Test stage successfully completed: Vonovia implements software for checking 3D models for new construction projects

• Vonovia launches BIM.permit software for checking new construction projects following convincing tests.
• Innovative software for checking building applications is a key step towards the urgently needed digitalization of the construction industry.
• Less bureaucracy: applications can be approved much more quickly and easily.
• Vonovia and the city of Bochum are also evaluating the use of the process at municipal level.

Bochum, October 8, 2024 – Following a successful test phase, Vonovia is implementing a digital solution developed by local start-up VSK.software for checking 3D models for its new construction projects. The software, called BIM.permit, drastically shortens and simplifies the process of checking building applications - an important step on the way to digitalization and the associated reduction in bureaucracy in the construction industry. Everyone will benefit from this prestigious project: The city of Bochum and the state of NRW are also evaluating the possibilities of using and optimizing the processes of the software at municipal level.

‘North Rhine-Westphalia is the place for innovations in digital planning and construction. One successful example is the use of software to check 3D models in new construction projects. Vonovia is leading the way. The Ministry of Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Digitalisation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is supporting further pilot projects for the electronically supported preliminary review of building applications with the Ruhr University Bochum. Planning digitally, checking for correctness electronically in advance and obtaining approval quickly - this is the aim of the project with Ruhr University Bochum, which is being funded with around 400,000 euros from the Ministry of Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Digitalisation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Once the pilot project has been successfully completed, the electronic preliminary review is to be adopted as standard on the North Rhine-Westphalia construction portal and thus made available to all planners,’ says Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Digitalisation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Daniel Riedl, Chief Development Officer at Vonovia, says on the project: “We will only be able to solve the challenges that lie ahead in the housing industry with the help of genuine digitalization. Our involvement in the start-up and the pilot project are a logical continuation of our strategy in this area. We want to offer a solution that efficiently accelerates the approval of construction projects - not just for Vonovia, but for everyone involved. In this way, we are making a valuable and sustainable contribution to solving an acute problem for society.” Like politics, he has repeatedly called for the digitalization and debureaucratization of the construction industry.

Cooperation with VSK, the city of Bochum and Ruhr University

The software developed by start-up VSK.software checks the models for compliance with building regulations. The checks are carried out directly on the planners' 3D BIM model, so there is no longer a media break to 2D plans. Vonovia is now using the software from the perspective of the building applicant for construction projects currently in the planning stage; at the same time, the City of Bochum is contributing its expertise on compliance with building regulations from the perspective of the inspection authority and is already training employees of the building inspectorate.

Bochum's Lord Mayor Thomas Eiskirch explains: ‘The digital building application will speed up the approval and planning process. BIM saves applicants unnecessary failures and dead ends in the planning process because it is immediately recognisable whether the plans are compatible with building regulations. This helps both building owners and our employees in the building regulations office. So we get a classic win-win situation.’

Significantly reducing the complexity of approval procedures

The BIM.permit inspection software, which was awarded the special prize in the start-up category of the “Built on IT” competition, uses platform-independent data formats so that all planners can set up their 3D building models in a standardized way and have them checked digitally. BIM.permit thus significantly reduces the duration and complexity of building permit procedures. Just a few months ago, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the preliminary review and the actual approval process for a building project each take “around ten months”. With the correct use of BIM.permit on the applicant and application processor side, this could be reduced to just a few weeks - for both review procedures combined.

“On the one hand, we achieve this by enabling those authorized to submit building documents to pre-check their models reliably and quickly and, on the other hand, by automating the approval process itself,” explains André Vonthron, founder and Managing Director of VSK Software GmbH. However, the software does not replace people: “It is important that the human factor remains the driving force despite the use of technical aids, simply due to the large number of discretionary decisions.”

Digitalized building permit procedures and the faster processing of building application reviews with a high level of review quality with regard to various state building regulations are a decisive step towards the urgently needed digitalization of the construction industry. Vonovia is doing important pioneering work together with VSK.software and the City of Bochum.