abstract FAQ

abstract ag is a Swiss-based AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) technology company headquartered in Basel. We develop cloud-based data governance, pipeline, and automation tools designed to bridge the structural gaps between architects, engineers, and real estate owners.

Our mission is to automate information validation, eliminate data loss at project handoffs, and make built-world data entirely reliable from the first requirement to the final asset lifecycle decision.

Our main office is located in Basel, Switzerland, placing us at the geographic and cultural heart of European design and engineering innovation.

While we primarily serve clients across the DACH region (Switzerland, Germany, Austria), our cloud architecture natively supports international IFC data exchange standards. This makes our product family highly effective for cross-border teams and global enterprise construction portfolios.

Rather than hardcoding rigid, localized rules that break whenever regulations shift, abstract leverages an open-source framework built on semantic web technologies, ontologies, and custom taxonomies.

Through the Pragmatic BIM Data Contract, our platform allows you to map building information to any regulatory or internal enterprise framework seamlessly.

Whether your project demands strict compliance with Swiss standards like SIA 2051 and SIA 416, localized German DIN/VDI guidelines, or your own proprietary corporate asset schemas, our system translates and validates the incoming data dynamically. You define the data contract; abstract automates the validation.

Traditional BIM coordination tools focus heavily on 3D geometry manipulation and spatial clash detection. abstract shifts the paradigm entirely to data integrity, semantic governance, and workflow automation.

We operate as a cloud-based data pipeline that processes your models through the lens of pure data science. Crucially, abstract treats geometry as data as well, converting shapes, spatial relationships, and bounding volumes into structured, queryable information.

By decoupling information from proprietary design authoring applications, we ensure that both geometric properties and alphanumeric parameters are instantly clean, structured, and ready to feed downstream enterprise workflows (such as ERP, CAFM, or custom APIs).

No. While our platform is powerful enough to govern multi-billion-dollar institutional real estate developments, public infrastructure projects, and asset portfolios, our ecosystem scales natively.

Independent BIM consultants, mid-sized architecture practices, engineering firms, and large-scale property owners alike use abstract tools. Each product in the pipeline offers flexible onboarding structures tailored to the scale of your project or organization.

They are designed as a continuous pipeline (Define → Produce → Review → Act), but they are entirely modular. Each product functions perfectly on its own.

Most organizations start by solving their single biggest data pain point first, such as data requirements setup or automated IFC cleaning, and naturally connect the other modules as their digital BIM workflows mature.

The easiest way to experience the platform is to sign up for a free account on abstractBIM to test and audit your first IFC models.

Alternatively, if you want to establish clear data guidelines before modeling even begins, you can request a dedicated demo for pragmaticBIM or {yourcompany}os.

No long-term commitment or complex installation is required to start optimizing your pipeline.