BIM services for US projects

Who we work with in the US

US firms come to us when the backlog grows faster than they can hire: a CD set due in three weeks, a steel package waiting for detailing, or a coordination effort the in-house team cannot staff. We work as remote production capacity under your project lead, not as a separate design firm.

• Architects — Revit models and construction document sheets, model upkeep through revisions.
• Structural and MEP engineers — discipline models in Revit, coordination with the architectural model.
• General contractors and trade contractors — construction-ready models, coordination, BIM-based quantity takeoff.
• Steel fabricators and detailing firms — Tekla models, shop and erection drawings, fabrication files.

We work remotely for clients anywhere in the United States. There is no US office and no field staff; from a US point of view we are an offshore team based in the EU.

Imperial units, your templates, your standards

A US project comes with conventions that a team abroad must not reinterpret. We set up work in your Revit template and title blocks, dimension in feet and inches where your standard does, and follow your view naming, sheet numbering, line weights and text styles. If your estimating relies on MasterFormat or UniFormat codes, we populate the classification parameters you specify.

Steel quantities are counted in short tons on US jobs. We state the ton unit in every quote and never mix short tons with metric tonnes.

Building codes are a separate matter. We model to the project documents and the standards they cite; interpreting the IBC, local amendments, accessibility or energy requirements remains the job of the design team.

LOD scoped with the BIMForum specification

In US practice, Level of Development is usually defined by the BIMForum LOD Specification, which builds on the AIA definitions and adds LOD 350. We use it as a scope framework and agree an element matrix per discipline before modeling.

LOD 400 needs approved design documents and connection information; without them we model to LOD 350 and list the open items.

Steel shop drawings for US fabricators

In Tekla Structures we produce the fabrication model and the drawing set a US shop expects: general arrangement and erection drawings, assembly and single-part drawings, bills of materials and bolt lists. NC/DSTV and DXF files are exported when technically supported and requested. Typical scope also covers miscellaneous metals: stairs, ladders, platforms, handrails, base plates and anchors.

Detailing follows the project specifications and your shop standards, for example AISC 303 detailing conventions where the contract names them. Connection design belongs to the engineer of record or the fabricator's delegated engineer; we model connections as designed and supplied, and track open questions in a log your team can turn into RFIs. Deliverables and rates in detail: Tekla steel detailing.

Navisworks coordination and construction support

• Federated models in Navisworks from Revit, Tekla and IFC files, with NWC exports kept up to date;
• clash tests set up by discipline, system and level, with duplicates filtered out;
• issues grouped by priority, trade and location, tracked in ACC, BCF or a spreadsheet;
• design models turned into construction-ready models, with views by level, zone and trade;
• quantity takeoff from the model and naming and phasing that connect easily to 4D tools.

How we run clash cycles and report them is described on BIM coordination; existing buildings can be modeled from your point clouds through Scan-to-BIM.

Time zones: what the overlap really looks like

The US and Europe change clocks on different dates in spring and autumn, so for a few weeks each year the gap is one hour shorter. In practice: a fixed weekly call in your morning, written questions in an issue log, and files you send at the end of your day can be worked on during ours; delivery dates are fixed in the written scope.

What stays with your licensed professionals

• PE or SE stamps and the engineer of record's responsibility;
• code compliance with the IBC, local amendments, accessibility and energy codes;
• connection design where it is not supplied – this stays with the Engineer of Record or the fabricator's licensed engineer;
• permit submissions and contact with the authority having jurisdiction;
• site visits, field verification and laser scanning;
• sales tax (added where applicable) and unlimited revisions – the number of revision rounds is set in the written scope.

Model accuracy depends on the inputs you provide, and no remote production provider can promise permit approval.

USD rates for US projects

Net of sales tax and VAT; indicative planning ranges. The binding quote follows a review of your files. All rates: BIM pricing.

Starting a US project

1. Brief. Discipline and phase, Revit or Tekla version, your template and units, the BEP or LOD matrix, drawings or models, the deadline; for steel, the tonnage and the ton unit.
2. File review. We list questions and assumptions.
3. Written scope and USD price, often starting with a small pilot package.
4. Production with agreed exchange dates.
5. QA against your acceptance criteria: model health, naming, parameters, drawings against the model.
6. Handover of native files, IFC, NWC, DWG and PDF as agreed.

Send your brief through the contact page.

Frequently asked questions