Scan to BIM for facilities management

Why owners scan existing buildings

Facilities teams manage thousands of assets: air handlers, pumps, fire equipment, lighting, doors, furniture. Records are often spreadsheets that do not say where anything is. A model built from a scan places every asset in 3D with its type and properties, which makes maintenance planning, space management and capital planning much easier.

What a facilities model needs

• Assets as individual objects, not merged geometry, so each can carry an ID and data.
• Spaces and rooms with names, numbers and areas.
• Consistent classification of asset types.
• Properties that link to your CAFM or CMMS system: asset tag, manufacturer, model, service dates.
• Modest geometry. LOD 200 to 300 is usually enough; information matters more than detail (see LOD levels explained).

Standards that help

• ISO 19650 defines the asset information model (AIM) and the asset information requirements that describe it. The CDBB guidance on asset information requirements is a practical starting point.
• COBie is a widely used format for handing asset data to facilities systems.
• IFC is the open format to keep the model in for the long term (see IFC or Revit?).

A practical process

1. Define what you need: which asset types, which properties, which system they feed.
2. Scan the building; mobile scanners are efficient for large portfolios (see choosing a scanner).
3. Model spaces and assets, with each asset separated.
4. Populate identifiers and link to existing asset registers.
5. Export IFC or COBie and import into your facilities system.
6. Rescan changed areas after major works to keep the model current.

From model to digital twin

A digital twin connects the model to live data: sensors, work orders, occupancy. The scan-based model is the spatial backbone. Twins built on OpenUSD can also be used for simulation, for example testing how robots for cleaning, delivery or inspection would move through the building (see from Scan to BIM to SimReady).

Portfolios

For owners with many sites, speed and consistency matter more than anything. Automated modeling (see AI Scan to BIM) makes it practical to model a portfolio in weeks. Moving Atoms separates every object in each building and delivers within 48 hours per site, with on-site processing available for secure facilities. upload a scan or open the LiDAR samples.

Frequently asked questions