Utility network design and asset management within a residential area shown in OpenUtilities Designer.

OpenUtilities Designer

Utilities network design software for electric distribution 

BENEFITS

Utility Network Design and Modeling

Design electric, gas, water, and wastewater networks in an integrated CAD and GIS environment.
Highway road tunnel design cross-section in OpenTunnel Designer, illustrating a concrete-lined horseshoe tunnel shape with a two-lane asphalt roadway.

  • Faster, more accurate utility design

    Combines engineering CAD with an embedded utilities GIS so designers can work with existing network and spatial data in one environment. 

  • Better cost and constructability control

    Assigns compatible units, generates bills of materials, and construction-ready outputs during design so you can compare options and manage costs earlier. 

  • Streamlined end-to-end workflows

    Integrates with enterprise GIS, work management, and asset management systems, enabling utilities to move smoothly from work request to construction.

PRICING OPTIONS

Exclusive pricing options

OpenUtilities Designer

Intelligently design and manage your electric, gas, water, wastewater, or district energy networks using current engineering codes and standards.

  • Apply industry-proven data models to lower deployment costs for multiple types of utility networks
  • Accelerate layouts and achieve precise designs using intelligent MicroStation-based tools
  • Receive real-time cost feedback to compare alternatives and refine your designs on the fly
  • Avoid project delays by connecting to your Work Management System with the configurable workflow engine

More details

Core platform & architecture 

  • Built on the MicroStation CAD engine, delivering engineering-grade drafting, editing, and visualization beyond lightweight GIS-only tools 
  • Full CAD productivity features, including reuse of MicroStation workspaces and standards, raster management, AccuSnap/AccuDraw, and precision placement tools 
  • Enterprise-ready desktop deployment, supporting physical or virtual workstations and integration with application servers, databases, and job schedulers

Utility network design capabilities 

  • Supports multi-utility network design including electric distribution, gas distribution, waste and wastewater, and district energy. 
  • Enables overhead and underground network modeling 
  • Provides design validation and business-rule enforcement

GIS & spatial capabilities 

  • Includes embedded GIS functionality rather than relying solely on external GIS tools 
  • Works with enterprise spatial databases including Oracle Spatial, SQL Server Spatial, and PostGIS, supporting multi-user editing and transactional workflows 
  • Supports GIS interoperability, including ArcGIS services, WFS services, file geodatabases, and integration via Safe Software’s FME

Cost estimation & compatible units (CUS)

  • Provides dynamic, real-time cost estimation embedded directly in the design workflow 
  • Automatic Compatible Unit (CU) assignment 
  • Centralized CU and material catalog management

Workflow & work management 

  • Features an embedded, configurable workflow engine 
  • Provides out-of-the-box integration with enterprise work management systems such as SAP and Maximo 
  • Supports posting design outputs (CUs, costs, schedules) back to work management systems for downstream execution

Construction & deliverables 

  • Generates construction-quality prints directly from the design environment, eliminating the need for redraws in separate CAD tools 
  • Supports configurable plotting templates, paper sizes, legends, grids, and publishing to intelligent PDF and other output formats 
  • Produces Excel and PDF reports, including quantities, costs, and BOMs

Interoperability & integrations 

  • Integrates with document management systems, notably ProjectWise 
  • Supports structural analysis integrations, including SPIDAcalc, with optional online analysis services 
  • Designed to fit into broader GIS, ERP, and asset management ecosystems, with configurable integration patterns

Digital twin enablement 

  • iTwin-enabled digital twin creation, aligning design data with reality models and other engineering data 
  • Support for design and operational digital twins, using engineering data as the foundation 
  • Change tracking and visualization over time, enabling visibility into engineering updates within digital twin workflows

Processor:

  • 2.0 GHz x64 processor 

Operating System:

  • 64-bit Windows 10,8,8.1m 7 SP1, or 12 

Memory:

  • 1 GB of RAM 

Disk Space:

  • 1.2 GB free hard disk space for installation 

Recommended:

  • 2 GB RAM for better performance results 

FAQS

Find answers

OpenUtilities Designer is most useful while working on a “GIS-integrated utility network design workflow”. When designers need to bring the existing network information into design environment, create the design alternatives utilizing the materials and labor costs and generate the company standard construction outputs automatically. OpenUtilities Designer can work as standalone tool or can be fully integrated with multiple enterprise systems like GIS or Work Management Systems. 

No, although most common usage is on electric distribution networks, OpenUtilities Designer comes with out of the box data model and tools for electric, gas, water and wastewater.

No, OpenUtilities Designer can work as a standalone tool. All the integrations are optional.

Yes, OpenUtilities Designer provides very powerful Map Interoperability capabilities. You can integrate with your enterprise GIS system either via web services like WMS or WFS, or you can build direct connections to ArcGIS, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or PostGIS. These out of the box capabilities allow users to bring the enterprise GIS data into OpenUtilities Designer graphical environment and to send the edited data back to source without compromising any data integrity or standardization. 

OpenUtilities Designer embeds GIS directly into the utility design workflow, enabling engineers to design with live spatial context instead of working in separate GIS and CAD systems. It connects to enterprise GIS and spatial databases to use authoritative landbase and network data, supports standard GIS services and formats, and allows spatial analysis and network tracing during design which helps utilities keep GIS data, designs, and construction outputs aligned.  

OpenUtilities Designer (OUD) provides a Compatible Units (Assembly Units) catalog for all the materials and labor costs. During the design process, while designers generate the design, OUD automatically populates the Bill of Materials (BOM) based on the configurable business rules. The catalog can be updated manually by the administrators or automatically by integrating with external financial systems.

Utilities network design software refers to tools that help utilities plan, design, model, and manage infrastructure networks such as electric, gas, water, wastewater, and district energy systems. These platforms typically combine engineering-grade CAD capabilities with GIS to let teams design network assets, use existing spatial and asset data, perform analysis such as network tracing, generate construction-ready outputs, and integrate with enterprise systems like GIS, work management, and asset management platforms.

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