Point Cloud to BIM Services Australia

Scan to BIM converts a laser-scanned point cloud of an existing building into an intelligent Revit model. It matters most where the drawings are missing, wrong, or forty years out of date — which describes most buildings due for refurbishment.

ASTCAD delivers point cloud to BIM conversion for Australian surveyors, architects, engineers and facility owners, working from your scan data or coordinating capture through our 3D scanning and measurement services.

Where Scan to BIM Earns Its Cost

• Refurbishment and adaptive reuse — designing into an accurate as-built model instead of discovering the real geometry during demolition.
• Education, health and institutional facilities — large multi-storey buildings where staged works must proceed around occupants and services cannot be guessed at.
• Heritage documentation — a permanent, dimensionally accurate record of a structure that cannot be reconstructed from drawings.
• Facility and asset management — a model that carries data, not just geometry, so maintenance and space planning work from one source.
• Services coordination in existing buildings — new mechanical, electrical and hydraulic runs coordinated against what is actually there.

Specify LOD and Accuracy Before Anyone Scans

These two numbers decide the cost and the usefulness of the result, and they are the two most often left undefined.

• LOD 200 — generic elements at approximate size and position. Enough for early feasibility and massing.
• LOD 300 — specific elements at accurate size, shape and location. The usual basis for design documentation on a refurbishment.
• LOD 350 — adds the interfaces between systems and their supports. Necessary where new services must be coordinated against existing ones.

Model tolerance is separate from scanner accuracy. A scanner quoting 2 mm does not produce a 2 mm model — modelling tolerance is a decision, commonly 10 mm for architectural and structural elements on a building of any size. Agree it in writing, because it governs how much of the point cloud’s detail is carried into the model and how much is idealised.

How the Work Runs

1. Data review — we check registration quality, coverage and coordinate system before modelling begins. Gaps found now are cheap; gaps found at LOD 300 are not.
2. Registration and set-up — the cloud is brought into a shared coordinate system so the model aligns with survey control and any existing project data.
3. Discipline modelling — architecture and structure first, then services where in scope, modelled to the agreed LOD and tolerance.
4. Verification against the cloud — the model is checked back against the point cloud, not just visually reviewed, so deviation is measured rather than assumed.
5. Issue — native Revit plus IFC, with the point cloud retained so anyone downstream can audit any element against the source data.

Input and Output Formats

We accept E57, RCP and RCS, PTS, PTX, LAS and the common scanner-native exports. Deliverables are issued as native Revit (RVT), IFC for open exchange, DWG where consultants are working in CAD, and PDF drawing sets extracted from the model. IFC is worth naming in your consultant agreement whenever more than one modelling platform is in play — it is the vendor-neutral exchange format maintained by buildingSMART International.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you work from scan data we captured ourselves?

Yes, and it is often the most economical route for surveyors who own the hardware but not the modelling workflow. We review the registration and coverage first and tell you what is usable before quoting the modelling.

How many scan positions does a building need?

It depends on line of sight, not floor area. Open spaces need few; corridors, stairs, plant rooms and partitioned floors need many. A large multi-storey building commonly runs to several hundred setups. Under-scanning shows up as gaps that must be modelled by assumption, which defeats the purpose.

Do we get the point cloud as well as the model?

Yes. The cloud is the evidence behind the model and should stay with the project — it lets any element be audited against the real captured geometry later.

Start a Scan to BIM Scope

Send the building type and size, whether scan data already exists, and the LOD you need. We will confirm the modelling tolerance, deliverable formats and programme before work starts. See also building information modelling and 3D scanning and measurement, or contact us.