Estimator · BIM modelling fees

BIM Budget Starter

Build an indicative low, typical and high BIM modelling fee at LOD 400 from your own rates per square metre and per sheet, with the core split, add-ons and the sheet cross-check shown line by line.

Free to useNo account neededInputs stay in your tabAssumptions checked September 2026Owner-approved for preliminary use · not independently reviewed

Not independently reviewed, and not calibrated. The percentages behind this tool come from one practitioner’s rate card, recorded on 17 September 2026 with status Draft, and they have never been tested against a completed project. Every result reportsNOT_CALIBRATED and requires professional review before it reaches a quotation, a fee submission or a contract commitment.

What this tool does

An indicative low, typical and high direct BIM production cost for a single project at LOD 400, from quantities and rates you enter in your own currency, and the core split and add-on percentages of one KSA practitioner rate card.

It is not a quotation, a selling price, a profit or overhead calculator, a team-size or programme tool, or a calibrated method. VAT, IT infrastructure, overhead and profit are excluded and added on top by you.

The method never supplies a rate. The rate fields start empty and stay empty. The owner’s reference card is provenance for the percentages and is never placed in a rate box.

Start with what you know

Your answers stay in this tab. Nothing is stored, and nothing is sent anywhere. Use nonconfidential labels. A blank quantity leaves the figure that depends on it unresolved, or makes a route unavailable. It never becomes zero.

Enable JavaScript to calculate locally. Without it every question is shown at once rather than only the ones your pricing route needs, and the method and its limitations below remain readable.

What this tool needs before it reports a fee

Every other question on this form refines, labels or records the figure. A blank one leaves the part that depends on it unresolved and says so; it never becomes zero, and no value is assumed in its place.

Which currency are your rates in?
How do you price this work? Answer this first: it decides which quantities and rates the rest of this form asks you for.
At least one selection across core disciplines and add-ons. With neither, there is nothing to price and no fee is reported (V-04).

The rest depends on how you price the work. Each pricing route, and the minimum it adds, is listed below.

Area also needs:

Modelled area. Needed whenever floor area is priced. On the sheets route it is not priced at all, and is read only if you estimate a sheet count below.
Low rate per square metre. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.

Sheets also needs:

Issued sheet count. At least one sheet. Leave it blank only if you estimate a count instead, in the sheet-count estimate below.
Low rate per sheet. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.

Area + sheets also needs:

Modelled area. Needed whenever floor area is priced. On the sheets route it is not priced at all, and is read only if you estimate a sheet count below.
Low rate per square metre. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.
Issued sheet count. At least one sheet. Leave it blank only if you estimate a count instead, in the sheet-count estimate below.
Low rate per sheet. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.

1. Project

Scope is fixed at LOD 400. Another LOD needs its own rate card and its own percentages, so this tool declares the one it prices rather than offering a choice it would refuse.

Level of development: LOD 400. Fixed scope. Another LOD needs its own rate card and its own percentages, so this tool prices one LOD rather than scaling between them (V-03).

Which currency are your rates in? (required to calculate)

Three letters, for example SAR, AED, EUR. The tool holds money as exact whole minor units of this currency: halalas, fils or cents, a hundredth of one unit. It applies no exchange rate and looks nothing up. For example SAR.

Modelled area (required for this estimate) — square metres

The floor area to be modelled, in square metres. Use a dot for decimals, to at most two places. For example 10000. Needed whenever floor area is priced. On the sheets route it is not priced at all, and is read only if you estimate a sheet count below.

How is that area measured? (optional refinement)

Declared for the record. The measurement basis is an open decision, so the tool asks rather than assuming one. It carries no number and changes no arithmetic.

2. Pricing method

The route decides which quantities are priced and which rates you are asked for. Nothing else multiplies them, and the method supplies no rate: these fields start empty and a blank one never becomes zero.

Choose how you price this work and only the quantities and rates that route uses will be shown.

How do you price this work? (required to calculate)

Area — No reliable sheet count, or you price by area. B = A × your area rate. Sheets — The sheet count is known and the area is not, or your firm prices by sheet. B = N × your sheet rate. Area + sheets — Both quantities are sound and you have a rate pair you use together. B = A × your area rate + N × your sheet rate. There is no weighting factor: the split already lives in the pair. Answer this first: it decides which quantities and rates the rest of this form asks you for.

Low rate per square metre (required for this estimate) — per square metre

Your own rate per square metre, at the low end of your range. On the combined route this is the combined-pair rate, not your standalone area rate. For example 12. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.

High rate per square metre (optional refinement) — per square metre

The high end of the same range. One figure alone is allowed: leave this blank and both endpoints use your low figure, so the scenarios differ only by the ranged add-ons. For example 15. Adds the upper end of your own range. Without it the scenarios differ only by the ranged add-ons.

Issued sheet count (required for this estimate) — issued sheets

Every issued sheet, not plans only, and at least one: this route prices sheet production, so a count of zero is not a quantity it can price. Leave it blank and you can estimate one below; a figure you type replaces that outright and is labelled ENTERED. For example 384. At least one sheet. Leave it blank only if you estimate a count instead, in the sheet-count estimate below.

Low rate per sheet (required for this estimate) — per sheet

Your own rate per issued sheet, at the low end of your range, at a stated sheet size and scale. For example 250. One figure is enough to calculate: with the high rate blank, both ends of the range use this one. The method supplies no rate.

High rate per sheet (optional refinement) — per sheet

The high end of the same range. One figure alone is allowed here too. For example 300. Adds the upper end of your own range. Without it the scenarios differ only by the ranged add-ons.

Sheet size your sheet rate refers to (optional refinement)

A rate per sheet means nothing without the sheet it refers to. Entering a sheet rate without its size and scale is flagged (V-14).

Scale your sheet rate refers to (optional refinement)

For example 1:50. If this differs from the scale you used in an estimated count, the counts are not interchangeable.

Do not know the sheet count? Estimate it

Only needed when you have no counted sheet list. The plan count is exact geometry; the step from plans to a whole issued set carries one declared assumption, shown to you rather than buried. A count you type always supersedes it.

This is the same derivation as BIM Documentation Starter, reused rather than reinvented. A count it builds is labelled ESTIMATED; a count you type is labelled ENTERED and supersedes it outright. No value passes automatically between the two tools.

Storeys in the building (advanced optional input)

Used only to divide the area into a floor plate. Whole number. For example 6.

Floors drawn individually (advanced optional input)

How many floors are drawn individually, after identical floors are documented once. Whole number. For example 4.

Disciplines issuing plans (advanced optional input)

How many disciplines issue plans in this set. Whole number. For example 4.

Plan types per discipline (advanced optional input)

How many plan types each discipline issues, for example general arrangement, setting-out, finishes. Whole number. For example 3.

Usable sheet width, after border and title block (advanced optional input) — millimetres

Your own border and title-block dimensions, measured once from your template. No starting value is recorded, so this is asked every time. For example 631.

Usable sheet height, after border and title block (advanced optional input) — millimetres

The other usable dimension of the same sheet, after the border and title block. For example 574.

Plan scale denominator n, as in 1:n (advanced optional input)

At 1:n, a usable sheet W mm wide spans W x n / 1000 metres. Enter n, for example 50. For example 50.

Which issue is being priced? (advanced optional input)

This prefills the plans share below and reads into nothing else in the arithmetic. Building type, asset class and complexity read into it nowhere.

Plans share of the issued set (advanced optional input) — percent

The share of a whole issued set that is plans. The number in this box is the number used. Change it and nothing will overwrite it, including a later change of stage. Prefilled from the issue stage; editable.

Why this value?

Choose the issue above and this box is prefilled with a starting value that names the register it was counted from. The number in the box is the number used.

4. Refine

Positioning is a structured judgment with no equation: you place the project and record why. There are no factor weights until calibration supports them.

Where does this project sit in your own rate range? (optional refinement)

Simple takes your low rate, Typical the midpoint of your own two figures, Complex your high rate. Needed only when your low and high rates differ.

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
Building type	Warehouse, car park, repetitive residential	Office, school, retail, hotel	Hospital, lab, airport, data centre, mixed-use tower
MEP density	Basic HVAC and power	Full MEP with standard plant rooms	Dense services, medical gases, clean rooms, congested ceilings
Geometry and repetition	High repetition, orthogonal	Some unique floors	Free-form, few repeated floors
Programme	Relaxed, single issue	Normal staged issues	Compressed, parallel teams, frequent issues
Client standards	Firm own standards	Project EIR and BEP	Demanding client EIR, strict naming, classification and data checks, formal model audits
Input quality (proposed)	Coordinated design, stable	Some gaps and revisions	Incomplete or changing design, many RFIs

Proposed rule of thumb, pending owner approval (D-10): take the position most factors point to, and move one step up if a single Complex factor clearly drives most of the effort.

Reason for this position (optional refinement)

One line, recorded on the result with your name and the date. Without it the estimate is a draft rather than a final output (V-05).

4D/5D combined — complexity (optional refinement)

Where this project sits for 4d/5d combined. Simple, Typical and Complex read the register values for this add-on and nothing else.

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
4D/5D (P-09)	4D on a summary programme or 5D quantity take-off only	4D at activity level and 5D quantities linked to the BOQ	Detailed 4D and 5D with repeated updates, cash flow and scenarios

4D/5D combined — reason for this position (optional refinement)

One line, recorded on the result. Without it the estimate is a draft rather than a final output (V-05).

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
4D/5D (P-09)	4D on a summary programme or 5D quantity take-off only	4D at activity level and 5D quantities linked to the BOQ	Detailed 4D and 5D with repeated updates, cash flow and scenarios

As-built — complexity (optional refinement)

Where this project sits for as-built. Simple, Typical and Complex read the register values for this add-on and nothing else.

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
As-built (P-10)	Updating the team own LOD 400 model from marked-up changes	Moderate site changes from several sources	Many changes, reconstruction from site records or checking against supplied scan data

As-built — reason for this position (optional refinement)

One line, recorded on the result. Without it the estimate is a draft rather than a final output (V-05).

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
As-built (P-10)	Updating the team own LOD 400 model from marked-up changes	Moderate site changes from several sources	Many changes, reconstruction from site records or checking against supplied scan data

Infrastructure (civil works, not IT) — complexity (optional refinement)

Where this project sits for infrastructure (civil works, not it). Simple, Typical and Complex read the register values for this add-on and nothing else.

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
Infrastructure (P-11)	External works within the plot	Site-wide utilities and roads	Large networks or major structures; measurement basis still open (D-06)

Infrastructure (civil works, not IT) — reason for this position (optional refinement)

One line, recorded on the result. Without it the estimate is a draft rather than a final output (V-05).

What makes a project Simple, Typical or Complex?

Descriptions you read to place the project. No factor is scored or weighted, and none of these words reaches a number.
Factor	Simple	Typical	Complex
Infrastructure (P-11)	External works within the plot	Site-wide utilities and roads	Large networks or major structures; measurement basis still open (D-06)

Estimator name (optional refinement)

Recorded on the result. Use a name you are willing to stand behind.

Date of this estimate (optional refinement)

The date you made this call, for example 2026-09-20. For example 2026-09-20.

Scope note, for your own record (optional refinement)

Anything you want carried on the result, including the measurement basis if you chose Other above. Use nonconfidential labels; nothing is stored or sent anywhere.

Result

No result yet. Answer the questions marked required to calculate and required for this estimate, then select Calculate.

How the method works

Record the inputs: currency, modelled area A and its measurement basis, floors, the sheet count N and whether it was entered or derived, the core disciplines, the add-ons (§5 step 1).
Enter the rates. A low and a high figure for the route in use, in your own currency. The fields start empty: the method never suggests a rate. One figure is allowed, and the scenarios then differ only by the ranged add-ons (§5 step 2).
Choose the route. B = A x area rate, or N x sheet rate, or both added together on the combined route. There is no weighting factor: the rate pair a firm uses together already carries the split (§5 step 3).
Position the ranged parameters and record a one-line reason for each. Simple takes your low rate, Typical the midpoint of your own low and high, Complex your high rate (§5 step 4, §6).
Core fee C = B x the sum of the selected shares from P-03 to P-06. All four selected gives C = B (§5 step 6).
Add-on fee D = B x the sum of the selected add-on percentages from P-07 to P-12. Add-ons always use the full B, even when the core scope is partial (§5 step 7).
Total F = C + D, reported low, typical, high and selected. Low uses your low rates with every ranged add-on Simple; high uses your high rates with every one Complex. The selected figure lies between them (§5 step 8).

On the owner’s card the combined rates are exactly half of each standalone rate, so the split already lives in the rates a firm uses together. There is no weighting factor. The route decides which rates you are asked for, and nothing else multiplies them. Running a combined rate pair with no sheet count prices half the work, which is why that case refuses rather than continuing.

Full method, parameter register, validation rules, evidence register, calibration plan and open owner decisions: AECEQ BIM Modelling Fee Estimation Methodology (KSA, LOD 400) v0.13, Register v0.11, 17 September 2026. View methodology.

The percentages this tool applies

Every percentage below is expert judgment recorded on 17 September 2026 with status Draft, applied as a share of the full base fee B. They are not editable here: changing one is a methodology change, not a user setting.

Parameter register

If columns extend beyond the screen, swipe this table sideways or focus it and use the left/right arrow keys.

Every percentage this tool applies, as a share of the full base fee B. A fixed parameter is never positioned. 4D/5D uses the card’s own 10-15-30 as three anchors, so its typical value is not the arithmetic midpoint of 20%.
ID	Parameter	Applies to	Simple	Typical	Complex	How the typical value was set
P-03	Architecture share	Core	35%	35%	35%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-04	Structure share	Core	15%	15%	15%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-05	Mechanical share	Core	25%	25%	25%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-06	Electrical share	Core	25%	25%	25%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-07	ELV	Add-on	25%	25%	25%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-08	Rebar detailing	Add-on	30%	30%	30%	Fixed. Never positioned.
P-09	4D/5D combined	Add-on	10%	15%	30%	Card anchor. The card states 10-15-30 as three anchors, so the typical value is not the arithmetic midpoint of 20% (D-07).
P-10	As-built	Add-on	15%	22.5%	30%	Midpoint, a convention of this method rather than a figure the owner stated (D-08).
P-11	Infrastructure	Add-on	10%	15%	20%	Midpoint, a convention of this method rather than a figure the owner stated (D-08).
P-12	AIR	Add-on	15%	15%	15%	Fixed. Never positioned.

What a figure here excludes

Every figure this tool produces is a direct production cost, not a selling price. Excludes VAT, IT infrastructure, software and hardware, overhead, profit and the other exclusions stated by the methodology.

View full exclusions

VAT (15% in KSA at the time of writing; confirm at quote date).
IT infrastructure: software licences, hardware and hosting.
Overhead: office, management and administration costs.
Profit.
Laser scanning or site survey for as-built work.
Travel, site attendance and client meetings beyond the norm.
Rework caused by client design changes after model freeze.

Limitations of this method

Scope and sheet count, not the rate, drive most of the uncertainty. The core split alone moves the fee between 15% and 100% of B, and the ranged add-ons vary up to three times between Simple and Complex (§11).
Core shares are fixed for every building type. A hospital MEP likely exceeds 50% of effort and a car park structure likely exceeds 15%, and this method cannot express either (L-03, D-05).
Rates are linear in area: no volume discount for large projects and no floor for small ones (L-04, D-03, D-04).
Rebar detailing at 30% is twice the structural model at 15%. Clients may challenge that line; explain the basis and confirm it in calibration (L-05).
Infrastructure is priced on building floor area, and linear or site-wide works may not relate to A at all (L-06, D-06).
There is no price date and no escalation. Rates drift with the market (L-09).
The route changes the fee. Pricing the same project on area alone or on sheets alone gives very different answers when the count is off, and the routes agree only near one sheet count per unit area (L-10).
Section 6 positioning descriptors were drafted for the owner rather than written by him, and are not yet his own criteria (L-07).
Methodology record bim-modelling-fee-v1, version 0.13.0, approved by its owner on 22 September 2026 for preliminary guidance and early-stage estimation, and for nothing beyond that. §1.1 permits this bounded preliminary release while the tool reports NOT_CALIBRATED; v0.13 then required the sheet count to be a positive integer, and changed no formula, coefficient, rate, share or threshold. That is the owner’s own sign-off, not an independent review: reviewers, none. It is not a validation, a calibration or a certification, and it does not approve the parameter register, which stays Draft. No calibration against project outcomes has taken place, and calibration is the gate for any reliance stronger than preliminary guidance and early-stage estimation — which is why every result here requires professional review before it reaches a quotation, a fee submission, a tender, a procurement decision, detailed budgeting or a contract commitment.

For a sheet count you can defend, or a headcount, carry your figures by hand to a sheet count you can defend, headcount or team composition. No value passes automatically between these tools.

Methodology bim-modelling-fee-v1, version 0.13.0, status OWNER_APPROVED, Register v0.11, 17 September 2026. Owner Hossam Farag, who approved it on 2026-09-22 for preliminary guidance and early-stage estimation, and for nothing beyond that. That is the owner’s own sign-off and not an independent review: reviewers, none. It is not a validation, a calibration or a certification, and it does not approve the parameter register, which stays Draft. No calibration against project outcomes has taken place. Substantively modified 2026-09-20.

BIM Budget Starter

What this tool does

Start with what you know

Check these entries

What this tool needs before it reports a fee

1. Project

2. Pricing method

3. Scope

4. Refine

Result

How the method works

The percentages this tool applies

What a figure here excludes