Watch the video above to see automated document structuring in action.
The written guide below captures the key concepts and steps so you can refer back to them anytime.
Structuring BIM Documents Automatically with Sections, Categories, and Hierarchy
If you’ve ever fought with heading styles in Word or spent twenty minutes fixing a table of contents that broke itself, you already know the problem. Traditional word processors weren’t designed for the kind of structured, reusable documentation that BIM and ISO 19650 workflows demand. The result is messy documents that are difficult to navigate, painful to update, and almost impossible to reuse across projects.
Plannerly takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of one long document with manually managed headings, every document is broken into bite-sized sections – self-contained containers for your content. These sections can be grouped into categories, indented to create a logical hierarchy, and automatically numbered based on their position in the tree. You never have to think about numbering or heading levels – the structure handles it for you.
This matters most when you’re working with documents like exchange information requirements (EIR), BIM execution plans (BEP), or project standards – documents that need to be well-organised, easy to navigate, and reusable from one project to the next. With sections and categories, you can move complete content hierarchies between documents by dragging and dropping. A requirement structure you built for one project can be reused in another without starting from scratch.
Navigation is just as important as structure. Plannerly gives you expand and collapse controls at the top of every document. You can collapse everything down to the highest level to see the overall shape, expand just the category folders to scan section titles, or open everything to read the full content. It makes it easy to orient yourself in large documents and jump to the part you need.
Every section also keeps its own version history automatically. You can see who changed what and when, and restore earlier versions if needed. This is the kind of built-in accountability that teams working under ISO 19650 need – without the overhead of tracking changes in a word processor.
The goal is documents that practically organise themselves. No broken tables of contents, no manual numbering, no reformatting when you move a section. Just clean, structured content that your whole team can work with confidently.
How to structure documents using sections and categories in Plannerly
- Create sections – add a section or category to your document. Each section is a container for a piece of content – think of it as a building block rather than a paragraph.
- Group sections into categories – drag sections into categories to organise related content together. Categories act as folders that give your document its top-level structure.
- Indent to create hierarchy – drag a section to the right and the tree structure shows you exactly where it will land. Indentation creates parent-child relationships between sections.
- Let auto-numbering do the work – as you build and rearrange the hierarchy, Plannerly numbers every section automatically based on its position. Move a section and the numbers update instantly.
- Move sections between categories – drag sections from one category to another within the same document to reorganise as your content evolves.
- Drag content between documents – move individual sections or entire category hierarchies from one document into another by dragging them across. The content, structure, and numbering all come with it.
- Use expand and collapse controls – click the controls at the top right of the document to collapse to the highest level, expand folders to see section titles, or expand everything to see the full content.
- Review version history – open any section’s version history to see who made changes, when they were made, and restore a previous version if needed.
What you’ll learn
- Section-based document structure – how breaking documents into bite-sized sections makes content easier to organise, find, and maintain
- Categories and hierarchy – how grouping and indenting sections creates a logical tree structure with automatic numbering
- Cross-document reuse – how to drag sections and complete hierarchies from one document into another to avoid rebuilding content
- Expand and collapse navigation – how to quickly scan or deep-dive into large documents using the built-in view controls
- Automatic version history – how every section tracks its own changes and contributors without any extra setup
Common questions
How is this different from using headings in Word?
In a traditional word processor, headings are just formatted text – you have to manually manage numbering, tables of contents, and structure. In Plannerly, sections are actual containers with built-in hierarchy, auto-numbering, and version history. The structure is real, not cosmetic, which means it doesn’t break when you move things around.
Can I reuse document sections across different projects?
Yes. You can drag individual sections or entire category hierarchies from one document into another. This is especially useful for standard content like BIM execution plan templates or recurring project requirements. You can also import documents from templates to reuse complete structures across projects.
Does the numbering update automatically when I move sections?
Yes. Numbering is driven entirely by position in the hierarchy. When you drag a section to a new location or indent it to a different level, the numbering across the whole document updates instantly. You never need to renumber anything manually.
Is this suitable for ISO 19650 documents like EIR and BEP?
Absolutely – it’s designed for exactly that. Structured sections with categories, hierarchy, and version history give you the organisation and traceability that ISO 19650 documentation requires. Teams use this to manage exchange information requirements, BIM execution plans, project standards, and other deliverables that need to be well-structured and auditable.
Can I search inside document sections?
Yes. Plannerly lets you search for text inside docs sections, so even in large documents with many sections and categories you can quickly find the content you’re looking for.
Explore further
- Simple and fast editing of docs sections – the companion lesson on editing content within your structured sections
- How to create professional project documents like EIR, PIR, BEP – a step-by-step lesson on building key ISO 19650 documents
- Document management – building a structured foundation – the advanced course lesson on taking document workflows further
- BIM Boot Camp – an intensive programme covering end-to-end BIM and ISO 19650 workflows