BIM LOD Levels Explained
BIM Level of Development (LOD) levels — 100, 200, 300, 350, 400, 500 — define the geometric and informational detail of model elements at each project stage. This guide explains what each level means in practice, when each is appropriate, and how scan-to-BIM deliverables map to LOD.
BIM LOD Levels Explained
LOD — Level of Development — is the framework the AEC industry uses to answer a deceptively simple question: how much can I trust this model element? Defined by BIMForum and codified into contracts through AIA Document G202, LOD runs across six levels, from the conceptual massing of LOD 100 to the verified as-built record of LOD 500.
Getting LOD right is largely about avoiding two expensive mistakes: paying to model detail you don’t need, or trusting a model that was never built to be trusted. This guide walks through each level, what it means in practice, and how scan-to-BIM deliverables map to it.
Level of Development is not level of detail
The single most common confusion: LOD does not mean “level of detail.” A model element can look richly detailed on screen and still be unreliable for any real decision.
Level of Development describes the reliability of an element — whether its geometry, dimensions, and position are trustworthy enough to measure, coordinate, fabricate, or build against. Detail is what you see. Development is what you can depend on. Every LOD conversation should be about the second one.
The six levels
LOD 100 — Conceptual
The element is represented symbolically — a mass, an area, a generic volume. Useful for early feasibility, massing studies, and order-of-magnitude cost. Nothing about its geometry should be measured or relied upon. It tells you something is here, not what or exactly where.
LOD 200 — Approximate geometry
The element now has approximate size, shape, location, and orientation. Good enough for schematic design and space planning. Dimensions are indicative, not contractual — you can lay out a floor plate, but you shouldn’t order materials off it.
LOD 300 — Precise geometry
The workhorse level for most projects. Geometry, size, location, and orientation are specific and accurate — they match field reality closely enough to design against. For renovation and retrofit as-builts, LOD 300 is usually the right default. It’s the point where the model becomes a reliable design surface.
LOD 350 — Coordinated interfaces
LOD 350 adds what 300 leaves out: how elements connect and clash with the systems around them. Supports, connections, and interfaces between trades are modeled. This is where multi-trade clash detection becomes genuinely reliable, because the model finally represents how systems actually meet rather than where each one sits in isolation.
LOD 400 — Fabrication-ready
Elements carry the detail needed for fabrication and assembly — connection details, mounting, the information a shop needs to cut and build. LOD 400 roughly doubles modeling effort versus LOD 300, so it’s reserved for the elements that justify it: MEP for prefabrication, structural connections, anything heading to a fabrication shop.
LOD 500 — Verified as-built
The element is a field-verified record of what was actually built, confirmed against reality. LOD 500 is about verification, not added geometry — and it’s exactly where a laser scan earns its place, providing the measured ground truth that as-built verification requires.
How scan-to-BIM maps to LOD
A laser scan is not an LOD. It’s the measured reality a model gets built from. The workflow is:
- Capture existing conditions as a registered point cloud (the measured truth).
- Model elements from that cloud at a chosen LOD via scan-to-BIM.
- Verify the model back against the scan — which is what supports an LOD 500 as-built claim.
The scan’s accuracy sets the ceiling on how reliable the resulting model can be. You cannot model a more trustworthy element than your underlying measurement supports — which is why registration quality matters before any modeling begins.
Choosing the right LOD — and not over-paying
The practical rule: match LOD to the decision the element supports.
- Feasibility and massing → LOD 100–200
- Design development on a renovation → LOD 300
- Multi-trade coordination and clash detection → LOD 350
- MEP prefabrication and structural fabrication → LOD 400
- Field-verified as-built of record → LOD 500
Specifying LOD 400 across an entire model “to be safe” is one of the most common ways to burn budget. The right move is to set a base LOD for the project and elevate only the specific elements — usually MEP and structural connections — that genuinely need it. A good scan-to-BIM partner helps you draw that line.
Putting it in the contract
LOD only protects you if it’s written down. AIA Document G202 exists precisely so teams can assign a specific LOD to specific model elements at specific phases, with a named party responsible for each. Defining LOD per element category in the BIM execution plan — rather than waving at “LOD 300 overall” — is what prevents the tolerance disputes that surface during construction.
Related
If you’re scoping a model now, the scan-to-BIM service page covers how we deliver each LOD in practice, including pricing by square footage and LOD. For the capture that feeds it, see 3D laser scanning.