A building model is only as good as the communication that takes place around it. Walls, pipes, and columns are modeled quickly, the real work begins when architects, specialist planners, and site management start discussing clashes, open issues, and changes. That is exactly what the BIM Collaboration Format, or BCF for short, exists for. And it’s exactly in this area that PAVE has now officially proven that it belongs in the top tier. On May 13, 2026, PAVE successfully took part in the BIM Fit Check for BCF at the 23rd buildingSMART User Day in Berlin and received the official Digital Badge from buildingSMART Deutschland. Five software companies took part in the 2026 BIM Fit Check. PAVE is one of them.
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What the BIM Fit Check really puts to the test
Classic certifications often follow the same pattern: export the file, upload it, check for formal correctness, tick the box. Done. The problem is that construction practice looks different. As soon as architects, specialist planners, and reviewing bodies meet with different software, the real weaknesses show up: shifted camera positions, lost status information, orphaned component references. And BCF is no side issue here. It’s an important, open standard for model based issue management in the openBIM process. When a model is created in one program, checked in another, and commented on in a third, BCF makes sure that comments, camera viewpoints, and processing status move between the systems without loss. By the way, we’ve covered in detail how the format works within the broader openBIM context, and which tools and processes are behind it, in our openBIM article, a good starting point if the topic still feels a bit abstract to you.
A closer look at PAVE’s results
Three areas were tested: export, import, and the so called round trip, meaning whether a BCF file survives a complete cycle of export and re import without any data being lost or changed unnoticed. In all three categories, PAVE met every mandatory criterion (“must haves”). Here’s what that looked like in practice:
Export: PAVE generates BCF files that fully comply with the BCF 3.0 schema, and cleanly supports immutable lock comments, due dates, and user assignments.
Import: PAVE also imports BCF files that contain only the minimum fields without crashing, even when a referenced IFC GlobalId doesn’t exist at all. Due dates, labels, phases, linked topics, and multiple viewpoints per topic are reliably carried over. In the process, it detects whether the BCF issue with the corresponding ID already exists on the PAVE BCF server, in which case it is versioned.
Round trip: The round trip test checked whether an issue can be imported, edited, exported again, and then read back in without losing relevant content or identities. After a complete export import cycle, the GUIDs of topics, viewpoints, and comments remain unchanged, a detail that is often underestimated in practice but is essential for keeping discussions traceable across project phases.
What stands out: PAVE didn’t stop at the mandatory criteria. The software also performs notably well on the optional “nice to haves”, for example in correctly controlling the visibility of individual components and rooms, supporting both orthogonal and perspective camera views, or rendering the camera position georeferenced according to the IFC file. These details are exactly what determines, in everyday use, whether a BCF comment from another program actually looks the way it was meant to, or whether you first have to guess which component is even being referred to.
Why this matters for your projects
Put more simply, the BIM Fit Check shows that PAVE doesn’t just have “BCF compatible” on its feature list, but that data exchange with other BIM programs actually works smoothly in practice, verified live rather than just claimed. Translated into everyday project work, this passed result means:
Real planning certainty
Data exchange between PAVE and other BIM programs isn’t just claimed, it’s independently verified and publicly documented.
Less friction in everyday use
Comments, status changes, and camera viewpoints created in PAVE arrive in other software exactly as intended, and the other way around too.
Future readiness
With support for BCF 3.0, PAVE is equipped for the current requirements around model based communication that clients and authorities increasingly expect.
A seal that actually means something
This result places PAVE on a growing list of software solutions that have publicly demonstrated their openBIM capabilities. For PAVE, it’s another step on the path toward making project communication not just digital, but genuinely interoperable, across formats, programs, and trades.
If you’re wondering how openBIM actually fits together in practice, from IFC to BCF to the right tools, you’ll find a helpful overview in our openBIM basics article. For all the details on the assessment and the result, see the information on the awarded badge.
