Image courtesy Autodesk Canada

BIM allows the creation and use of co-ordinated, consistent, and computable information about a building project.

Autodesk and Bentley Systems have announced an agreement to expand interoperability of their building information modelling (BIM) software. The companies' portfolios, consisting of architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) programs, will be supported through the reciprocal use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

This collaboration is intended to improve reliability of work shared between the two file formats, allowing the users to focus on creativity without being hindered by file-compatibility constraints. Software libraries will be exchanged to improve the ability to read and write Autodesk and Bentley's respective DWG and DGN formats in mixed environments.