CAD Construct Blog

Linking scanning, drafting and virtual tours to the questions clients ask

Articles on 3D laser scanning, as-built documentation, scan-to-BIM and 360° tours, written from projects across Western Pennsylvania.

Where each building type meets its own scanning plan

Labs, hospitals, warehouses, stadiums and historic halls each scan differently. These posts cover what changes by industry and what the deliverable looks like at the end.

Reaching the boroughs, townships and counties around Pittsburgh

Permit offices, historic districts and local building stock for each place we scan, from Cranberry Township to Butler, with the deliverables that fit each one.

Explaining the hardware, formats and field methods behind a scan

Registration, point density, georeferencing and file formats, written for people who specify or buy scanning work and need to know what makes the data usable downstream.

Reading a drawing set one sheet at a time

Title blocks, dimensions and notations, plus how to read structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and reflected ceiling plans before work starts on site.

Turning point clouds into models teams can build from

Point cloud versus BIM model, Revit families from scan data, BIM execution plans, ISO 19650 and COBie, explained for owners, architects and contractors.

Walking a space from any device before a site visit

How 360° virtual tours are produced, how a marketing tour differs from a digital twin, and how one site visit can serve both a tour and a laser scan.

Opening the store to customers before they visit

Matterport versus a 360° tour, capturing a store mid fit-out, and tours for showrooms, galleries and listings, with the cost factors to plan around.

Showing where reality capture earns its cost

Due diligence scans, floor flatness checks, roof scanning for solar, adaptive reuse and historic documentation, with the deliverables each situation calls for.

Helping homeowners and self-builders plan before they build

Free CAD tools, small deck design, design toolkits and which professional a project needs, so you arrive with clear requirements.