Get Specified More Often: BIM Content for Equipment Manufacturers

The way architects, engineers, and contractors select equipment has fundamentally changed. In the past, product selection happened late in the design process—often during construction documentation or even procurement. Today, with Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows, these decisions happen much earlier, during schematic design and design development phases.

This shift creates both a challenge and an opportunity for equipment manufacturers. Products that exist as quality BIM objects get specified. Products that don't get overlooked—not because they're inferior, but because they're invisible in the digital design environment where decisions are made.

The specification gap is real: manufacturers with comprehensive BIM libraries report 20-40% higher specification rates compared to competitors relying solely on traditional product catalogs and PDF cut sheets. For equipment manufacturers looking to grow market share in the AEC industry, BIM content is no longer optional—it should be an essential part of your project delivery.

BIM used by a manufacturer of cooling towers

In this example, one of our customers-a manufactuer of cooling towers-was able to present the specifications of their cooling unit in a waste reclamation project.

Why BIM Matters to Equipment Manufacturers

Growing BIM Mandates

BIM adoption has reached critical mass across the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. In Singapore, BIM submission is mandatory for projects over 5,000 square meters. Globally, major markets including the UK, Nordic countries, and increasingly the United States require or incentivize BIM on public projects.

More importantly for manufacturers, design decisions now happen inside the model. When an engineer needs to select an air handling unit, they don't flip through catalogs—they search BIM libraries for objects they can place directly into their model. Products without BIM content simply don't appear in this search.

The Specification Advantage

Equipment represented as BIM objects gains several advantages:

Early visibility: Your products appear during design phases when specifications are being written
Reduced friction: Specifiers can evaluate your equipment in context without manual data entry
Stickiness: Once placed in a model, products tend to stay specified through construction documents
Technical validation: BIM objects enable clash detection and coordination, proving your equipment fits

Research indicates that products with quality BIM content are specified 2-3 times more frequently than equivalent products without digital representation.

BIM clash detection interface showing equipment coordination

BIM allows architects and contractors to asset the fit of a piece of equipment within their project. Additional metadata within the BIM model can capture additional design specifications such as : Fire Rating, Carbon Footprint, and Energy Usage information

What AEC Professionals Expect

Surveys of architects and engineers consistently reveal their expectations for manufacturer BIM content:

Accurate geometry at appropriate levels of detail
Complete metadata including performance specifications, weight, and electrical requirements
Multiple configurations for product lines with options
Proper connectors for MEP equipment (ducts, pipes, electrical connections)
Regular updates when products change

The penalty for poor or missing BIM content is severe: specifiers report they will choose a competitor's product over a preferred brand simply because quality BIM content is available.

Understanding BIM Content

Beyond Traditional CAD

BIM content differs fundamentally from traditional CAD drawings. Where CAD represents geometry—lines, arcs, and dimensions—BIM objects contain intelligent, parametric data that interacts with the building model.

A BIM object for a pump isn't just a 3D shape. It includes:

Inlet and outlet connection points that snap to piping
Performance curves and operating parameters
Electrical load data that populates panel schedules
Weight information for structural coordination
Maintenance access clearances

This intelligence is what makes BIM objects valuable to designers and why they prefer working with manufacturer-provided content.

Level of Development (LOD)

BIM content is classified by Level of Development, indicating how much detail and reliability the object contains:

LOD	Description	Typical Use
LOD 100	Conceptual, approximate geometry	Early design, space planning
LOD 200	Generic object with approximate size	Schematic design
LOD 300	Accurate geometry and data	Design development, coordination
LOD 350	Includes interfaces with other systems	Construction documentation
LOD 400	Fabrication-ready detail	Shop drawings, installation

Visual representation of BIM LOD levels showing progressive detail

BIM Level of Development progression—most manufacturers should target LOD 300-350 for optimal balance of detail and usability.

Most manufacturers should target LOD 300-350 for their BIM content—detailed enough for specification and coordination, but not so detailed that files become unwieldy.

Platform and Format Considerations

The BIM software market is dominated by several platforms:

Autodesk Revit: Market leader, especially in North America and Asia. Native format is .rfa (family files)
ArchiCAD: Strong in Europe. Uses .gsm format
IFC (Industry Foundation Classes): Open standard for interoperability across platforms

For most manufacturers, starting with Revit families provides the broadest market reach—approximately 70% of AEC professionals use Revit as their primary BIM platform. From there, consider IFC exports to support firms using alternative software. While native formats always perform better within their respective platforms, IFC serves as a universal fallback that ensures your products remain accessible across the entire AEC ecosystem.

The Business Case for BIM Investment

Direct Benefits

The primary benefit is straightforward: increased specification rates. When your products are easy to find, evaluate, and place in models, they get specified more often.

Secondary benefits include:

Reduced technical support burden: BIM objects answer many questions automatically (dimensions, clearances, connection requirements)
Earlier project involvement: Sales teams can engage during design phases rather than chasing specifications after they're written
Premium positioning: Quality BIM content signals a manufacturer invested in supporting design professionals

Competitive Differentiation

In product categories where technical specifications are similar across manufacturers, BIM content becomes a differentiator. The manufacturer with better digital tools wins the specification.

This creates a barrier to entry—once you establish a comprehensive BIM library, competitors must invest significantly to match your digital presence.

At Bimeco, we help equipment manufacturers develop comprehensive BIM libraries in openBIM format—enabling your products to reach specifiers across all major platforms while maintaining a single, manageable content source.

Measuring ROI

Track these metrics to evaluate your BIM content investment:

Download volume: Total downloads and downloads per product
Lead quality: Registration data from download requirements
Specification attribution: Projects where BIM content influenced selection
Sales team feedback: Qualitative input on customer awareness

Many manufacturers report that BIM content pays for itself within the first year through increased specifications and reduced sales cycle friction.

Getting Started: A Practical Approach

Prioritize Your Product Line

Don't try to create BIM content for every product simultaneously. Start with:

High-volume products that appear in many projects
Products with complex coordination needs where BIM provides clear value
New product launches where BIM content supports market entry
Competitive battlegrounds where rivals already have BIM content

A focused library of 15-25 well-executed products outperforms a large library of mediocre content.

Choose Your Development Approach

Outsourced development suits most manufacturers:

Access to specialized BIM expertise
Faster time to market
No need to hire and train staff
Predictable project-based costs

In-house development makes sense when:

You have hundreds of products requiring ongoing updates
Products change frequently
You can justify dedicated BIM staff

Hybrid approaches work well: outsource initial creation, manage updates internally.

Distribution Strategy

Make your BIM content easy to find:

Your website: Dedicated product pages with direct downloads
Third-party libraries: BIMobject, Autodesk Seek, and regional platforms expand reach
Direct relationships: Provide content directly to key specifiers and design firms

ProjectWise Common Data Environment interface

Design teams discover and access BIM content through Common Data Environments—ensure your products are available where specifiers work.

Require registration for downloads—this captures valuable lead data for your sales team.

Need help embedding BIM content on your website? Contact us to discuss integration options, or see a live example of how embedded BIM viewers work.

Quick-Start Action Plan

Month 1: Audit your current state, research competitor offerings, define initial scope of 10-20 priority products

Month 2: Select development partner, begin content creation, plan distribution infrastructure

Month 3: Quality test with actual users, soft launch to select customers, begin marketing rollout

Conclusion

Equipment manufacturers who invest in quality BIM content gain measurable competitive advantage. The specification gap between BIM-enabled and traditional product marketing will only widen as digital design workflows become universal.

Starting small with focused, high-quality content for priority products is better than attempting comprehensive coverage with mediocre execution. Begin including BIM artifacts alongside your traditional marketing materials—product pages, brochures, and trade show displays—and watch your lead generation skyrocket.

Don't wait for your competitors to move first. Make BIM part of your customer engagement strategy today.

Looking to develop BIM content for your product line? Contact Bimeco to discuss how we can help manufacturers create specification-winning BIM libraries.

Frequently Asked Questions

BIM content refers to digital 3D models of your products that contain intelligent data—dimensions, performance specifications, material properties, and connection points. Unlike traditional CAD drawings, BIM objects can be placed directly into building models, automatically updating schedules, clash detection, and specifications.

Start with Autodesk Revit, which dominates the architectural and MEP market with approximately 70% market share. Once you have Revit families established, consider ArchiCAD for the European market and IFC format for broader interoperability.

Costs vary significantly based on product complexity and level of detail. Simple equipment families may cost SGD 500-1,500 per product, while complex parametric families with multiple configurations can range from SGD 2,000-5,000. Many manufacturers start with 10-20 core products.

Most manufacturers report measurable increases in specification rates within 6-12 months of launching quality BIM content. The key is combining good content with proper distribution and marketing to AEC professionals.

For most manufacturers, outsourcing to specialized BIM content developers is more cost-effective. In-house development only makes sense if you have ongoing needs for hundreds of products and can justify dedicated BIM staff. A hybrid approach—outsourcing creation while managing updates internally—works well for many.

Track downloads from your website and third-party libraries, require registration for downloads to capture lead data, survey specifiers about how they discovered your products, and work with your sales team to attribute project wins to BIM content discovery.

Quality BIM content is geometrically accurate, appropriately detailed for its intended LOD, contains complete and correct metadata, follows platform naming conventions, includes proper connection points, and performs well in large models without excessive file sizes.