3D Repo’s innovative work with Balfour Beatty and the FIS developing cloud-based software for construction and infrastructure industry has been recognised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). 3D Repo’s Bid4Free Online Platform was Highly Commended in the Information Technology category at the recent 2016 IET Innovation Awards.
Developed in collaboration with Balfour Beatty, the largest construction company in the UK, and the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS), an industry membership organisation representing some 65 percent of the fit-out sector in the UK, 3D Repo devised a system that enables main contractors to manage and digitally distribute project proposals. 3D Repo’s Bid4Free is an open source online 3D platform for the construction industry designed to eliminate costs and make it easier for subcontractors to work on projects.
Over 450 people attended the 2016 IET Innovation Awards on 16 November; a black tie dinner event held at The Brewery, the venue occupying the site of the former Whitbread brewery in East London. Hosted by TV presenter and adventurer Rob Bell, 3D Repo’s submission was one of 300 entries from 25 countries.
In the construction sector, subcontractors repeatedly spend many weeks of effort on B2B tendering. These high multi-party costs of tendering are recouped by only those companies that win the contracts. 3D Repo Bid4Free targets this important problem by introducing an innovative cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) platform that aims not only to reduce the time and therefore cost spent on tendering but also to provide a unique open source software for the construction industry to build upon.
“It was a tremendous accolade to be highly commended at the IET Innovation Awards. We have developed a novel SaaS solution to the construction B2B tendering problem. Our Bid4Free solution is based on the existing multi-award winning open source 3D Repo framework developed at University College London, which runs in web browsers on desktops, tablets and mobiles,” said Dr Jozef Dobos, 3D Repo’s CEO. “Importantly it is free to use and saves considerable costs as there is no need for software plug-ins, proprietary licences, firewall exceptions or the latest hardware.”
“Instead of charging for costly proprietary software licenses, 3D Repo offers a unique open source web-based system that provides a free to use online tendering platform. Tier 1 contractors like Balfour Beatty are able to post their BIM projects securely. The subcontractors can then preview the projects virtually in web browsers and exchange Requests for Information (RFIs) free of charge,” explained Dr Dobos.
