CONTRABIM 1.0 (2016-2024)

It's an end of an era!

Our CONTRABIM Template development work from 2013-2024 is officially wrapped, into what we'll refer to as CONTRABIM 1.0 (CB1.0) from here forward!

It's time to move on to bigger and better Archicad product developments, built on a new standard that provides the solid foundation for strategic growth into the future. Something we've been researching and planning for several years now, and it's time to publicly announce this news as we start to turn the corner.

I'm proud of the work that we've done with CB1.0, but in order to meet our overall mission, to provide the premiere BIM template built on institutional best practices and real world manufactured content, we have to start with a clean build from the ground up, built on 2024 technology. It's time to take all the lessons  learned over the past decade, and retool them into a fresh template that benefits from years of experience and perspective, that you only can gain from actually doing the work of building templates and projects and retooling over and over (and over...) each year.

As we move on to CONTRABIM 2.0, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the history and lessons learned from the past decade from developing CB1.0. It's been a fun, but tough journey, with a million lessons along the way.

2013 - Background and Beginnings

Back in 2013, I had risen to the level of Virtual Design & Construction Manager at one of the nations largest General Contractors, Swinerton Builders. It was an exciting time chasing and winning projects in the Los Angeles/Orange County region, working preconstruction, and ultimately delivering large, complex projects through the power of a teamwork and experience. My time at Swinerton starting back in 2007 gave me the perspective to understand how BIM was going to become more and more crucial in the AEC industry, and also how difficult it could be to deploy advanced BIM workflows within a large organization.

Back in 2013 as VD&C Manager, I was in high demand. It seemed that I was involved in almost every project, from the initial pursuit, through preconstruction and into field operations. I remember my office manager saying at the time "I need to hire a dedicated person just to manage John", as it seemed like everyone always needed my time, and help is what I loved to provide. They did end up hiring that person which was a huge help:)

Work I loved doing at Swinerton:

• Field Engineering (2007-2009) - Where I cut my teeth on-site with an amazing team that I learned to much from. A $70M 16-story Worldmark Tower right next to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.
  • One of the best teams ever assembled, and one of the most profitable jobs as I recall. In construction, you rarely get to pick your projects, so I was lucky to start out on such an amazing jobsite. It was also my first introduction to concrete construction which I absolutely love!
  •  
• Estimating (2009-2011) - After doing the Field Engineering work, I transitioned into the Estimating department, which was a fast paced and exciting. Reviewing and developing scoping documents, producing quantity takeoffs, calling up subs for prequals and soliciting bids, reviewing and analyzing bids, and executing on bid-day was an amazing experience. Estimating is a team activity, and you can learn so much from experienced estimators that have decades of experience and their finger on the pulse of the market. Sometimes estimating can be a bit archaic though, and thinking back to it now, I can still hear the beeping sound of someone digitizing their paper drawings manually. Do it twice to make sure it's right!
  • While I love estimating, and working in a team, I also became extremely interested in BIM at this time, which had obvious benefits to quantity takeoffs.
• Virtual Design & Construction Engineering (2009-2011) As soon as I had the opportunity, I moved on from a dedicated Estimating role, into our newly formed Virtual Design & Construction Department. This was the beginning of my BIM journey, and I learned from a great mentor who showed me the ropes of using Archicad to build construction models. In the VD&C department, we started to become more and more involved with several different aspects of projects from early pursuits through operations.
  • Pursuits - We worked with Business Development Managers, Marketing Managers, Project Executives, Estimators, PM's, Schedulers and even Superintendents.
  • Logistics Plans - Sitting side by side with superintendents to create site logistics and phasing plans, fun work but but we definitely burned through a lot of color ink and highlighters:)
  •  
  • Estimating - Way back when, we actually were using the VICO version of Archicad, which was called Constructor. A bit before it's time...but also validated the power of Archicad.
  • Scheduling - Often side by side with logistics and phasing analysis, we worked to align with schedulers for proposals and BIM coordination planning.
  • Field Layout - As we got more sophisticated with BIM, we started integrating Trimble Robotic Total Stations on-site, for our Self-Performed Concrete layout.
    • One of my first big jobs using the RTS, was on-site at the Palm Springs International Airport Control Tower. I remember setting up layout for our self performed concrete scope, including foundations and a big decagon concrete stem wall for the pre-cast tower to sit upon. I verified the concrete stem wall placement myself prior to pouring, and I remember on a car ride once, the President of Swinerton telling me, "That precast better fit, or you might need to look for another job". He was joking of course, but luckily the precast did fit as verified. I built this model twice, once in Archicad for the full tower, and once in Tekla, for our concrete detailing and layout.
  • 
  • Laser Scanning - A new technology at the time, but a powerful tool for our as-built surveying.
• Virtual Design & Construction Manager (2011-2016)
  • After a few years, I moved up to lead the VD&C Department as manager, and my time only become more valuable and limited.
  • We started running more MEP Coordination, which can be a big undertaking depending on the project scope.
  • 
  • We still were producing all the other work from Pursuit to Construction...
  • I started see the inefficiencies and opportunities, not only within our own team, but bigger problems industry wide with how Designers were producing bad models.

This is when I started to think bigger, and when the first concepts behind CONTRABIM 1.0 started to come into vision.

BIM Utility Tool

While I was well versed in Revit, Tekla, Autocad & Sketchup, my preferred BIM platform of choice was always Archicad.

Archicad made it easy to model how a builder thinks, and it by far was the best "Utility Tool", that could slice and dice DWGs/PDFs/IFC like no other. Archicad in my mind was the perfect tool for a builder to know how to use, but few others seemed to understand or use it for construction purposes.

I wanted to change that, and so I embarked on a new path, and new journey to develop CONTRABIM, "Contractor's BIM", a BIM Template to help Design Builders both model their projects better, but also plan and execute preconstruction/construction better as well.

2016 - All-In

In March of 2016, I made the decision to leave my secure, high demand position as VD&C Manager at Swinerton, to go out on my own full time and pursue the mission of building a new class of BIM Template, utilizing Archicad as the central platform.

I founded 3DCONSTRUCTOR, LLC, and off I went on my own. (I wish I had taken an Entrepreneurship for Dummies course back then, as running a startup is not easy)

The initial goal with CONTRABIM was to develop a template that contained a full library of construction elements, pre-reported for cost, quantities, preconstruction, construction and operations. 

With excitement, I believed there to be a wide range of potential users across the AEC spectrum that could benefit from such a BIM template, that did not exist anywhere in the industry. Especially not for Archicad users.

We setup workflows in that original template that enabled the end user to build construction models, while also running coordination between Design Content and Shop Drawings. As such, the Archicad template itself was quite unique from the way most other AC users were working, and geared for construction managers, coordinators, and anyone who wanted to model accurately while simultaneously reporting quantities and cost.

I loved building the first version of the template, which was founded on 3 primary software applications.

• Archicad - Central BIM Platform
• Excel - For handling all things data and reporting, and the preferred tool by estimators everywhere.
• Bluebeam - As a project dashboard to link up PDF contract documents, reports, and everything else

2018 - First Release

Once I felt like the first viable product was ready, I built my first website and decided the best way to get the word out and market CONTRABIM, was through YouTube! (Obviously:)

January 5th, 2018 I posted my first ever YouTube Video, highlighting all the features of the first template I had built. Check it out if you want to see where it all began!

As far as I know, this was the first ever Construction Specific Archicad template available commercially, and we had some awesome workflows that are still very much relevant and useful today to literally anyone who builds! Also fun to see how far we've come since then...

Challenges

With my first website setup on WIX, I struggled with how to actually sell the template that I had created, so in order for anyone to buy, they had to reach out directly and purchase through a manual payment type of workflow. Not ideal by any means, but we were able to get a few users onboarded and get some valuable insight on what Architects using Archicad actually wanted from a BIM template.

The first template we had created, had all the design tools setup for construction caliber modeling in great detail, but our drawing and layout book was setup for construction coordination, estimating, management and project reporting. Not exactly the type of outputs most Archicad users wanted or needed on their projects. We had built a product with huge potential for an audience that didn't really exist.  CONTRACTORS using ARCHICAD!

To sell this audience on why they could benefit from our CONTRABIM Template, we had to also sell them on purchasing Archicad in the first place, and why it was better than the alternative in Revit, which if they were doing BIM, they likely already had.

With the primary Archicad user base being Architects, this is where the journey took a big shift from a "Construction First" type intent, to a "Construction+Design" template, where we started to integrate more workflows applicable to Architects and Engineers. Our Design-Build Template was forming, and growing in both content and workflow outputs.

2019 - 5D Estimate Packages

After the first year of creating videos for YouTube, we quickly grew our online audience on Youtube, while refining our template and product offerings. Looking back at this time, it was definitely a challenge trying to make any sort of revenue from template sales, and still a struggle to figure out how to make our WIX website work for product memberships and digital downloads. Those features did not exist in the way that we needed it to, and I remember feeling a bit stuck.

Another big challenge we were facing, was that most the potential users out there already had a Archicad template they were working with, and it's always a big effort to transition between templates, especially to one that was stronger at the time for Builders than it was for Designers.

People were interested in our quantities and cost estimating though, and so to adapt to this sales barrier, we broke off the 5D Quantification and Estimating workflow we had developed, and bundled it up into a 5D Estimating Pack that could be loaded on top of any other Archicad file or template.

An exciting concept, that opened the door to new collaborations and opportunities!

2019 - 5D Collaboration

To help get the word out about our newly formed 5D Estimating Toolkit, that any Archicad User could deploy on top of their own template, I reached out to the globally recognized Archicad Trainer, Eric Bobrow, who developed MasterTemplate for Archicad. Eric was already successful with delivering templates and training to a wide audience of Archicad users, and I proposed a collaboration that would pre-load the 5D Estimating workflow that I developed, on top of MasterTemplate. ARC5D was born, and we delivered it for AC22, 23 & 24. During this time, I also upgraded the Cost Workflow with several enhancements and improved Excel formulas making it much more bulletproof for the end user.

You can see in this video how I had loaded up the CONTRABIM 5D Estimating Toolkit onto a very cool sample project by Gerald Hoffman.

One of the biggest lessons I took away from my collaboration with Eric, was insight into how to setup a website for hosting videos, digital downloads, and online sales. I ultimately opted for a different solution than what we delivered the ARC5D collaboration through (wordpress+plugins), but having gone through that learning process, I was better equipped to make a decision and move forward! 

2019 - New Web Platform

At the end of 2019, I switched to a new website platform, Kajabi, which was an all-in-one solution for creating online training courses, managing users, and building websites. Finally I was unstuck, with a clear path for how I would host CONTRABIM moving forward.

I actually remember being in Cabo San Lucas during Archicad By The Beach 2019 (Hosted by BIM6x), and seeing the notification of my first online sale using Kajabi, which was a huge surprise at the time and validation for making the decision to switch platforms.

Plus with the new website platform, I could easily create new Training Programs, which I did for Cost Estimating, MEP Modeling, and Template Training.

2019 - New Cost Estimating Tool: SYSTEMS

As we started to get more and more recognition across the Archicad community for our Cost Estimating Workflows that we pioneered, we found ourselves pushing the limits once again when Archicad introduced Expression Based Properties.

We developed a new C5D SYSTEMS Tool, which enabled users to calculate both quantities and costs directly within Archicad, and doing so in a way that was faster and easier for most Architects to use. This tool was perfect for early stage conceptual estimating, and worked well side by side with our more detailed materials based estimating tools, we renamed as TRADES.

 You can see what's possible with the SYSTEMS tool, in this 60 minute demo where we load up the system, quantify and estimate the GRAPHISOFT S-Office Building.

2020 - CONTRABIM Templates and Training

From 2020 onward, we continued releasing new CONTRABIM Residential and Commercial Templates for both USA-Imperial and INT-Metric versions. These templates evolved with every new version of Archicad, and as they introduced new features and technology, we'd integrate and refine our templates and training program. Upgrading 4 templates all at once is a bit of challenge in itself!

The delivery method of our CONTRABIM Template at this point, was an All-in-One format. Where our library of placed favorites, reports, views, layouts and publishers were all included in a single Template File, versus being broken out into a separate files for content vs projects.

For Archicad Versions 25 & 26, we utilized a workflow we developed using Renovations, to store and segregate out all of our Library Content, into "Working Views" organized by discipline and purpose. This worked well, but also presented a few challenges.

In Archicad 27, we ultimately replaced this Renovations workflow with Design Options, which was much more user friendly.

Balancing the complexity of the templates with functionality, file size and performance, all were important aspects we kept refining within the CONTRABIM Template, and ultimately the v25, v26 and v27 templates ended up in a happy middle ground, that would suite most users of Archicad on both Residential and Commercial sides of the industry.

2022 - New Membership Site

For the sake of our users, (and my own sanity) I decided in 2022 to launch a new subscription model to CONTRABIM, where users could get access to all of our Template Versions and Upgrades, as well as all of our Training Programs we had been developing! At a lower cost entry point that delivered more value to our users, it made total sense to move away from standalone template offerings, to an all inclusive membership. Releasing new products based on Archicad versions became a thing of the past, and enabled us to focus more on product and training, than preparing new offers and upgrading users through versions.

Plus, over time the subscription has snowballed value for our users, which is a win-win for everyone!

2023 - Power of Community

With the New Membership came a new Community Platform, which now enables us to chat, discuss, and meet monthly live in a setting that helps connect users across our network! The community has become our central hub for information sharing, discussions, and planning and prepping the future of CONTRABIM. Those on the inside, already know about the direction CONTRABIM is heading, and it's with their input that we've charted our course forward.

Perspective & Vision to the Future

Since it's inception, I've always spent a lot of time reflecting and analyzing how I can make the core CONTRABIM Template better, easier to use, and more powerful at the same time. This type of reflection on our core product is important, and always leads to improvements. But I found myself over the years coming back to the same question. 

Which is...

If I had to start over from scratch, could I build a better Archicad template?

The answer to this question, is undoubtedly YES! But there's always been a level of hesitation there, to ensure that the timing is right for when to make this transition to a brand new, ground up build.

It's become quite clear, that 2024 is the time, with the upcoming release of Archicad 28, which has made major impacts to Archicad Templates Globally.

A quite literal line in the sand has been drawn...

The timing could not have been more perfect, as we've been preparing for this all year, which means the planning and strategizing is out of the way, and we're in production mode building the foundation to our future.

Goodbye CONTRABIM 1.0

It's been a fun journey. Time to make room for what's next!

CONTRABIM 2.0... coming with Archicad 28!

Join us today and be part of the future!

 John Hallgarth, Founder