AI-driven overlays highlight issues on construction drawings in a digital review workspace.
Munich, September 6, 2025
Nemetschek will acquire Firmus AI through its Bluebeam subsidiary to embed drawing‑first artificial intelligence into mainstream construction review and markup tools. Firmus’ AI-REVIEW™ and AI-MATCH™ read 2D PDF drawings to detect missing information, scope gaps and cross‑discipline inconsistencies, enabling automated markups, prioritized issue reporting and phase‑to‑phase comparisons. The integration aims to compress review cycles, reduce late rework, and scale repetitive checks across large drawing sets while enabling generative AI agents for preconstruction tasks. Deal terms were not disclosed; companies cite technical integration and uneven industry digital maturity as primary risks to adoption.
Munich, September 4, 2025 — The Nemetschek Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Firmus AI through its North American subsidiary, Bluebeam, Inc. The move is aimed at folding Firmus’ drawing‑first artificial intelligence into Bluebeam’s review and markup workflows to speed preconstruction review, reduce late-stage rework, and scale automated checks across large drawing sets. Nemetschek’s securities trade under ISIN DE 0006452907.
The acquisition brings Firmus’ flagship products, AI-REVIEW™ and AI-MATCH™, into Bluebeam’s global collaboration platform. Firmus’ tools analyze 2D PDF drawings to detect missing information, scope gaps, and cross-discipline inconsistencies, generate visual reports, auto-create markups and dashboards, and prioritize issues for faster remediation. These capabilities include phase-to-phase drawing comparisons, high-accuracy cross-discipline identification, and automated priority-based issue reporting designed to compress review cycles and improve document quality.
Nemetschek frames the deal as an acceleration of its AI roadmap and as complementary to an AI-first strategy that spans design-to-build workflows. Bluebeam is described as a widely used construction collaboration standard in North America that is expanding rapidly in EMEA and APAC. The combined offering is intended to produce generative AI agents and intelligent automation that reduce repetitive manual work for project teams and create immediate value across estimation, bidding, preconstruction, quality control, early procurement and operations handoff.
Nemetschek reported nearly €1.0 billion in revenue for 2024 and an EBITDA of €301.0 million that year, and said it serves more than 7 million users with about 4,000 employees. Firmus, operating as a standalone, is expected to reach annual recurring revenue in the mid-single-digit million euro range by 2026. Industry estimates put the AI-in-construction market at $2.25 billion in 2022 with projected growth to $13.2 billion by 2030 at a cited compound annual growth rate of roughly 22.5%. The press materials noted industry-wide losses from late-stage rework and positioned Firmus’ tech as a way to address that inefficiency.
Firmus’ drawing-first approach aims to surface design-related risks earlier, protect project reputation, and speed decision-making. Reported potential impacts include reducing rework and equipment downtime, scaling repetitive checks over hundreds of sheets, and enhancing Bluebeam functions such as Overlay and Compare. Nemetschek and Bluebeam expect the integration to shorten review cycles, improve project documentation, and help prevent costly construction rework.
Official financial terms were not disclosed. Industry commentary places the likely deal value in the tens of millions of dollars. Analysts and the press materials cited potential integration risks that include the need for seamless technical execution and the chance that fragmented industry adoption could slow uptake. Nemetschek’s scale, recurring revenue model and balance sheet were described as mitigating some of those risks. The move is framed as strengthening Nemetschek’s role as a one-stop digital transformation provider across planning, construction and project management.
Bluebeam leadership and Nemetschek management characterized the acquisition as putting Firmus’ drawing-first intelligence into workflows used by millions of AEC/O professionals. Firmus’ leadership said that joining the Nemetschek ecosystem places its preconstruction risk-analysis tools where large numbers of contractors, developers and designers already work.
The press materials described construction as a roughly $13 trillion industry and cited figures on AI adoption and market growth in construction. The release also repeated Firmus’ claims about reductions in rework and equipment downtime achieved with its platform. Nemetschek emphasized its continued portfolio expansion through acquisitions and investments, and noted its ISO 27001 certification achieved at the end of 2024.
Several other industry developments were included alongside the acquisition announcement: a major train factory expansion in Munich that created more than 500 jobs and doubled campus workspace; a €100+ million investment in a new quality‑control lab project in northern China; and a planned large-scale AI factory campus project in Tasmania focused on energy‑efficient modular AI facilities. These items reflect broader themes of automation, digitalization and regional industrial investment in 2025.
Nemetschek, through Bluebeam, is acquiring Firmus AI and its cloud-based drawing-first AI products, AI-REVIEW™ and AI-MATCH™.
The tools will be integrated into Bluebeam review and markup workflows to identify missing information, scope gaps and coordination issues from 2D PDF drawings and to automate markups, dashboards and prioritized issue reporting.
Nemetschek did not disclose purchase price. Market commentary places the deal in the tens of millions of dollars. Firmus is forecast to reach mid-single-digit million euro ARR by 2026 on a stand-alone basis.
Expected benefits include compressed review cycles, improved document quality, earlier detection of design risks, fewer stop-work events late in projects, and reduced rework and downtime as reported by the suppliers.
Key risks cited include the technical challenge of seamless integration and market adoption challenges in a historically fragmented industry, which could affect the speed of uptake.
The companies stated an intention to integrate Firmus capabilities into Bluebeam workflows and to develop generative AI agents, but no firm public timeline for full integration was provided.
| Feature | Description | Expected Impact |
|---|---|---|
| AI-REVIEW™ | Automated analysis of 2D PDF drawings to find missing information and scope gaps | Faster identification of design issues during preconstruction |
| AI-MATCH™ | Phase-to-phase drawing set comparisons and cross-discipline matching | Improved coordination and fewer conflicts between trades |
| Priority-based reporting | Issues are ranked so teams focus on the most critical risks first | Reduced time spent on low-value checks, faster remediation |
| Automated markups & dashboards | Auto-generated visual reports and tracking tools | Clearer communication and centralized issue tracking |
| Scalability | Repetitive checks run across hundreds of sheets | Consistent quality control across large projects |
| Integration with Bluebeam | Embedding Firmus AI into established review and markup workflows | Immediate access for existing users and accelerated time-to-value |
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