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ORIS open BIM Module: Step by Step
How to upload a model, inspect it, map quantities to the carbon database, and generate a Material Assessment.
The ORIS open BIM Module connects directly to your design files to extract component names, material information, and quantity data, automating the creation of a Material Assessment. This article covers the full workflow: uploading your model, using the viewer to check it is ready, mapping quantities to the carbon database, and generating the assessment.
Supported File Formats and Prerequisites
Step 1: Check the Model in the Viewer
Step 2: Map Quantities and Build Your Configuration
Optional: AI Mapping as an Alternative to Manual Assignment
Saving and Reusing Configurations
Supported File Formats and Prerequisites
The ORIS open BIM Module is compatible with all major design file formats, such as IFC, Revit, DWG, or NWF. This includes 3D BIM models from Civil 3D, Revit, and other authoring tools, as well as 2D CAD drawings in DWG format.
The module does not calculate quantity takeoffs. It reads quantities that are already stored in the model property sets. For the mapping to work correctly, your model needs to contain:
- At least one property that can be used to group elements - for example a material name, a component type, a layer name, or a code designation.
- At least one property that holds a measurable quantity for each element type - volume (m³), area (m²), length (m), or weight. This must be consistently populated across all relevant elements.
- Ideally, a material property that describes what each element is made of. This is not mandatory for the mapping to work, but it significantly improves the quality of AI mapping suggestions.
Check your model before uploading
The most common cause of incomplete or incorrect results is a model with missing or inconsistent property sets. Use the viewer (described below) to verify property set coverage before investing time in the mapping.
Uploading Your Model
To access the open BIM Module, go to the homepage and use the workspace selector in the left sidebar to choose the relevant workspace. Then select Material Assessment from the list below to view existing assessments, and click on the + button in the bottom-right corner to create a new one. From the options that appear, select Load BIM Model to open ORIS open BIM Module. You can also create a new Material Assessment directly from the central panel of the homepage.
Models are organised by workspace. Select the workspace from the dropdown on the top of the left panel to see the models available within that workspace. To upload a new model, click Upload on the top right corner of the left panel, drag the file into the window, and wait for the progress bar to complete. You can continue working while the file processes in the background. Once uploaded, the model appears in the list for the selected workspace.
If you are working on a project with evolving design, upload updated files as new versions of the same model entry. ORIS stores each upload as a separate version, giving you a full version history. A saved configuration from the original version can be applied directly to the updated model, avoiding the need to create a new configuration from scratch.
Always assign your model to a workspace
A model without a workspace assignment cannot have its configuration saved. This means you will need to remap it every time you open it. Assign the model to the correct project workspace before starting your mapping so that your setup can be saved and shared with colleagues.
Step 1: Check the Model in the Viewer
Before mapping anything, use the viewer to inspect the model and confirm it contains the information ORIS needs. This step saves time: it is much faster to identify missing property sets here than to discover gaps after completing the mapping.
INSPECTING INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS
Right-click any element and select Show Properties to open its property set panel. Check for three things:
- A property you can use to categorise the element - for example a code name (Civil 3D uses codes like PAVE1, SUBBASE), a material name, or a layer designation.
- A quantity property with a value and unit - volume, area, length, or weight depending on the element type.
- A material property if available. If the model contains material information, the AI mapping will be able to use it to suggest database matches automatically.
DATA GRID
For a broader check across many elements at once, use the Data Grid. Filter the data grid by the property sets you are interested in and scan across all elements to check that the fields are consistently populated.
MODEL BROWSER
The Model Browser shows the parent-child structure of the model. For most infrastructure models this is not critical, but it is useful on complex 3D models where you want to understand how elements are nested and which parent-child relationships might affect how quantities are aggregated.
Step 2: Map Quantities and Build Your Configuration
Go to the Map Quantities tab. The mapping interface has three tabs: Quantity, Material, and Template. Together, these define your full configuration, which captures everything: the selected carbon database, grouping levels, quantity properties, material assignments, conversion factors, and templates. Work through the tabs in order.
Federating multiple models
If your project uses separate model files for different disciplines (for example structures in one IFC and earthworks in another), you can federate them in the viewer before mapping. Upload both files and combine them into a single view. The mapping then covers elements from all federated files, and the resulting Material Assessment contains a single unified BoQ.
CREATE A CONFIGURATION
Click Edit Configuration and select Create New. Give it a descriptive name that reflects the model or project context. The configuration must be linked to a workspace - if no workspace is assigned to the model, ORIS will warn you that the configuration cannot be saved. Once created, all your work in the Quantity, Material, and Template tabs is associated with this configuration, and you can save your configuration at any point and return to it later.
SELECTING THE DATABASE
Choose the carbon database that corresponds to your project's country or regulatory context. The database is set once here and applies to all materials in the assessment. It shouldn’t be changed after the project is created.
DEFINE GROUPING AND EXTRACT QUANTITIES
Click Add Level and select the property to use as the first grouping level. ORIS lists all distinct values of that property as separate rows. Add a second level for a finer breakdown - for example, first by element type, then by diameter or material specification. These two levels carry through as groups and sub-groups in the Material Assessment BoQ.
You can add further properties beyond the first two. Their values are stored to improve AI mapping suggestions but do not create additional BoQ levels.
Tip
Use the light bulb icon next to any row to highlight the corresponding elements in the viewer, and colour-hidden view to isolate them. This verifies that a row contains the elements you expect.
For each row, select the quantity property to extract. A green dot confirms successful retrieval from all elements in the group. If the circle is not green, click into it to see which elements are missing the property. For 3D models, this usually means the property set was not exported from the authoring tool for those elements. For 2D files, it almost always means an unclosed hatching.
CREATING MATERIAL TABLES
Go to the Material tab. This is where you create the material entries that will be used in the assessment. For each material you need, click to add a new entry. Give it a name that matches your own project nomenclature - this becomes the material name in the BoQ, separate from the database entry name. Then search the database and select the appropriate entry.
Set the unit to match what the model is extracting for the elements this material will be applied to. ORIS pre-fills a default unit from the database, but if your model extracts a different unit (for example m³ instead of tonnes for a pavement layer), change it here. If the unit differs from the emission factor unit, a conversion factor is required. ORIS pre-fills a default CF from the database - verify it is correct for your material specification, and update it if needed.
Changing the unit clears the conversion factor
If you change the default unit on a material row, ORIS clears the pre-filled conversion factor. Always re-enter the correct value after making a unit change. For most volumetric materials the CF is the material density in t/m³. See the Conversion Factors article for guidance on finding the right value.
CREATING TEMPLATE TABLES
If a modelled element represents an assembly of materials - for example a pavement cross-section where a single extracted area needs to yield multiple layers, or a reinforced concrete element where steel reinforcement must be derived from the concrete volume - create a template instead of assigning a single material.
A template defines multiple materials and their quantities per unit of the base quantity. For example, a pavement template applied to m² might include a surface course at 0.04 m³/m², a binder course at 0.06 m³/m², and a base course at 0.10 m³/m² (which is the thickness in m). When the template is applied to a row in the Quantity tab, ORIS multiplies the extracted area by each unit quantity to produce the individual material quantities. Templates are part of the configuration and are saved and reused alongside the material table and grouping setup.
ASSIGNING MATERIALS AND TEMPLATES TO QUANTITY ROWS
Return to the Quantity tab and assign each row a material from the material table. For rows where a single material represents the element directly, select the material. For rows where the extracted quantity represents an assembly of materials (for example a pavement area from which multiple layers need to be calculated), assign a template instead.
Optional: AI Mapping as an Alternative to Manual Assignment
If your model contains material property data, you can use AI Mapping to automatically suggest database matches for each row based on the material information in the model. The AI reads through the property data, searches the selected database, and proposes a material and unit for each row.
AI Mapping is most useful as a first-pass accelerator on a new model. It generates a baseline mapping quickly, which you can then review and refine. For each suggestion, you can accept it as is, reject it and assign manually, or accept and modify it later in the material tab.
AI Mapping does not cover templates
The AI mapping feature only proposes single-material assignments. If any of your rows require a template (for multi-material assemblies such as pavement cross-sections or reinforced concrete elements), those rows must be configured manually after running AI mapping.
Step 3: Create the Project
When the mapping is complete, click Create Project. A panel opens to set the assessment name, location, workspace, currency, and project step. If your model does not contain geolocation data, search for the project location manually.
ORIS generates the first version of Material Assessment and populates the bill of quantities with all groups, sub-groups, material rows, quantities, units, and conversion factors from your mapping. You are redirected to the assessment to complete transport settings and, optionally, the construction operations.
When you upload a new model version, your assessment history is preserved. Launching calculations from an existing configuration on a new model version does not create a new Material Assessment. Instead, ORIS adds a new version to the existing one, keeping all design iterations in one place.
Saving and Reusing Configurations
A configuration saves your complete mapping setup: grouping levels, quantity properties, material and template mapping. Once your mapping is ready, click Save Configuration and give it a name. Saved configurations are stored against the model in the workspace and are accessible to all users with workspace access.
When you upload a new version of the same model, the saved configurations will be loaded as well. As long as the property sets in the new version are consistent with the original, the mapping resolves automatically, including all material and template assignments.
To reuse a configuration on a different model, use Export Configuration to save it as a file, then Import it when working on the new file. This is useful for applying a standard methodology across multiple projects with similar model structures.