Spotlight: BricsCAD V27, and a Navisworks file that lands as a mesh
BricsCAD V27 notes are dated 20 October. Navisworks imports as meshes, IDS types can follow the spec, and Windows 11 is required.
Yesterday’s leftover checker was BIMcollab Zoom 9.10. The unused authoring note is BricsCAD V27. The Windows and Linux notes now open as V27 and carry the date 20 October 2026. Help names the Windows release V27.1. That is the dated non-beta listing the launch event at 16:00 CET does not replace.
That is not a new clash engine. Firms already get an NWD from the contractor, rebuild a coordination view in Navisworks, then ask the DWG team to trace the same geometry again. V27’s IMPORT article lets BIM and Ultimate open that NWD, NWC or NWF in BricsCAD. Help is explicit about what you get: meshes in the current drawing.
What actually changed
Navisworks import is the headline for a VDC desk that already lives in DWG. Help lists full support for Navisworks 2016 through 2026 and partial support for 2009 through 2015. It does not say properties, search sets or clash results come across. Treat it as a mesh drop until you prove otherwise on a live file.
The IDS change is smaller and more useful if you author in BricsCAD. Importing an IDS XML file is older. The V27 notes add that custom properties outside the IFC namespace take their BricsCAD data type and IFC type from the specification, so the exported IFC can match the type the IDS asked for. That is the test: import a spec that wants IfcLabel, export, and read the type. Do not treat a filled property as proof of the type.
IFC import picked up practical switches. The import settings can skip dynamic window and door openings, and they can bring BREP in as meshes, solids, or an adaptive mix. Meshes are faster and more tolerant. Solids edit more cleanly and can fail on messy geometry. Geocoordinate placement is real and narrow: IFC4 or later, with IfcProjectedCRS and IfcMapConversion, imported as an underlay, and the CRS in the current drawing has to match. The notes also add IFC4X3 alignment import. Help still says IFC4x3 import does not yet support some new geometry types, so time an alignment file instead of assuming the notes closed every gap.
Scan-to-drawing work gets POINTCLOUDTOMESH: isolate the cloud, pick a resolution, trim unsupported faces, then simplify. You can drag a supported cloud onto the window to attach it. Edge and corner snaps are new. That is a mesh from a scan, not a classified BIM object.
The platform tax is not optional. V27.1 needs Windows 11. V26.2 is the last Windows 10 build. Linux V27 is compiled on Ubuntu 24.04. Mac V27 ships as a Universal Binary. STEP and IGES import and export no longer need a Communicator licence key on Pro, BIM, Mechanical and Ultimate. The Communicator installer still has to be present.
What a BIM or VDC lead should do
Do not rewrite the coordination standard because an NWD can open in BricsCAD. The rules in our clash note still hold: someone owns the issue, a due date exists, and the model is coordinated only after the second federation.
If the firm already lives in BricsCAD BIM or Ultimate, this is worth a side-by-side on one live job. Install V27 from the download page after the Windows 11 check. Then ask four questions: does a 2016-to-2026 NWD land as meshes you can snap and section; do custom IDS properties export as the IFC type in the spec; does a georeferenced IFC4 file sit on the matching CRS only when you import it as an underlay; and does POINTCLOUDTOMESH give a mesh you would actually dimension from.
Do not promise Lite or Pro the Navisworks path. Do not treat a mesh drop as a federated model. Count who is still on Windows 10 before you tell the room to upgrade on launch day.
Start with Bricsys’s 20 October Windows notes, the V27 IMPORT article, and the IFC import settings.
Frequently asked questions
Is BricsCAD V27 actually shipping today?
The public Windows and Linux release notes switched from V26 to V27 and carry the date 20.10 2026. The V27 IMPORT article lists Navisworks and FBX. Help calls the Windows release V27.1. The 16:00 CET launch webinar is marketing, not the proof the bits exist.
Does a Navisworks import replace a federated coordination model?
No. Help says the file is converted to meshes in the current drawing. It lists full support for Navisworks 2016 through 2026, and partial support for 2009 through 2015. That is a geometry drop, not a live Navisworks session, and it is listed under BIM and Ultimate, not Lite or Pro.
Will an IDS import now prove the IFC data type?
It is closer than it was. The V27 notes say custom, non-IFC-namespace properties take their BricsCAD data type and IFC type from the IDS, so the export can match the spec. You still have to open the IFC and check the type. Importing IDS XML itself is older.
What breaks if we stay on Windows 10?
V27.1 will not install. Help says V26.2 is the last Windows 10 build and that older versions keep running. Linux V27 wants Ubuntu 24.04 or newer. Mac V27 is a Universal Binary for Intel and Apple Silicon.