What scale to model to?

One issue with the growing BIM (building information modeling) adoption is around standards. Most offices are currently working to an in house standard that works best for them. This is fine for now and is normally the case with new technologies, but over time standards will be put in place making 3D models & data easier to share.

A common area that is often debated is what level of detail you should model to. Recently I met with a variety of architects to get their take on this. As expected the answers varied.

Some offices only allowed modeling to a 1:50 scale detail level, while others pushed for more detailed BIM models - often modeling down to a 1:20 scale. A lot of factors come into this and the issue that normally rises is what gets the plans out of the door quicker?

Also with these different levels of detail, where does this leave manufacturers who are trying to support all of their specifiers across the board? The best way to support the different work methods is by building in different detail levels. This is an idea which is commonly over looked and can cause headaches down the track.

By incorporating detail levels into your BIM content (and yes this can be achieved across a range of formats, we currently do it with Revit families, ArchiCAD objects & Vectorworks models) you give the end users more freedom with how they choose to use your content. Leaving you with a larger pool of happy specifies.

This can be a tricky subject, but if you'd like to learn more please feel free to contact us at [email protected]