TL;DR
Before buying 3D laser scanning: demand accuracy as a number (±5mm registered, 8–12 mm to control), specify LOD per system rather than project-wide, expect 80,000–120,000 sq ft/day of capture, take every cloud format, require unscanned areas in writing, and put a 90%-pass acceptance test in the contract. Capture runs $0.05–$0.20/sq ft; scan-and-model runs $0.25–$0.60/sq ft.
Buying reality capture for the first time is mostly an exercise in not knowing which questions matter. The proposals all look similar, the price spread is wide, and the technical vocabulary hides the parts that determine whether the deliverable is useful.
Ten things worth knowing before the purchase order goes out.
1. Accuracy is a number or it is nothing
"Survey grade" and "high accuracy" mean nothing contractually. Our building-scale work registers to ±5mm, with interior registration residuals of 2–4 mm RMS and 4–6 mm exterior, tied to project or state plane control at 8–12 mm absolute. Those four numbers belong in the proposal. If they are absent, there is no accuracy commitment to enforce.
2. The point cloud is not the deliverable most people need
A cloud is raw measurement. What teams actually use is downstream: 2D floor plans, a Revit model at a specified LOD, sections and elevations, a web viewer. Decide which of those you need before comparing prices, because capture alone runs $0.05–$0.20/sq ft and a modelled deliverable runs $0.25–$0.60/sq ft. Those are different products.
3. LOD is per system, not per project
"LOD 300" as a blanket spec is the single most expensive line in a badly written scope. The right structure is architecture at LOD 200, primary structure at LOD 300, ducts and pipes 2" and larger at LOD 300 with LOD 200 branches, and LOD 400 only where fabrication depends on it. On a 180,000 sq ft conversion, that split cut modelling hours 28%.
4. Field time is predictable; modelling time is where quotes differ
Capture on open interiors runs 80,000–120,000 sq ft per day. That makes field duration easy to sanity-check: a 96,400 sq ft warehouse took 2.5 field days, a 250,000 sq ft distribution center took 4, a 220,000 sq ft plant took 5. Modelling is the variable — the same warehouse took 18 business days to reach an LOD 300 Revit model.
5. Occupied buildings are normal, not an exception
Night shifts, phased capture, and zero-downtime programs are routine. A 38,400 sq ft active hospital wing was captured in two overnight shifts with no disruption to patient care. A live distribution center was captured in 4 days with zero operational downtime. Ask how the provider handles access — not whether they can.
6. What is not scanned is not modelled
Closed ceilings, locked rooms, and areas behind stored product produce holes. A good deliverable lists them; a bad one quietly models them from assumption, which is indistinguishable from measured data once it is in Revit. Require unscanned areas to be enumerated in writing.
7. Formats determine who can use the data in five years
E57 is the open archive format. RCP is what Revit links. LAS and PTS serve analysis and survey tools. Take all of them, not just the one your current consultant asked for — see point cloud file formats explained.
8. A web viewer removes site visits, and that is where the money is
On six connected historic buildings totalling 180,000 sq ft in downtown Mansfield, the hosted viewer replaced 14 planned site visits — about $18,000 in travel — and gave the whole team the same measurable baseline. That single line often exceeds the cost difference between two proposals.
9. The acceptance test protects you, not the vendor
Put it in the contract before mobilisation: 30 random dimension checks at ≥90% in tolerance, 95% element completeness in scanned areas, a named sample area reviewed before full modelling, and a live walkthrough within 5 business days of handoff. Copy-ready language is in our scope of work template.
10. The comparison is not scan versus tape — it is scan versus rework
Renovation projects with unverified existing conditions run 15–40 RFIs at $1,200–$2,500 each, change orders at 3–8% of contract value, and 10–20 days of schedule slip. Measured baselines cut that to 2–8 RFIs and under 2%. Documented outcomes: $147,000 in change-order risk removed on a hospital wing, $85,000 in contingency released on a warehouse conversion, roughly $340,000 in avoided rework on a plant retrofit.
A short buying checklist
- Stated accuracy in millimetres, with a registration report on delivery
- LOD table by system, not a single project-wide number
- Named deliverables and formats, including the native cloud
- Field days and delivery in business days, in writing
- Unscanned areas enumerated
- Acceptance test and remedy in the contract
Where to go next: Building 3D Laser Scanning for capture, Scan to BIM for modelling, As-Built Documentation for drawing sets, or how to write a scan deliverable spec to draft the scope yourself.
Questions on a specific building? 614-210-3679.