links to the BPM's digital design files (BIM, CAD, Specifications, Product Tech Data Sheets) should be prominently displayed on the front page of the corporate website

2. Indicate the BIM file-types of your products for your clients to download. (Revit, ArchiCAD, Vectorworks or Bentley BIM files)

3. Within the BIM Library, populate product images, contact links, product warranties, construction specifications and tech data sheets around your individual BIM files.

Fact: Designers expect to find and search for a BPM's BIM files on the BPM website, first. They assume the most current files are located on the BPM website with all supporting documentation.

Tip: Do not syndicate the BIM Files with BPM BIM File Library Websites or BIM File modeling service websites; until the BIM library is completely hosted on the BPM website.

For example, our corporate BIM Library website annually delivers more than 6 million Revit model downloads to our visitors. Collectively, four different BIM Libraries that host \ syndicate Bradley Revit models, achieve only 10% of our total annual website downloads. 

The Bradley BIM library was hosted on our corporate website for 18 months; prior to adding other BIM Library services. BPMs want the majority of ALL visitor traffic to come to the BPM website. Links to the BPM BIM library files, should NOT take their visitors to their BIM Library; that is NOT on the BPM website.

#2 - Know Your Client Market & Design Tools

Where are you selling the majority of your products? USA? Europe? UK? Middle East? China? Australia?

What BIM software are your design and construction clients using in your major sales market(s)?

My April 2014 Revit \ BIM article for Sourceable.net (Australia) reviews the potential savings from carefully selected, pre-built Building Product Manufacturers' (BPM) BIM content for BIM-based projects and office BIM standards.

Sourceable.net (Australia) Article

Pre-built Manufacturer BIM Content Can Deliver Savings

Excerpt: Leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software packages such as Autodesk Revit, Bentley Microstation, Graphisoft ArchiCAD and Nemetschek Vectorworks provide libraries of free generic BIM content in their respective BIM file formats.

However; without reliable BIM content produced by Building Product Manufacturers (BPM), projects produced by designers with BIM software; will be greatly limited to create accurate construction documents.

Read Complete Article:

Pre-built Manufacturer BIM Content Can Deliver Savings

My thanks to Excel Engineering Inc in Fond Du Lac Wisconsin for their permission to use their CrossWay Church \ Germantown WI Revit project image for my Sourceable.net BIM BPM article.

Additional Building Product Manufacturer (BIM) Content Articles

My First 5 Revit Family Manufacturer Content Websites

Bentley AECOsim Building Designer Reads Manufacturer Revit Family Files

Bradley BIM Library Available for Vectorworks Service Select Members

Bradley Revit Family Secrets | LOD – Level of Development

Key Costs for Building Revit Families

Successful BIM implementation comes in 'planned steps' as you market, plan, budget and set achievable implementation expectations. Joseph Joseph, identifies in detail his 8- steps to a successful BIM marketing program.

Joseph Joseph is a Practice Technologies Executive + Imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering. He authored this article; when he was SAIC’s Managing Director overseeing all BIM/CAD Technologies strategies and initiatives, including strategizing, standards, and implementation of BIM in a design-build environment.

It's not enough to have BIM capability--you have to know how to sell your BIM expertise to clients, prospects, consultants, your management teams and employees.

Joseph's summary of each step, defines this as an Executive Level article for principals, owners and upper management to consider prior to implementing the BIM process. If you've already started BIM -- its a great checklist against what you have or have not achieved by implementing your BIM processes.

As a business and marketing planning article; it should be reviewed against your written Implementation Plans for Revit, ArchiCAD, Bentley or Vectorworks software.

If you're a facility owner, this is a great article to help you define your BIM 'End-Game"

1. "Why are you asking for BIM on your projects?" -- AND

2. "How is your team going to use BIM files & processes for managing the building?"

Joseph's article provides complete details for each of these 8 steps; that is published by the Building Design + Construction Magazine \ Website:

8 Steps to a Successful BIM Marketing Program

Step #1 ) Recognize the business and marketing aspects of implementing BIM in your organization.

(March 2014) I'm pleased to publish Bentley's formal announcement of Autodesk Revit Family support for their new AECOsim Building Designer V8i (SELECTseries 5) BIM software.

Our thanks to Bentley for using the Bradley Revit Family Library (1,000 families) as part of their larger data set --to test Revit family import stability \ integrity in the new AECOsim Building Designer V8i (SELECTseries 5) software.

Bentley's Technical Manager (a former Revit Manager) for this project, focused on

1. maintaining the Revit family geometry's dimensional integrity,

2. retaining the Revit family parametric & visibility control behavior,

3. retaining the embedded parameter data type values,

4. retaining the Revit family types (embedded or family catalogs)

This new feature immediately provides Bentley users access to 10's of thousands of Building Product Manufacturers' (BPM) Revit families in their native RFA file format.

 Bentley will supports Revit family file formats for Revit 2009 through Revit 2014. When Autodesk Revit 2015 is released; Bentley will begin testing the Revit 2015 new features of the family file format (RFA).

It demonstrates Bentley's commitment to both interoperability between different BIM software tools --and the value of providing their users with pre-built BPM BIM content for their Bentley design projects.

The use of BIM software, BIM Processes, BIM Execution Plans and Public & Private BIM Mandates has created a file format for the exchange of BIM Content.

Building Product Manufacturers (BPMs) provide their products in pre-built BIM file formats; to assist designers with creating their BIM project files. IFC, a software-independent file exchange format, emerges for sharing BIM content between different BIM software packages.

The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model is intended to describe building and construction industry data. It is a platform neutral, open file format specification that is not controlled by a single vendor or group of vendors.

For BPMs an Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) file is a neutral exchange BIM file; that allows their BIM content to be exchanged between these different BIM software packages.

• Autodesk Revit,

• Bentley AECOSim,

• Graphisoft ArchiCAD

• Nemetschek Vectorworks

The Bradley BIM Initiative, that began in the summer of 2009; reached an anniversary milestone of 5 years serving architects, engineers, contractors and facility owners.