BCapp

How It Started

After five years in architecture and BIM management at Architectus / BIM Consulting, I was overwhelmed by the chaos of design coordination. Across AEC projects, hundreds of issues surfaced—yet teams relied on emails, spreadsheets, and static registers to track them. Context was lost, versions clashed, and reporting was painful.

I envisioned a better way: a browser-based platform where issues could be tracked visually and collaboratively, like posts on Instagram. I worked with a developer to create a simple prototype that automated issue creation and enabled real-time commenting. It quickly transformed our internal workflows.

Recognising its potential, I pitched BCapp to Architectus, who integrated it into their project management and coordination processes and supported its development with $150k in funding. Today, BCapp continues to evolve through an industry partnership, helping reshape collaboration across the AEC sector.

Role

Project Founder, Product Lead

My Contributions:

• Problem Identification: Recognised the inefficiency of manual issue tracking in AEC design coordination, driven by my five years in architecture and BIM management.

• Initial Development: Founded BCapp by engaging a developer to create the first prototype, automating issue creation for BIM Consulting projects.

• Executive Pitch: Secured $150k from Architectus by pitching BCapp’s success and potential for company-wide use.

• Team Leadership: Formed a dedicated team, including full-time software engineer Luke Robertson and UX/UI designer Jackson Cheng, with Phil Quiza leading development.

• User Engagement: Established working groups with end users and project leaders, conducting regular stakeholder management meetings to refine features based on feedback.

• Strategic Vision: Positioned BCapp as a visual, AEC-specific project management tool, with a roadmap for commercialisation as a B2B SaaS product.

• Go-to-Market: Drove adoption across 30+ projects, secured Atlas Industries as the first paid customer, and led a social media campaign for broader traction.

What It Is

BCapp (www.bcapp.com.au) is a browser-based, visual project management platform purpose-built for AEC design teams. Developed by architects and BIM professionals, it transforms issue tracking into a collaborative, social-media-like experience—centralising communication, task management, and reporting for over 340 users (280 external, 60 internal) across 30+ active projects (as of 2018).

Tailored to the AEC industry’s visual workflows, BCapp eliminates the inefficiencies of fragmented tools like emails, spreadsheets, and static registers in a $356B sector that thrives on precision and clarity.

Key Features:

• Visual Issue Management: Import clash detection results and manage them as visual posts with comments, likes/dislikes, and tagging.

• Rapid-Fire Issue Creation: Instantly capture and assign issues with minimal clicks—streamlining coordination in fast-paced environments.

• Centralised Communication: Keep all task updates in one place to ensure traceability and eliminate lost context.

• Data Analytics Dashboard: Monitor project progress and issue trends through real-time reporting tools.

• Real-Time Collaboration: Support for multiplayer interactions across disciplines—architects, engineers, and consultants.

• Notification System: In-app alerts keep teams aligned and reduce reliance on external tools, directly addressing user feedback.

Vision & Strategy

Starting in 2017, BCapp achieved early success with 340+ users and 30+ projects, with these metrics capturing its impact at that time as we pursue broader goals. It was born to fix fragmented project management in the $356B AEC industry, where disconnected tools cause lost communication and manual reporting. Starting with BIM coordination at BIM Consulting, it’s now used across 30+ Architectus projects, with new projects added consistently. Feedback highlighted the need for better notifications, which our new team—full-time software engineer Luke Robertson and UX/UI designer Jackson Cheng—is addressing in Stage 3 development, backed by a $150k budget.

Our vision is to make BCapp the go-to visual project management tool for AEC design, starting with Architectus and expanding to external firms like Atlas Industries. We’re building a B2B SaaS product that scales from small teams to major projects, offering visualisation-focused collaboration and analytics for architects, engineers, contractors, and clients. Regular stakeholder meetings and working groups ensure user-driven features, like notification systems, eliminate workflow duplication. The long-term goal is commercialisation across Australia, with plans to explore government grants and incubator programs for growth.

Lessons Learned

Building BCapp highlighted the impact of user-centric design and centralised communication in the AEC industry. Early feedback from Architectus confirmed that visual, real-time collaboration could significantly improve workflows—but it also underscored the need for seamless notifications to maintain engagement. Regular stakeholder meetings and working groups reinforced the importance of aligning features with the practical realities of AEC projects. These insights directly shaped our Stage 3 focus on enhancing notifications and ensuring scalability.

BCapp’s success laid the groundwork for Circlo, a new platform addressing another critical AEC challenge: fragmented drawing reviews. While BCapp centralises issue management, Circlo streamlines drawing approvals—built on the same principles of simplicity, visual clarity, and user feedback. The iterative development and user testing behind BCapp directly informed Circlo’s freemium model and its focus on serving small to medium-sized businesses, paving the way for broader industry impact.