BIM and 3D Visualisation Services, UK-Wide
Fix Your House produces BIM models, coordinated drawings, structured project information and photoreal visualisations for everyone working in the UK construction industry, and for private clients who want to see a room before it is built. All of it is produced and delivered digitally, so we take this work on anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Two ways into this page. If you are a contractor, developer, project manager, quantity surveyor, engineer or self-builder, start at the service lines, or go straight to coordination and clash detection. If this is your own home and you want to see a kitchen, a loft or an extension before you commit, start at 3D visualisation and interior renders.
Call 07777 759333, answered 24 hours a day, or send the drawings and the property details on WhatsApp. Free call-out and assessment — you only pay for the work.
Who this service is for
If you work in construction
Main contractors and subcontractors, residential and commercial developers, builders, project and construction managers, quantity surveyors and estimators, structural and building services engineers, interior designers, property managers and asset owners, and self-builders running their own project. Whether you need one discipline modelled, a federated model coordinated, a take-off you can price from, or a full information deliverable, that is the work.
If this is your own home
You do not need to know what a common data environment is. If you want to see your kitchen, your loft conversion, your extension or a whole interior scheme as a photoreal image before spending money on it, that is the visualisation service, and it is available to you on exactly the same terms as to a developer. If you also want an accurate measured model and technical drawings of your house, that is available too.
There is no minimum project size and no category of client we turn away. BIM is one of our services and we offer it to everyone active in the UK construction industry, and to ordinary householders who want interior design or any other BIM deliverable from us.
Why BIM is UK-wide when our building work is not
Because BIM and visualisation are delivered digitally, and building work is not. That is the whole reason, and it is worth stating plainly rather than leaving it to look like a coincidence.
Every trade service we offer needs a van, a team and a day on site, so we keep those to North West London and Barnet — Edgware, Mill Hill, Hendon, Finchley and the surrounding area. Modelling is different in kind. The inputs are a point cloud, a measured survey, a set of existing drawings or photographs. The outputs are model files, drawing files, data files and images. Every one of those travels over the internet. A model for a site in Leeds or Cardiff takes the same work as a model for a site in Hendon, and arrives the same way.
So the honest position is a split one: BIM, modelling and visualisation, United Kingdom-wide. Building trades, North West London and Barnet only. We are not going to claim a builder in Newcastle in order to sell a model to one.
Our own team does this work
Our own team produces the models, the coordination, the information and the visualisations. We model in-house and we deliver it ourselves rather than sending the work out.
Alongside that team we also manage external trades on the building side of the business. Both things are true at once, and together they are how one company runs digital work across the whole United Kingdom and building work in North West London at the same time.
What it means for you is simple: one point of contact and one point of responsibility. There is no consultant chain to manage, nobody to chase but us, and if something is wrong it is ours to put right.
What is BIM, in plain English?
BIM is a 3D model in which every part knows what it is. A wall in a BIM model is not four lines; it is a wall, of a stated construction and thickness, with a fire rating and a cost and a manufacturer, that knows which rooms it separates. Building Information Modelling is the process of creating and managing that information across the life of a project.
The practical consequence is that the drawings, the schedules, the quantities and the images all come out of one place. Change the model and they all change together. That is why a coordinated model catches a clash before it is built, and why a quantity taken off a model is traceable back to the object it came from.
The BIM and visualisation services we provide
These are the service lines the UK market actually buys and names. Each is a distinct piece of work with a distinct deliverable, and you can commission any of them on its own.
1. Scan to BIM and as-built modelling
What it is. A laser scanner or a measured survey records the building exactly as it stands today, producing a point cloud. Our team then models that point cloud into an intelligent 3D model, so the walls, floors, openings, structure and services in the model are the real ones at the real dimensions, not the ones the original drawings said should be there.
What you receive. A registered point cloud, a Revit model of the existing building at an agreed level of detail, and 2D existing-condition plans, sections and elevations generated from it.
Who it is for. Anyone working on a building that already exists: refurbishment contractors, developers buying an unfamiliar asset, fit-out teams, building managers, and homeowners whose house has no surviving drawings.
2. BIM coordination and clash detection
What it is. Separate models from separate disciplines are combined into one federated model and tested against each other by software, which lists every place where two things want to occupy the same space. A duct through a beam takes a few minutes to move on a screen and a fortnight to move on site.
What you receive. A federated model, a prioritised clash report grouped by discipline and by severity rather than a raw dump of thousands of hits, and a resolution log showing what changed and when.
Who it is for. Main contractors, mechanical and electrical contractors, project managers and design teams running more than one discipline at once. This is the service that pays for itself most visibly.
3. MEP BIM modelling
What it is. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems modelled properly in three dimensions, with routes, sizes, gradients, plant, containment and access space represented rather than sketched as a single line on a plan.
What you receive. Discipline models for mechanical, electrical and public health, coordinated builders work and penetration drawings, and installation drawings the site team can set out from.
Who it is for. Mechanical and electrical subcontractors, building services engineers, and contractors working on plant rooms, risers and fit-outs where services are the tightest part of the job.
4. Structural and building-fabric modelling
What it is. The frame and the fabric: foundations, slabs, columns, beams, walls, roofs, openings and finishes, modelled as objects that carry their own information rather than as lines that only look right.
What you receive. A structural or fabric model at the agreed level of detail, general arrangement drawings, sections and details generated from the model so they cannot disagree with it, and schedules of openings, walls and finishes.
Who it is for. Structural engineers outsourcing production, contractors who need a model to build from, developers, and self-builders who need a proper technical set rather than a sketch.
5. CAD to BIM conversion and as-built drawings
What it is. Most existing UK buildings are documented, if at all, in 2D CAD, scanned PDFs or paper. Conversion turns that into a working 3D model, and as-built drawing production turns what was actually installed into a clean, current record set.
What you receive. A model built from your legacy drawings, plus tidy as-built plans, sections and elevations in DWG and PDF, drawn to a consistent layer and title-block standard.
Who it is for. Building owners and managers with a drawer of out-of-date drawings, contractors closing out a job and owing a record set, and homeowners who need something accurate to hand to a designer or a builder.
6. Cost, quantities, materials and programme from the model
What it is. Once the model exists, five further deliverables come out of it: what the project will cost, how much of everything there is, what has to be ordered, when each stage happens, and whether the job is where it is claimed to be. The industry calls the first of these 5D BIM and the fourth 4D BIM.
What you receive. Any one of the five on its own, or all of them together. Each is set out in full, with the deliverable and who it is for, in what the model tells you about cost, quantities, materials and programme below.
Who it is for. Quantity surveyors and estimators, contractors planning phasing and logistics, buyers placing orders, developers testing whether a budget and a programme are realistic, and private clients who want a number before committing.
7. COBie, IFC and information management
What it is. The model is only half of BIM. The other half is structured information: what each asset is, where it is, who made it, when it was installed and what has to happen to it. COBie and IFC are the two formats the UK industry uses to hand that over without everyone having to own the same software.
What you receive. IFC exports checked against your requirements, a populated COBie spreadsheet, an authored BIM Execution Plan with the accompanying delivery plans, and a common data environment structure set up and maintained through the job.
Who it is for. Clients and contractors on projects where the information deliverable is contractual, building owners who need a durable digital record of an asset, and anyone assembling a structured information record for a building they are responsible for.
8. 3D visualisation, interior renders and walkthroughs
What it is. A photoreal image or a moving walkthrough of a space that does not exist yet, built from the same model as the technical work, so what you approve and what gets built are the same thing.
What you receive. Still visualisations from an agreed number of viewpoints, interior and exterior, 3D floor plans, and video walkthroughs where they help; supplied as image and video files you can use for planning, for marketing, or simply to decide.
Who it is for. Developers and agents selling off-plan, contractors and designers presenting an option to a client, and private clients who want to see the kitchen, the loft or the extension before committing money to it.
What the model tells you about cost, quantities, materials and programme
Once a model exists, five further deliverables come out of it, and between them they answer the five questions projects most often get wrong: what it will cost, how much of everything there is, what has to be ordered, when each stage happens, and whether the job is actually where it is claimed to be. Each is a separate piece of work with its own deliverable, and you can commission any one of them on its own.
The industry has numbers for some of these — 4D for programme, 5D for cost. Those names appear in the text below where they are useful, but the plain description is the accurate one, so that is what the headings say.
What your project will cost, before you commit
What it is. Every object in the model carries its own measurement, so a cost can be built up from the building itself rather than guessed at from a drawing. Move a wall and the quantity behind it moves with it. This is what the industry calls 5D BIM, and the valuable part is not the label but the traceability: every figure can be followed back to the object it was measured from.
To be exact about who supplies what. We produce the measurement and the structure. The rates are yours, your quantity surveyor’s or your contractor’s. We do not publish prices for building work and we do not put our own rates into your cost plan.
What you receive. A cost plan arranged by element, following the structure NRM1 sets out for order of cost estimating and cost planning, with every line traceable to the objects behind it, delivered as a spreadsheet you or your quantity surveyor can work in.
Who it is for. Developers testing whether a scheme stands up before buying; contractors and quantity surveyors pricing work; and private clients who want to know what a kitchen, a loft or an extension involves before committing to it.
How much of everything there is
What it is. Quantity take-off: measuring every item of work out of the model rather than scaling it off a drawing by hand. From that one measurement comes the bill of quantities, the document UK tenders are built on — each item described, with its unit of measure, ready for a contractor to price.
The standard. Take-off is produced to NRM2, the UK rules for detailed measurement of building works, which replaced SMM7. We work to NRM2. We are not certified or accredited to it, and we do not claim to be. Naming a standard you work to is not the same as holding a certificate against it.
What you receive. A measured take-off and a bill of quantities structured to NRM2, in a spreadsheet, with every line traceable back to the model object it came from — so a disputed quantity is settled by looking rather than by arguing.
Who it is for. Quantity surveyors and estimators, contractors pricing work or checking someone else’s figures, and self-builders who intend to buy materials themselves and need to know what to buy.
What to order, and how much of it
What it is. A schedule of materials — also called a procurement schedule — is the buying list: what has to be ordered, in the quantities and units suppliers actually sell in. It is not the same document as a bill of quantities, and treating the two as interchangeable is one of the more expensive mistakes on a small project.
The distinction, plainly. A bill of quantities prices work items for tender, with labour and plant inside the rate. A schedule of materials lists materials only, supplier-neutral, so you can go and buy them. They are two views of one measurement, not two exercises.
What you receive. A schedule of materials in a spreadsheet, sequenced against the programme so ordering happens in the order the site needs it, with any wastage allowance shown as its own line rather than buried inside a quantity.
Who it is for. Contractors and buyers placing orders, self-builders running their own procurement, and private clients on a large refurbishment who are buying their own finishes and would rather order once than three times.
When each stage happens, and in what order
What it is. Linking the model to the construction programme, so every element carries a start and a finish and the build can be played back as a sequence before anyone digs. The industry calls this 4D BIM. Its real value is not the animation; it is that clashes of sequence — a scaffold standing where a crane needs to, a delivery that cannot reach the plot, a trade booked before the floor it works on exists — surface while they are still free to fix.
What you receive. A sequenced model and a phasing simulation you can watch, phased site-logistics views, and a written sequence of the work stages with the model elements attached to each. Durations come from your programme; we sequence against it rather than inventing it.
Who it is for. Contractors planning phasing and logistics, project managers explaining a sequence to a client or a neighbour, teams assembling a bid, and private clients who want to understand what will be happening to their house and when.
Whether the job is actually where it should be
What it is. Progress monitoring: comparing what has actually been built against what the programme said would be built by now. The model holds the planned state, site records hold the actual state, and the comparison between them is what tells you the truth. The industry describes this as planned against as-built.
What you receive. A progress report at agreed intervals showing percentage complete by work stage measured against the baseline programme, the deviation on each stage, and an updated model reflecting what has actually been built. Where a stage has slipped, the report names that stage and the extent of the slip, rather than giving one overall percentage that conceals it.
Who it is for. Developers and funders who need to know a job is where it is said to be, contractors managing subcontractors, project managers reporting upwards, and private clients who have been told everything is fine and would like to see it.
The BIM dimensions, 3D to 7D, and what is actually done in each
3D, 4D and 5D have settled meanings. 6D and 7D do not. Reputable sources define them in two directly contradictory ways, and most pages explaining them pick one and present it as established fact. Below is what each dimension means, what work is actually performed, what you receive, and — where the industry disagrees — both readings, with who holds them.
What is 3D BIM?
3D BIM is a geometric model in which every part knows what it is. The work is modelling the building as objects — walls, floors, openings, structure, services — each carrying its own information rather than being drawn as lines. You receive a model, plus plans, sections, elevations and schedules generated from it, which is why they cannot contradict one another. On this page that is scan to BIM, structural and fabric modelling and MEP modelling.
What is 4D BIM?
4D BIM is 3D with time added. The work is linking each model element to an activity in the construction programme so it carries a start and a finish date. You receive a phasing simulation, site-logistics views by stage, and a sequence you can test for buildability before committing to it. On this page that is when each stage happens.
What is 5D BIM?
5D BIM is the model with cost information attached. The work is measuring quantities from the model objects and linking them to cost lines, so the measurement is traceable rather than scaled off a drawing. You receive a cost plan and a measured take-off in which every figure can be followed back to the object it came from. On this page that is what your project will cost and how much of everything there is.
What are 6D and 7D BIM, and why do sources disagree?
Because no standard defines them. The two readings in common use are inverted:
- NBS, in its published explainer, gives 6D as facilities management, 7D as sustainability and 8D as health and safety.
- Much of the commercial BIM industry gives the opposite — 6D as sustainability and 7D as facilities management.
Both are used in earnest by people who know the subject, so a tender asking for “6D” without saying what it means is genuinely ambiguous, and worth querying rather than guessing at. Whichever number is used, the underlying work is one of two things: sustainability and energy information attached to model objects, or asset and maintenance information for running the building after handover — which on this page is COBie, IFC and information management.
Do the BIM dimensions matter?
Less than the numbering suggests. NBS puts it directly: arguably cost isn’t a ‘dimension’ at all – it is just a further information field
. The ISO 19650 series, which is what UK projects actually work to, does not number dimensions at all: it asks what information is required, when it is required, and who is responsible for producing it.
So the numbers are useful for starting a conversation and useless for writing a scope. If a tender or a client asks us for 5D or 6D, we will ask what information is wanted, in what format and to what rule of measurement, and put that in writing instead.
How a job runs
- Tell us the building and the deliverable. Where it is, what it is, what you already have (drawings, a scan, photographs, nothing at all), and what you need out of it.
- We agree scope and level of detail in writing. Level of detail is the single biggest driver of effort, so it gets pinned down before anything starts rather than argued about afterwards.
- Capture, if the building exists. A scan or measured survey is arranged, or you supply your own point cloud and we model from it.
- Modelling and coordination. Discipline models are built, federated and clash-tested. You see progress models, not only a finished one.
- Outputs. Drawings, schedules, quantities, IFC and COBie exports, visualisations — whichever were agreed, in the formats agreed.
- Handover and revisions. Files delivered, a revision round included, and the model kept available if the project moves on.
What drives the cost
We do not publish a price for this work, because a price quoted before seeing the building would be a guess. What we can do is tell you exactly what moves the figure, so you can see where your own job is likely to sit. We quote in writing once the scope is known, and the figure we quote is the figure you pay — no VAT is added on top.
| Factor | How it is measured | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Level of detail | Agreed level, from outline massing to fabrication-ready detail | The largest single driver. Detail is time. |
| Floor area and storeys | Square metres modelled, number of levels | Broadly proportional, with a floor for very small jobs. |
| Disciplines | Fabric only, or fabric plus structure plus services | Each added discipline adds modelling and adds coordination. |
| Condition of the inputs | Good current drawings, poor old drawings, or nothing at all | Nothing usable means a survey or scan is needed first. |
| Building complexity | Repetitive new-build against irregular period fabric or a dense plant room | Irregular and dense work takes materially longer. |
| Deliverable set | Model only, or model plus drawings, quantities, COBie, renders | Each deliverable is a separate piece of production. |
| Visualisation viewpoints | Number of stills, and whether a moving walkthrough is wanted | Extra viewpoints from a built model cost far less than the first one. |
| Programme | Normal turnaround against a compressed deadline | Compression costs, because it means more people on it. |
Send what you have and you will get a figure for the actual job rather than a range that means nothing.
What we do not claim
Worth being direct, because plenty of this industry is not.
- We work to the ISO 19650 series and to the information structures UK projects ask for. We are not certified or accredited to any standard or scheme, and we do not claim to be. Naming a standard you work to is not the same as holding a certificate against it.
- Survey capture is a separate discipline. Inside our North West London building area we can measure a property ourselves; anywhere else we model from survey or scan data you hold or commission. We are not a laser scanning company and do not present ourselves as one.
- We do not publish prices for this work, because scope varies too much for a published figure to be honest.
- Outside North West London and Barnet we produce the information; we do not build. Inside it, we can do both.
- Drawings for a planning application are produced from the model, but the application is submitted by you or your agent and the decision is the council. Nobody can promise you a consent.
Where this fits with the rest of what we do
BIM and visualisation sit alongside the rest of Fix Your House, and they feed the other services rather than standing apart from them. Design and build under one roof for clients inside our building area; design, modelling and information on their own for clients anywhere in the UK. Inside the building area the design is free of charge when we also carry out the build.
- Interior design and build — schemes are modelled and rendered before anything is ordered, so you approve an image rather than a mood board. Led by Niloofar Tootoonchi, our Head of Interior Design.
- House extensions — the model produces the technical drawings, the quantities and the visualisation from one source, so the extension you are shown is the extension that gets priced.
- Kitchen renovation — a rendered kitchen before the units are ordered is the cheapest change you will ever make.
- All our services — the full list, including the building trades we deliver in North West London and Barnet.
- Fix Your House home page — who we are and how the design-and-build side works.
The clearest example is a loft conversion. A roof space is the hardest room in a house to picture from a drawing, because what decides whether you like it is where you can stand up and where the head height dies away under the slope. Modelling the actual roof geometry answers both before anything is opened up.
Frequently asked questions
Do you really cover the whole United Kingdom for BIM and visualisation?
Yes. BIM and visualisation are produced and delivered digitally, so there is no travel radius on them. The inputs are a point cloud, a survey, existing drawings or photographs, and the outputs are model, drawing, data and image files. A model for a site in Glasgow takes the same work as one for a site in Hendon and arrives the same way. Our building trades are different and stay in North West London and Barnet, because those need a van, a team and a day on site.
What is the difference between BIM and a 3D render?
A render is a picture. BIM is a database that happens to look like a building. The render tells you how a space will feel; the model tells you what is inside the wall, how many of them there are, what they cost and where they clash. We produce both, and they come from the same model, so they cannot contradict each other.
What is scan to BIM, and when do I need it?
Scan to BIM means recording an existing building with a laser scanner, then modelling that point cloud into an intelligent 3D model. You need it whenever the building already exists and the drawings are missing, old or wrong, which on UK refurbishment work is most of the time. It is the difference between designing against the building you have and designing against the building someone drew in 1974.
Do you carry out the laser scanning yourselves?
Survey capture is a separate discipline and we are straight about it. Inside our North West London building area we can measure a property ourselves. Anywhere else in the United Kingdom we work from a point cloud or a measured survey, either data you already hold or a survey you commission. Our own team then turns that data into the model, the drawings and the information.
Can you model a building when no existing drawings survive?
Yes, and it is routine. With no drawings we work from a measured survey or a scan of the building as it stands. That is usually more reliable than old drawings anyway, because it records what was actually built rather than what was intended.
Is BIM Level 2 still a requirement in the UK?
Not under that name. BIM Level 2 was defined through the PAS 1192 documents and was superseded in 2018 by the UK BIM Framework, built on the BS EN ISO 19650 series; PAS 1192 has been withdrawn. The phrase survives in procurement documents and in what people search for. If a client or a tender asks for Level 2, what they generally want is discipline models federated in a common data environment with structured information exchanges, and that is what we produce.
Do you work to ISO 19650?
We produce information to the structure the ISO 19650 series describes, including an authored BIM Execution Plan, naming and status conventions, and defined information exchanges. To be plain about it: we work to the standard, we are not certified or accredited to it, and we do not claim to be. If your project requires a certified party, say so at the outset and we will tell you honestly whether we fit.
What file formats do you deliver?
Native Revit files, IFC for open exchange, DWG and PDF for drawings, NWD or NWC for federated and coordination models, COBie as a spreadsheet, and JPEG, PNG or MP4 for visualisations and walkthroughs. If your team works in something else, tell us before we start and we will agree the exchange formats up front.
Can a homeowner use this, or is it only for construction companies?
Either. Most of this work is for people in the construction industry, but a private client who wants a visualisation of a new kitchen, an interior design scheme rendered before committing to it, or a proper model and drawing set for a loft or an extension is equally welcome. Tell us which you are and we will pitch the process and the deliverables accordingly.
Who actually does the modelling?
Our own team. We model, coordinate and deliver in-house rather than sending the work out. Alongside that team we also manage external trades on the building side of the business, which is how one company runs digital work across the whole United Kingdom and building work in North West London at the same time. Whichever part you buy, Fix Your House is your single point of contact and your single point of responsibility.
Can you build what you have modelled?
In North West London and Barnet, yes, because that is where our building teams work, and the design is free of charge when we also carry out the build. Outside that area we produce the model, the drawings and the information, and you use your own contractor. We will say clearly which of the two you are getting before any work starts.
How much does a BIM model or a visualisation cost?
It depends on the building, the level of detail and the deliverables, and quoting a figure before seeing those would be guesswork. We quote in writing once we know the scope, and the figure we quote is the figure you pay: no VAT is added on top. Send the property details, any drawings you have and what you need out of it, and call 07777 759333, answered 24 hours a day.
Can you tell me what my project will cost?
We can produce the measurement it is costed from, and a cost plan built on it. What we do not do is supply the rates. Quantities come out of the model, arranged by element and traceable back to the objects behind them; the rates applied to those quantities are yours, your quantity surveyor’s or your contractor’s. We also do not publish prices for our own building work, because a figure quoted before seeing a building would be a guess. Send the property details and what you need, and you will get a written quote for the actual job.
What is the difference between a bill of quantities and a schedule of materials?
A bill of quantities prices work items for tender, with labour and plant inside the rate, structured to NRM2. A schedule of materials is the buying list: materials only, supplier-neutral, in the quantities and units suppliers actually sell in. They are two views of one measurement, not two separate exercises, which is why measuring once from the model produces both. If you are running your own procurement, the schedule of materials is usually the one you want.
Do you work to NRM2?
Yes. Take-off and bills of quantities are produced to NRM2, the UK rules for detailed measurement of building works, which replaced SMM7. To be plain about it, in the same terms we use for ISO 19650: we work to the standard, we are not certified or accredited to it, and we do not claim to be. Naming a standard you work to is not the same as holding a certificate against it. For earlier-stage cost plans we follow the structure NRM1 sets out for order of cost estimating and cost planning.
Can you tell me how long my project will take?
We can sequence a programme and test whether it is realistic; we do not invent the durations. In a 4D model each element is linked to an activity, so the build can be played back stage by stage and problems of sequence show up before they cost anything. The durations themselves come from you or your contractor. If nobody has produced a programme yet, we will say so rather than fill the gap with numbers we cannot stand behind.
Can you produce a take-off or a bill of quantities if I only have drawings and no model?
Yes. If there is no model we build one first, either from your existing drawings or from a measured survey or scan of the building as it stands, and measure from that. It is more work than measuring an existing model, and we will say so up front rather than discovering it halfway through. The advantage is that you end up with a model you can use again for the next thing, instead of a one-off measurement.
What do 6D and 7D BIM mean?
It depends who you ask, and that is the honest answer rather than an evasive one. NBS, in its published explainer, gives 6D as facilities management, 7D as sustainability and 8D as health and safety. Much of the commercial BIM industry gives the opposite, with 6D as sustainability and 7D as facilities management. No standard settles it, and ISO 19650 does not number dimensions at all. If a tender asks you for 6D, ask what information is actually wanted, in what format and to what rule of measurement.
Send us the building and we will tell you what it needs
Tell us where the building is, what it is, what drawings or scans exist, and what you need out of the model. You will get a straight answer on scope, deliverables and price for the actual job.
Call 07777 759333 — answered 24 hours a day — message us on WhatsApp, or use the contact form. BIM, modelling and visualisation, anywhere in the United Kingdom.
