If you are planning to convert CAD to BIM, we start by asking you two questions: what format is the existing work in, and which CAD standards apply? Usually there is a set of DWG or DXF files, sometimes supplemented with STEP files from a fabrication environment.
We also ask for the template, a recent sample project and your drafting team's layer conventions. With those two things on the table, our team can build a model that fits in with what is already running in-house.
Without that information, a conversion only creates extra clean-up work. We do the drafting and modelling, while the engineering stays with you. The work is done remotely from our own office, with our own licences and the latest versions of Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino. Our focus is on the Netherlands. When you send a new request, you will hear from us within 1 to 2 working days. We then go through in a conversation how many sheets there are and what the model will need to do.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
Scaling up while converting CAD to BIM
A conversion to BIM is rarely a job for a single drafter. The number of sheets determines how many people can usefully work on it. With our large, variable team, we scale up or down for each project, depending on the volume and the schedule. The team is already in place, so we do not need to recruit anyone before the work can start. If it is urgent, we add people straight away. That is a fundamental difference from scaling up in-house, because in practice a vacancy for a modeller stays open for months. In the meantime the pile of DWGs grows and the schedule slips.
We divide the work into blocks that can run in parallel, for example per storey, per building section or per product family. Sam, our team leader, allocates those blocks and makes sure everyone follows the same set-up. Without that direction, a model with five drafters falls apart within a week. If someone drops out through illness or holiday, we bring in a replacement and the work simply carries on. You pay no ongoing payroll costs and are not left with spare capacity once the project is finished.
If the volume drops, we scale down without any notice period. Everyone who works for us has more than ten years of CAD experience, so an extra drafter is up to speed in no time. Onboarding is usually limited to the standards and the specific agreements for the project. We only charge pure working hours, so scaling up does not automatically mean time leaks away. We decide together with you how many people makes sense, based on the end date.
A freelancer, a permanent employee or our team
The three routes to extra drafting capacity are not equal. Hiring a freelancer is quick, but they usually work alone. Nobody checks their work, and if they fall ill or move on to their next assignment, the project grinds to a halt. In a conversion to BIM that is risky, because an error in the model set-up comes back in every derived sheet. With us, the work goes through at least three review layers. A drafter models, a second team member checks that work, Sam reviews it technically as team leader, and Barry, our project manager, gives it a final check.
In practice that keeps errors to a minimum. A new permanent employee is the second route. That solves the capacity problem structurally, but only months from now, and after that the payroll costs keep running whether there is work or not. For a peak or a one-off conversion, that is a heavy solution. We charge by the hour or per project at a fixed price, and the invoicing stops as soon as the job is done. We do not work with prepaid hour bundles or a monthly hours subscription.
The third route is our team, whose core members have around twenty-five years of experience combined. Sam, the team leader, has more than fifteen years of background in architecture and still works as an engineer. What we are not is a consultancy, because we leave engineering and calculations with you. If you are unsure which route fits, the best thing is to hand us a small part first.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
A fixed point of contact while converting to BIM
You have a fixed point of contact with us. Barry picks up a new request and discusses what is going on. Once the project is under way, Sam takes over the technical side, divides the work and answers the technical questions. So the project leader on your side does not have to explain again and again what the model needs to do. Our day-to-day contact runs via email, phone and meetings. The rhythm varies per client, from once every two days on a tight schedule to weekly on a calmer project. We agree that in advance and adjust it if the schedule changes. For large projects such as greenhouse construction projects, we offer software you can log into to follow the project. A status email is then unnecessary, because the progress is simply there to see.
For standalone AutoCAD drafting work we simply deliver by email. We deliver in parts and actively ask for feedback, rather than waiting until the model is completely finished. That way a wrong assumption is limited to a single block of work. We bundle our questions, so we do not disturb your contact person all day. We record what we agree about the standards, so a new drafter on the project follows the same line. You are welcome to visit, at our office or yours, although the work itself is done remotely. We work in our own environment with our own licences, so nobody needs to arrange access to your internal network.
Getting started with converting CAD to BIM
Once we have enough information, we can begin. For a conversion, that concretely means the existing CAD files, the template or project template and an idea of what the model is for. A recent sample project helps us most, because from it we can read the naming, the layer structure and the way sheets are numbered. If there is no standard, we propose a workable set-up and submit it to you for approval first.
File formats are rarely a problem, because we handle DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP every day, and in practice every common CAD format comes through our door. The process starts with a conversation in which we go through the project.
In it, we also decide how detailed the model needs to be, because a coordination model needs a different build-up from a model that production drawings come from. We then produce a limited first part, for example one floor or a single product family. You assess it, give feedback, and only then do we move on to the full volume. A short assignment is fine, and a small first job is the easiest way to judge our speed and accuracy.
If it does not work for you, it ends there with no obligation. You own the intellectual property of everything we make. We have not signed a non-disclosure agreement so far because clients have not asked for one, but we are open to an NDA. We respond to a new request within 1 to 2 working days, by phone or via the contact form. This is followed by the conversation in which we determine exactly what is needed.
Frequently asked questions about converting CAD to BIM
Let us convert your CAD files to BIM
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.