Scan to BIM / Aviation & As-Built / Outsourced Production
Scan to BIM for airports and large buildings
We turned 12 terabytes of laser scan into one as-built model on a concourse at Dubai International Airport. Here is how the work actually runs.
A laser scanner records a building as millions of measured points. That file is not a model. Turning it into a model you can build from, schedule from and hand over is the job – and on a big building it is mostly not modelling work.
We do scan to BIM for consultants and contractors who need production capacity. This is how we run it, using an aviation project as the example.
The job we learned this on
A concourse at Dubai International Airport. The interior fit-out was worth AED 58 million and covered three levels. The as-built model had to satisfy the airport authority, because their operations team runs the building from that data afterwards.
The scan was 12 terabytes. That number changes how the work is done.
Large scan to BIM jobs need a different method
A 200 GB scan of one floor and a 12 TB scan of a concourse are not the same job made bigger. Four things stop working:
- Sending the data. Moving terabytes between a surveyor, a client and a modelling team is planned in advance, not uploaded on a Friday afternoon.
- Opening the data. Nothing that size opens in one piece. We split it into zones a modeller can work in, and lock every zone to the same survey point so the pieces still line up.
- The computers. Machine specification stops being an office detail and starts deciding how fast the job goes.
- Checking the work. Nobody eyeballs a whole concourse against a whole scan. We check by sampling against a set tolerance.
If a scan-to-BIM quote says nothing about how the data gets split up, it has priced the modelling and ignored the job.
The problem nobody mentions: two versions of the truth
| Source | Right about | Wrong about |
|---|---|---|
| The laser scan | Where things physically are | What is hidden, what was specified, why something moved |
| Site mark-ups from the trades | What was installed, what changed, product details | Exact dimensions, consistency between trades, gaps |
Ask any scan-to-BIM company this
“When the scan and the mark-ups disagree, which one wins, and how do you record it?” A clear answer tells you more than a portfolio does.
How we run the work
- You send us the scan and the drawings. We check what is usable and tell you what is missing before we quote.
- We agree the detail level and the rules. What LOD, which trades, and which source wins in a conflict.
- We split the scan into zones and lock them all to one survey point.
- We model. Revit for the building. Civil 3D for paving and ground surfaces. Rhino and Illustrator for signage where the lettering standard needs it.
- We check our own work. Clash checks and a compliance check before anything reaches you. You should not be the quality gate for work you paid us to check.
- We deliver. Model, drawings, clash report, and the item data your client needs.
Where outsourced scan to BIM jobs usually fail
Two failures, both avoidable.
The scope gets split by software. One firm does Revit, another does Civil 3D, a freelancer does the signage. Each part is fine on its own. Nobody owns the joins, and the clashes turn up at coordination — the most expensive place to find them. We keep the whole scope under one roof and join every part into one model.
The awkward parts get faked in Revit. Signage with a fixed lettering standard, external paving, AV infrastructure. If your modelling team only runs Revit, these get approximated. Approximated work comes back from the reviewer.
What we cover
We are deliberately narrow. Four specialisms, not a general modelling shop:
- Interior BIM – ceilings, walls, finishes, joinery at fabrication detail
- Landscape BIM – hard and soft landscape, external works
- AV BIM – audio-visual infrastructure and coordination
- Civil 3D – paving, road markings, levels and ground surfaces
Those four are where outsourced scopes usually go wrong, which is why we built around them. Our UAE project team also delivers full packages under a government authority’s requirements, so a job can run as pure modelling capacity or as complete delivery.
What it costs
We price scan to BIM on three things: the size of the scan, the level of detail, and how many trades are in the scope. A rate per square metre on its own cannot price a large as-built job honestly, because the data handling and the conflict checking are real work.
Send us the scan size, the package list and the deadline. We will tell you how we would run it and what it costs. If the scan is not good enough to model from, we will say so before you spend anything.
Common Questions
What is scan to BIM?
A laser scanner records a building as millions of measured points, called a point cloud. Scan to BIM is the work of turning that into a proper 3D model with walls, ducts, ceilings and equipment you can measure, schedule and build from.
How big can the scan data be?
We worked with 12 terabytes on a Dubai International Airport concourse. At that size the data will not open in one go, so we split it into zones, keep every zone locked to the same survey point, and model zone by zone.
What if the scan and the site mark-ups disagree?
They always do. The scan is right about where things are. The mark-ups are right about what was installed and why it moved. We agree which one wins for each type of item before modelling starts, and record where they differed.
What do you deliver?
A Revit model at the agreed detail level, drawings from it, a clash report, and the item data the building owner needs. Navisworks or IFC as well if your client asks.
How do you price it?
On scan size, detail level and number of trades. A square-metre rate alone cannot price a large as-built job properly.
Do you only do airports?
No. Aviation work is the hardest version of scan to BIM, which is why we lead with it. We do the same on malls, hotels, hospitals, towers and infrastructure.
Have a scan to convert?
Send us the scan size, the trades in scope and your deadline. We will come back with how we would run it, what it costs, and anything in the data that will cause you trouble.