3D laser scanning services in Fort Lauderdale

It depends on the size and complexity of the building and on what has to be drawn. One office floor delivered as 2D plans is a small job; a beachfront tower with its parking deck and mechanical levels modeled in Revit is not. Send the address, the building type and the deliverables and the quote covers the scope, not a day rate. What drives the price is explained in our cost guide.

On-site capture for a typical commercial building is one to two days, and the 2D set or the Revit model usually follows within one to three weeks, depending on the level of detail and how much MEP is included. Towers, plants and large decks are scoped individually, and the quote states the schedule.

The package the quote lists: for most Broward projects the registered point cloud (E57 and, for Autodesk, RCP/RCS) plus either a 2D as-built set (floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, sections and elevations in DWG or DXF) or a Revit model (RVT), and where scoped, slab-elevation maps for deck or balcony existing-condition documentation or IGES for mechanical work. Formats, sheet list, model elements and the coordinate system are agreed before the site visit.

As measured existing-condition documentation, yes, when the inspecting professional requests it; it never replaces the inspection. Florida's milestone-inspection law generally applies to residential condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more: the first inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years from its certificate of occupancy and every 10 years after, the local enforcement agency may require a 25-year schedule because of local circumstances, and statutory exceptions apply. Broward's Building Safety Inspection Program applies to non-exempt buildings at 25 years from the certificate of occupancy and on a 10-year cycle after that (small residential buildings of up to four units and three stories, structures under 3,500 sq ft and fee-simple townhouses are exempt), and Broward Policy 05-05 states that a BSIP inspection serves as compliance with both milestone-inspection phases for qualifying buildings. The owner or association confirms the property's requirements with the local building official and the inspecting professional. Where the existing drawings are missing or inaccurate, we provide the scoped plans, sections or elevations as supporting information. Scanning does not determine structural safety, perform the statutory inspection or replace its signed-and-sealed report: the Florida milestone inspection is a structural inspection by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer, and Broward BSIP includes structural and electrical requirements with the qualifications its policy specifies.

Yes. Occupied-building capture is scoped around residents, guests or production, subject to safe access and the building's requirements; we regularly work in occupied buildings and operating facilities, and the scanner touches nothing. Before the visit we settle the site contact, the hours, access to units, roofs, ceilings and mechanical rooms, and any association notice, security or insurance paperwork the building asks for.

Yes. In Fort Lauderdale we scan yachts and engine rooms as well as boatyard and marina buildings: the visible interior geometry, machinery spaces and the interfaces a refit or equipment change has to fit, delivered as a point cloud or a model in the format your naval architect or yard already uses. Access, the vessel's availability and what is to be captured are agreed with the yard or the owner's representative before the visit.

A site contact, the hours we can work, notice to residents where units, balconies or parking levels are included, keys or an escort for roofs, mechanical rooms and locked areas, and any security, insurance or contractor paperwork the building requires. Tell us at the quote stage which areas are restricted so the scope and schedule allow for them.

Yes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and storms can occur outside it. Interior scanning runs year-round, subject to access, availability and site conditions. Exterior capture depends on weather and safe access: if a storm is forecast we move the visit rather than scan surfaces that are wet or moving. Where a site needs both, the interior usually comes first; any split visits, rescheduling assumptions and return-visit costs are identified in the quote.

Fort Lauderdale and the rest of Broward County, with Palm Beach County by arrangement. Miami and Miami-Dade have their own page. Travel and any return visits are identified in the quote.

For the building-scale terrestrial point cloud our stated accuracy is ±3 mm typical (2–4 mm by range), tied to your surveyor's control when the project provides it. That is the cloud. The drawings and the model carry their own tolerance, agreed in the scope, because a massing model and a structural model are not drawn to the same one. Areas the scanner could not reach are marked not visible on the drawings rather than drawn in.

They answer different questions. We provide the registered point cloud and the CAD or Revit existing-conditions documentation drafted from it: the visible surfaces within the scoped areas are recorded, so a missed dimension can usually be read from the cloud rather than needing a second visit, while concealed or inaccessible conditions are not, and the cloud stays the reference for the rest of the project. We do not offer or issue our deliverables as surveys or maps under Chapter 472 of the Florida Statutes. Boundary surveys, as-built/record surveys, ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys, construction or control surveys come from a Florida-licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper, and on many projects the two are used together. Whether other measurements fall within regulated surveying and mapping depends on the scope and intended use; we identify that before booking. We compare the two methods in our 3D scanning vs traditional surveying article.

No. We provide the scoped measured existing conditions; the project team prepares the permit documents, and any signed-and-sealed survey, that the application requires under the Florida Building Code. For an address inside the city limits, permits go through the City of Fort Lauderdale's Development Services; elsewhere in Broward, confirm the responsible municipality or County authority for the address and permit type. Our files do not replace the required professional submissions or guarantee approval. Our drawings and models give the design team an accurate base to draw from, which matters most on older buildings where the archive set no longer matches what is there.

Measured existing conditions at the level of detail the quote sets out (LOD 200 to 350 for models), as the starting point for design, planning, coordination and the engineer's own assessment. They are scoped existing-condition deliverables, not offered or issued as sealed construction documents, fabrication drawings or Chapter 472 surveys or maps; any regulated survey or map requires a Florida-licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper. A dimension a design or a fit depends on should be field-verified before anything is built to it, and areas the scanner could not see are marked not visible rather than filled in. Design, construction and field-verification responsibilities follow the project documents; any statutory inspection and its signed-and-sealed report remain with the qualified inspecting professional.