7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

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Level of Development -
LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM
tool
03 DECEMBER 2016 on BIM, Handover, PAS1192-2, LOD

When owners and facility managers want to get started with BIM
for FM the focus quickly turns to model content and quality. Are
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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

my current models suitable? Can I ask for improvements within

my current contract? What improvements should I ask for? How
do I specify better in the next project?

Owners need to review their requirements both for ongoing

projects and for new projects.

For new projects the project team needs to agree what information
at what detail and quality level needs to be provided at what stage
of the project. Both coordination needs and phase handover needs

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are to be considered.
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For existing ongoing projects where BIM for FM requirements

have not been contractually speci ed the owner need to engage
with the project. Together they need to assess what info is already
generated in the BIM models and what “traditional” data and
documentation are contractually required for handover. Based on
this the parties should discuss what a suitable “change order”
should be.

To support these processes and open discussions there is a need

for both sides of the table to have a good understanding and a
common ground for discussions.

In this article we will look at the “Level Of Development” (LOD)

concept and see how it can be used both as a basis for contract
documents and as a tool to communicate needs and wants. We will
look how this is implemented in two common “BIM frameworks”
(UK BIM standards and the US national BIM standard). The
discussion should be relevant also for other regional
implementations of the concept.

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

Basic concept of the LOD family of

speci cations
Level of development (LOD) is a concept with varying de nitions
and implementations. Core to the concept is that the level of
development de nes the content and reliability of BIM elements at
di erent stages or milestones. With “content” we mean geometric
information, structured data and linked documentation. With
reliability we mean for what uses and to what extent the
downstream users of the information can trust the accuracy and

13 quality of that content.

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The LOD “classes” that we will present will, if correctly used, help
you understand the usability and limitations of the modelled
elements. And it is not just about the amount of or granularity of
information that has gone into a model. It is as much about the
quality and trustworthiness of the information that can be
extracted from the models.

The LOD Speci cations can be used in various ways. You can use
them as attachments to contracts and as supplements to BIM
Execution plans. As we will see they are also used as references in
common standards to describe information management
practices.

As a basic premise the LOD speci cations acknowledges the

di erent phases for lifecycle BIM, and help specify the needs at
every stage. It tries to answer questions like: What are
requirements for geometric content and model data for each
discipline and each “level”. What is needed for design intent, what
is needed for construction collaboration and what is needed for

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facility management? What information can be carried over

between phases and what information needs to be replaced? What
links to historic data needs to be kept?

Example implementations in BIM

frameworks.
The US National BIM standard - NBIMS
v3
Probably the most common way the industry is using the Level Of
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Shares Development term is by de ning LOD “numbers” like LOD 100,
LOD 200 or LOD 300.

This system was originally developed by Vico Software as a way to

de ne the reliability and suitability of model elements for use in
automatic model-based costing. Originally Vico named the system
“Level of Detail” and gave it the acronym LOD.

The system has since been made more generic and standardized
by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). When AIA picked it
up (and trademarked it) they renamed it to “Level of
Development”. The change of name emphasised the importance of
this not just being about geometric features but about all the BIM
content for each of the elements.

BIMForum (the current US chapter of buildingSMART) have

expanded on the basic AIA LOD speci cation and have published a
“Level of Development Speci cation”. This spec is embedded in
the US National BIM standard.
This system is therefore interesting both as a part of the NBIMS

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

guide and as an often used system either standalone or as a

foundation for other systems. Practitioners should know the basic
de nitions of the LOD levels and they should know about the
contents of the BIMForum LOD speci cation and its practical use
as a reference tool, contract document and progress measurement
tool.

The basis for the LODXXX system is that numbers describe

di erent “levels of development” assuming model elements pass
through these levels and therefore increasing the numbers as the

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geometry and content gets more speci c and nal/ speci c/
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trustworthy. The main levels are described below

LOD 100 - Concept - Here there are no geometric info in the model
elements, only symbols with attached approximate info

LOD 200 - design development - Now the elements are generic

placeholders for elements and equipment to be - They may be
recognisable objects or space allocations for coordination between
the disciplines

LOD 300 - documentation - This level should be suitable for

design intent to support processes like costing and bidding. These
models will be used to generate construction documents and shop
drawings. You should now be able to take measurements from the
models and drawings and locations should be accurate

LOD 350 - This level de nes proper cross trade coordination and
will include connections and interfaces between disciplines

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

LOD 400 - construction - This level supports detailing,

fabrication and installation/ assembly. The contractor will be able
to split construction requirements and assign to sub contracts

LOD 500 - facilities management - This level will have suitable

geometry and information to support operations and
maintenance. Geometry and data should be as-built and eld
veri ed

To support the LOD de nitions for di erent disciplines and

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di erent building element types the BIMForum LOD speci cation
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is very speci c in giving examples. An example showing
progression of geometric detail are included below.

In addition the speci cation includes spreadsheets listing

property requirements for di erent element types for di erent
levels of development

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

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NBIMS speci es that there is no LOD classi cation for the whole
model. It assumes that at any stage the model will contain
elements and systems at di erent levels of development

The BIMForum LOD speci cation does not prescribe what Levels
of Development are to be reached at what point in a project but
leaves the speci cation of the model progression to the user of the
document. To support this process the BIMForum speci cation
includes a very detailed spreadsheet to monitor and track
development progress for models.

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We do not have experience ourselves from using these tools. If any

of the readers have such experience to share we would love to
learn about your experience in the comment section below.

UK BIM
In the UK BIM “movement” LOD is an acronym for “Level of
De nition”. The concept of this LOD is primarily the same but we
will look at some of the di erences. The UK LOD is de ned in the
“information management” standard PAS - 1192-2. This is
important as this is currently being used as a foundation for the
coming ISO 10950 standard.

The PAS is focused on both the geometry and the structured data,
and acknowledges that the balance between them vary across the
lifecycle of the model element. The PAS does so by splitting the
LOD into two components

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

1. Level of model detail - this de nes how detailed the geometric

part of the BIM elements are

2. Level of model information - this de nes the development and

trustworthiness of the structured data (non graphical) part of
the model elements

The PAS is more focused on phases than the BIMForum LOD spec,
harmonising with the RIBA plan of work. The main levels of the
LODs in the PAS are:

13 Design - Here we have a 3D representation with speci cation

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attached. The geometric detail should be minimum space
allocation for operational and maintenance space

De nition - Generic geometric representation of element.

Speci cation properties and attributes to allow selection of
manufacturer product

Build and commission - Replace generic product with product

procured from manufacturer. Reattach/ relink object to
replacement object. Should also include nal positioning of
pipework and ductwork.

Handover and closeout - All necessary information about the

product should be included - operations and maintenance
documentation - The model should now be a “digital twin” - as
constructed.

Operational and in use - Update asset information model with

maintenance records, replacement dates, replaced equipment

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7/30/2020 Level of Development - LOD - as a Lifecycle BIM tool

The PAS 1192-2 do include a matrix that describe the di erent

levels and their characteristics. In addition to the rows shown
below rows include “outputs”, “parametric information” and
“critical information and logic” among others.

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Implications and advice for

owners
As we see a lot of work has been done to specify and describe
model content, detail and suitability. Owners can use these
standards and guidelines as communications tools and references
when de ning, expressing and discussing their needs. Now they
have baselines to support their discussion when they ask if their
models are suitable for facilities management. When their needs
di er from the standards they can specify those di erences
instead of starting from scratch. For professionals working with
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multiple clients they now only need to consider the deviations

from what they know and not start on a custom made spec each
time. (please note however that as with any other BIM standard or
tool the main focus is on design and construction, not so much on
facility management)
We generally advice owner to focus on their requirements on the
end result - what do they need post handover. Then they should
let the project decide the process needed for design and
construction collaboration. At the same time the project should
consider the owner needs as soon as possible and consider how
that will a ect their BIM execution strategy. E.g. if the owner have
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speci c requirements the project should decide who should
generate the data and how it should be validated. Structured and
validated data should be included in the model “as soon as
possible”. Data availability will add value to the processes and
data use will ensure quality.

There will be a lot of information generated during the lifecycle of

the design and construction process. Owners should focus on a
minimum set of info that should be present and validated during
handover (e.g. correct positioning, correct level of detail for
geometry, core product data and linked O&M instructions.) Then
they should be able to archive the additional information
generated during the process but should also have a way to assess
the trustworthiness of that info.
We think that an important step to handle this is is for the owner
to approve BIM element handover on a per object and per system
basis and preferably as an ongoing e ort during commissioning.
As soon as equipment and building elements are nalised and
con rmed “as built” they should be submitted for owner approval.

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The approval should include the required data and attached

additional info and history.

The main takeaway is for both the project and the owner to
understand the di erence between a design intent model, a
construction model and a facilities management model. To help
visualise the di erences both in geometric detail and data content
and reliability the LOD speci cations can be used.

Currently most BIM model elements “end” their lifecycle at

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design intent. They are used to automate the creation of design
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documents. Generic object are not replaced by manufacturers
objects and manufacturer's product data are not linked to the
model elements. Contractors do not improve the models to the
LOD 400 level. For us it is important to point out that you can
generate LOD 500 models (models for facility management)
without evolving the models to the full LOD 400 spec. We feel that
there should be a level of de nition “in between” where generic
objects are replaced by speci c data and the model geometry and
correctness is veri ed without having to aspire for the geometric
detail that LOD 400 describes.

As always we welcome questions and comments below. Also if you

want to know when we publish new articles, please sign up for our
newsletter

Hans Kristian Grani Share this post

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