In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus and method for creating a model, including the third dimension (3D), in a CAD program directly from a laser or sonar measuring device. As the measurements of an architectural structure are taken and as numeric codes are entered into the keypad of the laser or sonar measuring device, the invention receives the data on a laptop, PC, or other computing device, interprets the data, and consequently engages commands in the CAD program to create a 3D file reflecting the architectural space being measured by the user.