Sooner or later, someone on the project asks for your clashes "in BCF." Usually it's a consultant team that runs BIMcollab or Solibri, or a main contractor whose CDE has an issue board. What they're really asking for is simple: give us the clashes as issues our own software understands, with viewpoints, so we don't have to rebuild your list by hand.
Navisworks doesn't export BCF natively. Here's how to do it with ClashWise, end to end, starting from a clash test in Clash Detective.
What BCF actually is (30 seconds)
BCF — BIM Collaboration Format — is the open standard for exchanging issues about a model without exchanging the model itself. A BCF 2.1 file (a .bcfzip) contains one topic per issue. In a ClashWise export, each clash in scope becomes one topic carrying:
- the topic itself with the clash details,
- its comments,
- a snapshot image, and
- a 3D viewpoint, so a compatible tool can restore the camera position for that clash in the recipient's own environment.
That viewpoint is why BCF beats emailing a spreadsheet: the recipient clicks the topic and their software takes them to the clash.
Step 1 — Publish the clash set from Navisworks
BCF export runs on published clash sets, so the starting point is the ClashWise plugin inside Navisworks Manage (2024–2027 supported).
Run your clash test in Clash Detective as usual — detection stays in Navisworks, where it belongs. Then publish the test from the ClashWise tab. Publishing gives every clash a stable number (#1, #47, #312…) and, if you use the AI naming, a descriptive title — which matters here, because those titles and numbers are exactly what your recipients will see as topic names in their tool.
A list of topics called "Clash847" helps nobody. "Cable tray vs structural beam — Level 03" routes itself. If you haven't set up the plugin yet, download it here.
Step 2 — Open the clash set on the web
Sign in to ClashWise in the browser and open the published set. Everything you can see in the grid — filters, groups, statuses, priorities, assignments — is available to shape what goes into the export.
This is worth a moment of prep: if the facade consultant should only receive facade clashes, filter to them first. A scoped BCF file gets worked; a 4,000-topic dump gets ignored.
Step 3 — Choose the export scope
Open the export dialog and pick BCF. You get three scope options, each with a live count so you know exactly what you're about to send:
- All clashes in the set — the full record.
- Matching current filter — whatever your active filter shows; the usual choice for per-consultant handoffs.
- Selected clashes — a hand-picked list, for "just these five from today's meeting."
These are the same scope options the Excel and CSV exports use, so the behaviour is consistent across formats.
Step 4 — Export and download
Small exports download immediately as a .bcfzip.
Large exports run in the background — you don't have to keep the dialog open. The job lands in the export tray on the toolbar; download the file once it shows Ready. Delivery is by browser download only (there's no email delivery), so hand the file over however your project moves files: the CDE, a transmittal, or plain email.
Start a free 14-day trial if you want to run these steps on your own clash test as you read — BCF export is included in the trial.
Step 5 — Import into the target tool
On the receiving end, the .bcfzip imports like any BCF 2.1 file:
- BIMcollab: import into the project; topics arrive with snapshots and viewpoints attached.
- Solibri: open through the BCF interface; selecting a topic restores the saved camera position against the recipient's model.
- CDE issue boards (and anything else BCF 2.1-capable): topics arrive as issues with their comments and images intact.
Because BCF is an open standard, you're not betting on any particular tool on the other end — including ours. That's the point: no lock-in.
Availability and a few practical notes
- BCF export is part of Clash Management (the Pro and Business plans) and included in the 14-day free trial.
- Any signed-in user who can open the clash set can export it — it even works when your organization is in read-only mode, so a lapsed subscription never holds your coordination data hostage.
- Re-running the clash test in Navisworks doesn't break anything downstream: published clashes keep their identities, so a follow-up export stays consistent with the last one.
- Export scope follows your filter at the moment of export. Double-check the live count before you send — it's the difference between a tidy handoff and an apology email.
Common questions
Why BCF 2.1 and not 3.0? Reach. BCF 2.1 is the version the widest set of tools reads reliably today — BIMcollab, Solibri, and the major CDE issue boards all accept it. An export format is only as good as the software on the receiving end, so 2.1 is the pragmatic choice.
What should I send per consultant — one big file or filtered ones? Filtered. A consultant who receives exactly their clashes, named descriptively and numbered, can start working immediately. Scope-per-recipient is the whole reason the "Matching current filter" option exists.
What happens when clashes change after I've exported? The export is a snapshot of the set at that moment. When statuses move on or a re-run adds new clashes, filter and export again — stable clash numbers mean the new file lines up with the old one, so recipients can tell what's new versus what they've already seen.
Do I need to keep Navisworks open? No. Once the set is published, exporting happens entirely in the browser. The plugin is only involved when you publish or update the set.
The short version
Publish from the plugin → open the set on the web → filter to what the recipient needs → export BCF 2.1 with the scope that matches → grab it from the export tray → import on their side, viewpoints included. The full feature rundown lives on the BCF export page.
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