01
Level of information need uplift
Agree what has to be modelled to installation standard and what does not. This is the scope conversation and it has to be explicit.
Construction support: shop drawings, builders work and as-built models
Output produced for the people installing the work, at the detail and tolerance installation actually requires — not at the level a design model happens to hold.
Construction support
The engineering position
A design model is not a fabrication model, and pretending otherwise is expensive
The level of information need for installation is different in kind, not just in degree: real fittings rather than generic ones, real connection detail, real support positions, and tolerances that reflect what can actually be manufactured and carried through a door. Uprating a design model to fabrication is a scoped piece of work. It is not a setting.
Builders work has to be agreed before the slab is poured
Penetrations, cast-in items and structural openings are the deliverable with the hardest deadline on the project and the one most often produced last. We take the coordinated model, extract every penetration, and issue it as a drawing and a schedule that the structural engineer can actually review — before the pour, not as an RFI afterwards.
As-built means what was installed, not what was designed
A record model that is the design model with a new title block is a liability dressed as a handover deliverable. We update against site information and state clearly what has been verified and what has not, because an operator who trusts an unverified record model will find out the hard way.
Deliverables
What is actually produced and issued
Any of these can be appointed on their own or combined. Nothing here depends on buying the intelligence layer, which is not for sale in any case.
DeliverableShop and fabrication drawings
Discipline shop drawings at installation level of detail, derived from the coordinated model.
DeliverableSpool and prefabrication drawings
Assemblies broken down for offsite manufacture with piece marks and connection detail.
DeliverableBuilders work and penetration drawings
Every penetration extracted from the coordinated model, dimensioned, scheduled and issued for structural review.
DeliverableBracket and support layouts
Support positions and types set out against structure and the installed services.
DeliverableAs-built and record models
Updated against site information with the verification status stated element by element.
DeliverableQuantity take-off
Measured from the model, classified, with each line traceable to the elements behind it.
How it runs
The sequence, and why it is in this order
Sequence is not a formality on this kind of work. Most of the expensive rework we are asked to fix was produced by doing step four before step two.
02
Product substitution
Generic content replaced with the selected products, because fabrication detail is a property of the actual item.
03
Re-coordination
Re-run the clash and clearance rule sets against the uprated model. Real fittings clash where generic ones did not.
04
Supports and penetrations
Bracket layouts and penetration extraction, scheduled and issued for review.
05
Production
Shop, spool and BWIC drawings derived from model state.
06
Record
As-built updated against verified site information with status stated.
What we need to start
The inputs that decide whether a start is a real start
Missing any of these is survivable. Not knowing which of them are missing is not, so we establish it at enquiry stage rather than at forty per cent.
- The coordinated design model, and who owns it
- Selected products and manufacturers — fabrication detail depends entirely on real products
- Installation tolerances and any offsite manufacture constraints
- The structural engineer's review requirements for builders work
- Site survey or verification data for as-built work
Automation
Where automation applies to this work
Every line carries its real status. Three of the four states on this site mean "not yet", and we use them.
AutomationPenetration extractionLive
Every service crossing a structural element identified and scheduled automatically across the federated model.
AutomationQuantity take-offLive
Measured from geometry and parameters, classified, with the measurement rule visible for each line.
AutomationDrawing and schedule generationLive
Shop drawing sheets and schedules derived from model state rather than drafted.
AutomationSupport layout routinesIn development
Generating bracket and support positions from routing and rules, for engineering review. In development on our own delivery.
Scope boundary
What this appointment does not include
Published because a scope boundary discovered at month three is a dispute, and the same boundary stated at enquiry stage is just information.
- We do not supervise or inspect installation on site.
- We do not certify as-built accuracy for elements we have not received verification data for — we state the verification status instead.
- We do not produce fabrication drawings against generic content; real products have to be selected first, and we will wait rather than guess.
FAQ
Questions we are asked at enquiry stage
Can you uprate our design model to fabrication level?
Usually yes, and the honest answer depends on how the design model was authored. A model with a clean parameter schema and correct system assignment uprates economically. One without often costs more to uprate than to re-author, and we will tell you which case you are in before you commit.
Do you produce builders work drawings?
Yes. Penetration extraction from the coordinated model is automated, and the output is a dimensioned drawing plus a schedule the structural engineer can review — issued before the pour rather than raised as an RFI after it.
Do you work directly for contractors and subcontractors?
Yes. Construction support is most often appointed by the installing party rather than the design team, and the deliverable list above reflects that.
What makes an as-built model trustworthy?
Stated verification status, element by element. A record model that does not distinguish between what was verified on site and what was carried over from design is worse than no record model, because it invites trust it has not earned.
Related
Where this connects
BIM coordinationThe coordinated model construction support is derived from.
BIM modellingWhy the authoring standard decides whether an uplift is economic.
BIM automationPenetration extraction and quantity take-off as routines.
Industrial and warehousingWhere prefabrication and offsite manufacture pay back hardest.