iScano · For construction
3D laser scanning for construction
Measured conditions at every stage of the build: a LiDAR point cloud of the site or structure, then a comparison against your design model, as-built drawings, or a Revit model of what is there. Verification, existing conditions and closeout records, across Canada and the US.
Get a quote for your projectCall (917) 383-3456
In Canada, call (647) 773-1341 · deliverables agreed before every quote
Trusted in Canada and the US
What contractors use it for
When contractors scan, and what for
Usually one visit per milestone. We agree what gets scanned, what it is compared against and what the result has to show before we quote, and the numbers come from the point cloud on your survey control, not from a tape.
Construction verification
Slabs, steel, openings and embeds scanned after they go in and compared with the design model or drawings, so a grid line off or an opening the wrong size is found while there is still time to fix it.
Existing conditions before you build
Plans, sections and elevations of the building as it stands for renovations, additions and fit-outs, so estimating and detailing start from measured conditions. See as-built documentation.
Scan to BIM for coordination
The existing structure and visible services modelled in Revit at LOD 200 to 350, so new MEP and steel are coordinated against what is really there. See scan to BIM services.
Slabs and floors
Poured slabs scanned and mapped against design level, high and low areas shown, before flooring, racking or equipment goes on them. A level map, not a formal FF/FL acceptance test. See how we scan slabs.
Steel and anchor bolts
Anchor bolt patterns, base plates and erected steel checked against the structural model before the next trade is on site. See anchor bolt surveys.
As-built record at handover
The finished building scanned and delivered as a point cloud with drawings or a model in the owner's template, so closeout documents match what was built. See 3D laser scanning services.
How it works
From site visit to a report you can act on
Five steps, one team. Swipe through them.Pick a step.
1. Scope
What is being checked or documented, which milestones, and what it is compared against: drawings, a model or survey control.
More detail
What the scan is for, which areas and milestones, and what the result is compared against: your drawings, the structural model, or the survey control already on site. A pre-pour embed check, an as-built floor plate and a closeout record are three different jobs, and the scope says which one this is. If you collaborate in Autodesk Construction Cloud or Procore, we deliver into that.
2. Capture
Terrestrial for structure, slabs and services; mobile for big open floors; drone for sites and roofs. We work around the trades.
More detail
Terrestrial scanning for steel, slabs, embeds and services, anything that has to be right to a few millimetres. Mobile scanning for large open floors without dense services. Drone and photogrammetry for sites, roofs and stockpiles. We scan around an active site, between trades or after hours, and density goes where the checks are.
3. Register
Every station aligned into one checked point cloud, tied to your survey control or shared coordinates when provided, delivered early in E57, RCP or RCS.
More detail
Every station aligned into one cloud, registration error checked, and tied to the site's survey control or shared coordinates when you provide them, so the scan sits on the same grid as the design model. Delivered early in E57, RCP or RCS with its metadata, so your team can start looking and can merge later scans with it.
4. Compare or draw
The cloud compared with the design model, or drawn up as as-built plans and sections. Nothing traced from old drawings.
More detail
For verification, the cloud is overlaid on the design model or drawings and the differences measured: grid lines, plumb, level, opening sizes, bolt positions. For existing conditions, plans, sections and elevations are drawn on the registered cloud, or the structure is modelled in Revit, in your template when you send one. Where something cannot be seen, behind a finish or below grade, we mark it as not visible rather than guess.
5. Verify and deliver
Every sheet and comparison checked against the cloud, reviewed with you, then the report, drawings or model agreed in the scope, with the point cloud.
More detail
Each sheet and comparison goes through our QA/QC check against the point cloud before it leaves. We go through it with you, make the revisions, then deliver what the scope says: the comparison report as PDF and DWG, as-built sheets in your AutoCAD version and template, or the Revit model in yours, always with the registered point cloud so your team can check anything we did not measure.
Before you issue the scope
How to write the scan into your scope
Most problems with a scan on a construction site come from a scope that was never written down. Three lines are enough: which areas and which milestone, what it is compared against (drawings, model or survey control), and what the result has to show. We turn that into a quote with the dates on it.
If you are not sure whether you need a comparison, drawings or a model, send the project and we will tell you. For a pre-pour or steel check, a comparison report is usually enough; for a renovation starting from an old building, the as-built set or a Revit model saves redrawing.
- Milestones and checks, in writingWhich pours, lifts or floors, and what each is checked against, agreed before we quote.
- Your control and your templateSurvey control or shared coordinates, plus your layers, title block and Revit template, so the scan lands on your grid.
- A straight answer up frontIf a job needs a surveyor, a model instead of a comparison, or less than you asked for, we say so before you spend anything.
What we check
What gets checked, and how it is reported
Each check is a different cut through the same point cloud. Pick one to see what is measured and what the report shows.
Case studies
Projects for contractors, and what they built from
Steel, glazing, a stadium, housing and heritage. Every one started with our own point cloud and ended with numbers a contractor or installer built from. Read what went right and what did not.
Steel · Mississauga
As-designed vs as-built steel
Brought in for a 2D as-built of the erected frame and poured slabs; put on the project survey control so the as-built could be measured against the design model instead of argued about. Three contractors, one set of numbers.
Read the case study →
Heritage · Toronto
Heritage seniors home, Sherbourne Street
A city-owned building with no usable drawings, scanned and modelled in Revit for the architects planning its renewal.
Read the case study →
Residential · Toronto
Victorian house renovation, the Annex
Two-phase scan-to-BIM for a design-build firm: the whole house first, then the opened-up structure once demolition exposed it.
Read the case study →
Glazing · Toronto
Glass openings on two buildings, Rosedale
Every opening drawn from the scan for a glass contractor, with clearances, re-issued in the fabricator's own CAD template.
Read the case study →
Public housing · Etobicoke
Two Toronto Community Housing sites
Gyms and a garage scanned so the retrofit started from measured structure, not archive sets.
Read the case study →
Stadium · Toronto
A new video board in a 1989 stadium
350+ scan positions across the field, the bowl and inside the sign structure, turned into the sections and model the installers engineered the new board against.
Read the case study →Point cloud in, model out
Drag to compare the scan with the model
A floor plate under construction: the registered point cloud with the model overlaid on the left, the Revit model built from it on the right.
Why iScano
Why contractors work with iScano
A reality-capture company with more than a decade in LiDAR, measuring buildings and sites for contractors across Canada and the US. Most of the checks we do are on live sites between trades; what we hand over is one set of numbers that the fabricator, the erector and the site team can all work from, on your survey control.
- One team, end to end. Field capture, registration and drafting stay connected, so questions about the cloud are checked against the scan and site photos, not guessed.
- Scoped before it is priced. Milestones, checks and the comparison basis agreed in writing before we quote.
- The outputs you scoped. A comparison report as PDF and DWG, as-built sheets in your template, RVT in yours, and the point cloud in E57 or RCP so you can check anything we did not measure.
- Checked before delivery. Every sheet and model goes through QA/QC against the point cloud, and we go through it with you before it is final.
The three services behind this page: 3D laser scanning services, as-built documentation and scan to BIM services.
Equipment and software
Sebastian Graterol
Co-founder · Geomatics engineer
More than a decade in LiDAR and photogrammetry. Reviews every construction scope with the team before it is quoted.
Reviews
What clients say
Where we work
Where we work with contractors
Canada: (647) 773-1341
United States: (917) 383-3456
- Toronto
- Ottawa
- Montreal
- Vancouver
- Calgary
- Kitchener-Waterloo
- Winnipeg
- Ontario
- New York City
- Connecticut
- Chicago
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Miami
- Fort Lauderdale
- Florida
Each city page has coverage details and the number to call: 3D laser scanning in Toronto and the GTA, 3D laser scanning in New York City, 3D laser scanning in Montreal, 3D laser scanning in Miami and 3D laser scanning in Chicago. All areas we operate →
FAQ
What contractors ask before a quote
Can you check what was built against our drawings?
Yes. We scan what was built and compare it with the design drawings or model: a grid line off, an opening the wrong size, a slab out of level, anchor bolts out of pattern. We did this for a steel-framed building in Mississauga, where three contractors needed one set of numbers.
When in the build should we scan?
At the milestones where a difference is still cheap to fix: anchor bolts before the steel arrives, slabs after the pour and before finishes, steel after erection and before decking, services before the ceiling closes, and the finished building for the closeout record. One visit per milestone; the scope says which ones.
How accurate is it?
The point cloud is registered to ±3 mm typical (2–4 mm depending on range and setup) and tied to your survey control when you provide it. Comparisons and drawings are built on that cloud and checked against it. Registration accuracy is the cloud; the accuracy of a reported dimension also depends on the control and the element measured, and is agreed in the scope. The tolerance you are checking against comes from your specification; we report the measured difference.
Can you tie the scan to our survey control?
Yes. Send the control points or shared coordinates and the cloud is registered on them, so the comparison sits on the same grid as the design model and a surveyor can check it. If the site has no control yet, we say so and tell you what is needed.
What does the report look like?
For a comparison: the cloud overlaid on the design model or drawings, with the differences measured and listed by grid line or element, as PDF sheets and DWG, plus the point cloud. If a comparison is all you need, that is all you are quoted for. For slabs: a plan showing high and low areas against design level. For existing conditions: plans, sections and elevations, or a Revit model, in your template.
Do we need our own LiDAR scanner?
Not for this. A construction LiDAR scanner is only part of it; the registration, the survey control and the comparison against the model are where the result comes from. We bring the equipment and deliver the checked result; you keep the point cloud and the drawings.
Can you scan an active site?
Yes. Most of the sites we scan are working. We scan between trades, from outside the exclusion zones, or after hours, and we keep the scanner out of the way of the lift.
Can you scan existing services before coordination?
Yes. Ducts, pipes, cable trays and structure are scanned where they are visible and modelled in Revit or delivered as a cloud, so the new services are routed against what is there. Above a hard ceiling we mark it not visible rather than guess, or open a few tiles for the scan. See scan to BIM services.
How long does it take?
A floor plate or a steel lift can often be captured in a day; larger or more complex areas take longer. The comparison report comes first; drawings follow in one to three weeks, a Revit model in one to three as well, depending on size and LOD. We give you the dates with the quote and can send the point cloud early.
What drives the cost?
The size of the area, how many milestones, whether it is a comparison, drawings or a model, and the LOD. A single pre-pour check and an as-built model of a whole building are very different jobs. Send the address and the milestone and we will scope it; our 3D laser scanning cost guide explains what moves the price.
Can you work in our CAD standard and Revit template?
Yes. Send your layer standard, title block and Revit template and we deliver in them, in the AutoCAD and Revit versions you run. If the project has survey control or shared coordinates, send them and the cloud, drawings and model are delivered on them. Otherwise we use a clean standard set and agree the sheet list with you first.
Where do you work?
Across Canada and the US; see the city pages above for coverage and the number to call. For a site somewhere else, send the address and we will tell you how we would get there.
Get a quote
Tell us about the site. We'll tell you what it takes.
The address, the building type and what the project is are enough to start.
Prefer to talk? Canada (647) 773-1341 · US (917) 383-3456
What to send for a quote: the address and what is being built, the milestone and what it should be checked against, your survey control if you have it, site access, and the date you need it. A rough version of that is enough to start.
- Checks or sheets agreed before every quote
- Crews across Canada and the US
- Report, drawings or model as scoped; point cloud included