Guangdong’s BIM drawing review, and a model that has to match the PDF
From 1 November, eligible Guangdong public buildings must file a BIM model with the construction drawings. What BIM leads should lock first.
Yesterday’s leftover desktop ship was Allplan 2027. The unused standard that actually starts today is Guangdong’s BIM-assisted construction-drawing review. The provincial housing department listed the notice in mid-October. Southern+ confirmed the 1 November start with the same department.
That is not a new CDE. Firms already issue a PDF set, then argue about which Revit or IFC the reviewer should have opened. Guangdong’s useful claim is narrower: the drawing and the model have to arrive together, and the owner has to say they match.
What the notice actually requires
The 14 October notice applies to projects approved, licensed or registered from 1 November 2026. The building has to sit under Article 30 of the Guangdong Green Building Ordinance: a new state-office building, or another public building with state funds, with a single building of 20,000 square metres or more. Classified work is out. Prefabricated, modular and other building or municipal jobs are encouraged. Cities may widen the list.
Filing is through the provincial design-file system. Design teams model against the data guide and the delivery guide, then run the “BIM lightweight plugin” on the review page before they submit. The construction drawings and the self-checked model go in together. The owner confirms they match. A design change that needs re-review takes both files again.
Reviewers work from the review guide. Drawings stay the first object. Discipline models are an aid. Institutions may combine a machine pass with a human pass, then decide which machine comments to keep. Designers fix the drawing and the model together.
Do not read that as a certificate. The review guide’s smart-check tables name specific fire, access, energy and building-type clauses. Everything outside those tables is still a person.
What a BIM lead should actually send
The delivery table wants a source model and an exchange file. Native names include Revit, MicroStation and Archicad. The exchange file is GDB or IFC. GDB is a SQLite-based minimum dataset aimed at the review clauses, not a federated coordination model. Building IFC has to be IFC4 or later and must also meet GB/T 51447 and ISO 16739-1:2024. Municipal and infrastructure IFC has to be IFC 4.3 or later. Pack it as .ifcZIP. Split a building file over 200 MB, and keep the same origin across the pieces.
The data guide is specific about location. Store the project base point as IfcProjectedCRS and IfcMapConversion. The named system is CGCS2000, Gauss–Krüger 3° zones, and the 1985 national height datum. A WGS84 site mesh that looks fine in the viewer will still fail if those entities are empty.
This is not ISO 19650. The provincial portal is a review intake. Keep the issued package named, dated and approved in the CDE you already run. Some cities already shrank or dropped drawing review. The notice tells those cities to keep guiding BIM use. It does not say the model can replace an issued drawing.
What a BIM lead should do
If the office has a Guangdong public job that will be approved from today, do not wait for the first reject. Pick a non-sensitive building over 20,000 square metres and run four checks: does the lightweight plugin pass on the file you actually intend to submit; do the PDF sheets and the model still match after a late drawing change; does the IFC4 or IFC 4.3 export carry IfcProjectedCRS and IfcMapConversion in the named Guangdong CRS; and do the smart-check clauses the reviewer can auto-flag already have the parameters those appendices ask for.
Do not send a coordination IFC and hope the plugin maps it. Do not treat a contractor case study as the acceptance test. Confirm the project is in scope before you rewrite the BEP.
Start with the provincial notice and the three September guides attached to it.
Frequently asked questions
Does every Guangdong project now need a BIM model at drawing review?
No. The notice covers projects approved, licensed or registered from 1 November 2026 that sit under Article 30 of the Guangdong Green Building Ordinance: new state-office buildings and other public buildings with state funds, where a single building is 20,000 square metres or more. Classified projects are excluded. Prefabricated, modular and other building or municipal jobs are encouraged, and cities may expand the list.
Is the model the approved construction document?
No. The review guide tells examiners to treat the construction drawings as the first object and the discipline models as an aid. The notice still requires both. If the drawing changes, the model has to change with it. Do not treat a passed plugin check as an issued IFC.
What file actually has to land in the provincial system?
A source model and an exchange file. The delivery table names Revit, MicroStation, Archicad and other native formats, plus GDB or IFC. Building IFC must be IFC4 or later. Municipal and infrastructure IFC must be IFC 4.3 or later, packed as .ifcZIP. GDB is a SQLite-based minimum dataset for the review clauses, not a full coordination model.
Does the smart check replace a human reviewer?
No. The notice says institutions may combine intelligent assistance with a human review, then decide which machine comments to keep. The review guide lists named fire, access, energy and building-type clauses that the system can flag. Everything outside those tables is still a person. Some cities already shrank or dropped drawing review; the notice tells those cities to keep guiding BIM use, not to skip the model.