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Key takeaways:
- 43 of 45 municipalities enforce the UCC locally; 35 share Bureau Veritas inspection through the county UCC Group.
- The 2019 county hazard plan maps mine subsidence areas in Kittanning, Leechburg, Manor Township and five other municipalities.
- Accuracy targets go into each scope as USIBD LOA bands.
Armstrong County riverfront
Kittanning, Ford City and the Allegheny River Valley
Armstrong County covers 654 square miles, and the Allegheny River winds north to south through the middle of it. Kittanning is the county seat. Ford City sits on the river about four miles south, and SAH Archipedia describes it as "more intensely industrial than Kittanning." Away from the river, about 63% of residents live in rural areas, and developed land is roughly a quarter of the total.
Buildings that typically call for scanning here fall into a few groups:
- Downtown commercial blocks, churches and civic buildings in Kittanning, Ford City, Leechburg and Freeport.
- Hospital and school buildings. ACMH Hospital on Nolte Drive (founded in 1898, 112 beds) and the Armstrong School District are the county's two largest employers.
- Production space for manufacturers on the county's top-employer list, including Drug Plastic & Glass Co., Carson Industries and KPM HerkulesGroup.
- Mining and gas facilities. The sector's share of county jobs is about 14 times its statewide share.
Our industry pages go deeper on hospitals, schools and industrial plants.
Permits and the Armstrong County UCC Group
In the state Department of Labor & Industry's UCC table, 43 of the 45 municipalities are opt-in, including Kittanning Borough, Kittanning Township, Ford City Borough, Manor Township and Leechburg Borough. In Boggs and Wayne townships, the exceptions, the department handles commercial work and owners hire a certified third-party agency for residential projects.
The county Planning and Development Department, at 402 Market Street in Kittanning, coordinates the Armstrong County UCC Group, which has 35 participating municipalities and contracts with Bureau Veritas for third-party inspection. Thresholds vary: Washington Township sends projects under 1,000 square feet to its own building permit officer and larger ones to Bureau Veritas through the group.
On a renovation, the existing-conditions sheets in the permit set usually come from the as-built drawings, so confirm with your municipality who will review them before the set is finalized. Larger site work may also go through the county subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO), which the same department administers.
As-Builts and Models for Downtown Kittanning
Two blighted commercial buildings on North McKean Street came down between October 2023 and March 2024, and the county continues blight removal through the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Armstrong Land Bank. Each cleared lot leaves neighbors with exposed party walls.
For infill or rehab work like that, one field visit can produce:
- 2D CAD as-builts: floor plans, elevations and sections of the existing building, including the walls it shares.
- A Revit model, when the architect wants to design an addition or a new building against the real neighbors.
- 360° tours that let a lender, buyer or out-of-town tenant walk the space before making the drive.
Scanner and software are matched to the job, and accuracy is written into the scope using USIBD Level of Accuracy bands. A brick party wall on a downtown lot does not need the tolerance of a machine foundation in Ford City, and the scope should say so.
River Locks, Water Plants and the Floodplain
Allegheny River Locks and Dams Nos. 5 through 9 were added to the National Register in 2000, and Lock and Dam No. 7 sits at Kittanning and East Franklin Township. The 2019 county hazard mitigation plan counts more than 19,000 acres in the 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain, and its list of major floods includes the March 1936 Allegheny crest of 34 feet in Buffalo Township and the October 1954 Buffalo Creek flood in Freeport.
On riverfront property, a scan records floor levels, openings, equipment pads and utility entries relative to one another, which a design team needs to plan floodproofing. When drawings must reference a surveyed elevation, the point cloud can be tied to a licensed surveyor's control coordinates.
State grants announced in January 2026 include $300,000 for dehumidification at the Ford City Borough water treatment plant, $250,000 for a Freeport Borough administration building and pump station, and $201,450 for West Kittanning Municipal Authority water tank work. Engineers working in pipe-crowded treatment and pump buildings can measure from a point cloud of the plant instead of returning to site.
The Armstrong County Courthouse and Kittanning Station
The Armstrong County Courthouse at 500 East Market Street was built from 1858 to 1860 to a design by Barr and Moser, with Hulings and Dickey as builders. It is Greek Revival, with Roman Corinthian columns and arched windows on the ground floor. A south wing was added in 1991, and the jail stands to the north. The original 23-foot frescoed courtroom ceiling was lost in a mid-20th-century renovation. That loss shows why historic interiors are worth recording before work starts.
The Kittanning Passenger Station and Freight Depot, at North Grant and Reynolds avenues, joined the National Register on January 3, 2025.
Laser scanning is non-contact, so it can record columns, cornices, window arches and out-of-plumb walls without anchors or marks on the masonry. Historic review requirements depend on a project's funding and permits, so confirm them with the funding agency and the municipality early. More on scanning for historic preservation.
The PPG Ford City Works Legacy
A historical marker on Third Avenue near 9th Street describes the PPG Ford City Works as "among the largest and most productive plate glass factories in the world." The works opened in 1887, employed more than 3,500 people at its peak and stopped operating in 1991. SAH Archipedia dates the plant building on Third Avenue to 1916 and calls it reputedly the world's largest plate glass plant until 1950.
The 800 block of 4th Street holds 1890s one-and-a-half-story worker houses with steep gables, and St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at 738 4th Avenue, a stone Gothic Revival building by Edmund B. Lang, dates from 1911 to 1915. Reusing buildings of this age starts with the real column grid, floor levels and wall thicknesses.
In 2019, PPG and the state DEP agreed to a $1.2 million settlement over leachate from an 88-acre former glass-waste disposal site in North Buffalo and Cadogan townships. Buyers of legacy industrial property often want the buildings documented alongside the environmental reports. See due-diligence scans for acquisitions and reality capture for adaptive reuse.
RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park and Brunk Industries
RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park, formerly Northpointe, is in South Buffalo Township. Ground was broken on a 30,000-square-foot tech-flex building in October 2023, and it was completed in the first quarter of 2024. A second building of the same size is planned once a tenant is found.
In August 2026 the governor's office announced that Brunk Industries will invest $31.7 million in a new 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on 20 acres in the park, creating 64 jobs over four years. The company currently leases 6,000 square feet in Tech Center II.
New buildings need documentation too:
- Scanning slabs, steel and embeds during construction and checking them against the design model (construction verification)
- Floor flatness checks before racking or machine installation, covered in our FF/FL guide
- An as-built record at turnover, so the owner has accurate drawings when equipment moves or a second phase ties in
- Recording leased space before a move, to plan equipment layout in the new building
Mine Subsidence Areas and Older Structures
Table 4.3.11-1 of the 2019 county hazard mitigation plan lists abandoned mines, most of them mapped as subsidence areas, in Kittanning Borough, Kittanning Township, Leechburg Borough, Manor Township, North Buffalo Township, East Franklin Township, Gilpin Township and Kiskiminetas Township, where carbonate rock is also noted. Ford City and Freeport show no mine flags in that table. The USGS separately mapped areas that correlate with subsidence events in Armstrong, Beaver and Butler counties (Bushnell and Briggs, 1976, map MF-693D).
A laser scan cannot tell you what is under a building, and it does not replace a geotechnical or mine subsidence assessment. It records how the structure sits today: floor slopes, cracked or bowed walls, out-of-plumb columns and door openings that have racked out of square. A second scan later can be compared against that baseline to show whether anything has moved, the method behind structural deformation monitoring.
Apollo, Leechburg, Freeport and Manor Township
In Apollo, the Armstrong County IDC bought the former Apollo High School at 400 North Second Street in 2023 and demolished it between February and April 2025. The planned reuse is an $18 million, 45-unit senior housing project by Pivotal Housing Partners. Our senior living page covers what that building type needs.
Manor Township received $1.8 million in January 2026 for Lenape Heights street work, and it shares mapped subsidence areas with Leechburg Borough.
We cover all 45 municipalities, including Freeport, Leechburg, Apollo, Manor Township and Bradys Bend, as part of our Pittsburgh and Western PA service area. For neighboring counties, see Butler County and Westmoreland County.
Armstrong County Scanning FAQ
Who issues building permits for a renovation in Armstrong County?
Most of the county enforces the Uniform Construction Code locally: 43 of 45 municipalities are opt-in, including Kittanning, Ford City and Leechburg. Thirty-five belong to the Armstrong County UCC Group, which contracts with Bureau Veritas for inspections. In Boggs and Wayne townships, the state Department of Labor & Industry handles commercial work and owners hire a certified third-party agency for residential projects.
Can you scan a National Register building like the Kittanning courthouse or station?
Yes. Scanning is non-contact, so it records columns, cornices and masonry without anchors or marks. The Armstrong County Courthouse and Jail has been on the National Register since 1981, and the Kittanning Passenger Station and Freight Depot was listed in January 2025. Whether historic review applies depends on the project's funding and permits, so confirm that early.
Does mine subsidence matter when documenting a building here?
The 2019 county hazard mitigation plan maps subsidence areas in Kittanning Borough and Township, Leechburg, Manor, North Buffalo, East Franklin, Gilpin and Kiskiminetas. A scan captures floor slopes, bowed walls and out-of-plumb framing as a baseline that a later scan can be compared against. It does not replace a geotechnical or mine subsidence assessment.
Can you scan an operating plant in Ford City or at the innovation park?
Yes. Field work is planned around the plant's schedule, safety orientation and PPE rules, and restricted areas are scanned from positions the site approves. The scanner measures from a distance, which limits time near moving equipment. The registered point cloud then supports retrofits, equipment layout and construction checks at buildings such as the tech-flex building at RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park.
How far do you travel to Armstrong County, and how is pricing set?
Kittanning is about 42 miles from our Homestead office, and Ford City is roughly the same distance. Pricing is scoped per project based on building size, site access and the deliverables required. Request a free quote through our contact page or call (800) 967-2627.
What accuracy should I specify for a riverfront or industrial building?
Accuracy is set per project using USIBD Level of Accuracy (LOA) bands, matched to what the data must support. A Kittanning storefront renovation and a machine foundation in an industrial building call for different tolerances. For property in the county's 1-percent floodplain, the scan can be tied to a surveyor's control when elevations must reference a datum.
Plan Your Armstrong County Scan
Send the address, municipality and purpose of the drawings, and we will return a free, scoped quote. CAD Construct is DBE-certified through the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program, which can matter on publicly funded work like the county's water and street projects. For a rough number, try the 3D laser scanning cost calculator, or go straight to the quote request form. You can also call (800) 967-2627.
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