.aeco Complete Building Record
.aeco is a versioned container format for a complete building record, bringing published project data together into a cryptographically signed, fully auditable, and extensible record.
A Complete Building Record
.aeco is designed to carry the model, structured parameters, material data, cost intelligence, programme context, operational data, documents, and audit evidence behind a building record.
A Queryable Building Record
Instead of flattening project information into static files, .aeco packages a database-backed record so teams can inspect, filter, query, and validate project data offline.
Cryptographic Evidence by Design
The specification is built around tamper-evident audit trails, integrity anchors, digital signatures, and encrypted project records for high-trust handover.
Golden Thread Ready
.aeco is being developed around the information management demands of the Building Safety Act, with versioned, accessible, secure, and traceable project evidence.
What It Is
A building record that behaves like data, not a document dump.
IFC, COBie, and BCF each solve important parts of the digital construction workflow. .aeco is not intended to replace them. It is the higher-level project record that can hold model geometry, asset handover information, coordination context, compliance evidence, and the Golden Thread around those decisions in one secure package.
Inside a .aeco file
Designed for trust, handover, and long-term accountability.
The target .aeco security model is built for records that may need to be trusted years after practical completion. The container is designed to make project information accessible while preserving evidence of who authored it, what changed, and whether the record has been altered.
Write protection for issued project records
Tamper-evident hashes and integrity anchors
Digital signatures for authorship and provenance
Encryption for sensitive project and asset information
Technical Differences
Built beside openBIM formats, with a wider project memory.
The established formats remain essential. .aeco extends the exchange conversation from model files and handover sheets into a database-backed project record with compliance evidence and offline interrogation.
| System | Best For | Geometry | Asset Handover | Issues | Audit Evidence | Offline SQL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFC | OpenBIM model exchange | Yes | Partial | No | No | No |
| COBie | Structured asset handover | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| BCF | Model-based issues and coordination topics | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| .aeco | Full project intelligence and Golden Thread evidence | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Positioning
A format first, a specification next, and a foundation for a wider ecosystem.
The clearest way to describe .aeco today is as a complete building record with an emerging technical specification. As the specification, validator, and implementation guidance mature, the goal is to make .aeco something the wider AECO market can understand, test, and build around.
Legal-Grade Record
The model can become something a contract can point to.
.aeco is designed to support the model as a signed, versioned, tamper-evident project record. It does not replace the contract, but it gives the contract a clear digital object to reference: an authoritative model state with approvals, authorship, timestamps, supporting documents, and integrity evidence preserved alongside the geometry and data.