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Key Points
Construction Laser Scanning Before Close-In
Construction laser scanning before close-in records the visible position of installed work while it remains accessible. Capture exposed services and their surrounding structure before finishes obstruct the required views. A registered point cloud can support coordination or an as-built record. Comparison reports and modeled deliverables need an agreed scope and review method.
Our Approach
How we help your team
Once a ceiling closes, a useful measurement can become an access problem. We help your team define which exposed conditions need a record and arrange capture around the construction sequence, so the information is available to the people making the next decision.
Certified Laser Scanning plans overlapping FARO scan positions and registers the captured data in SCENE. We review the dataset before preparing your point cloud or requested CAD/BIM deliverables. The work starts with the surfaces your team needs and the date they will become inaccessible.
Part 1 of 7
Confirm the area is ready for scanning
The useful window is often short. A corridor can move from exposed rough-in to insulation and finished ceilings within the same work sequence. By then, the route of a small branch or the clearance above an access panel may be difficult to establish without opening the area again. Put capture in the look-ahead schedule and name the person who will confirm each area is ready for the field crew.
Arrange the visit around the surfaces your team needs to see. Scanning before drywall is valuable only if the relevant work is installed and visible at the time. Insulation, equipment covers and stored materials can obscure it earlier. Agree how the superintendent will identify late changes that need another capture after the planned visit.
- Mark the required systems and the surfaces needed around them.
- Confirm the relevant rough-in is installed and arrange access to the work.
- Check critical views before the field crew leaves and flag any missing coverage.
- Identify later changes so the project team can decide where updated capture is needed.
Part 2 of 7
Choose the questions the record must answer
An illustrative medical-office fit-out makes the distinction clear. The project team may need the location of a riser connection, the underside of a beam above the corridor and enough surrounding geometry to review a proposed access route. A general visual record of the floor could miss the exact views needed for those decisions. Mark the priority areas before a field crew arrives.
The same approach applies to a new commercial building or a refurbishment. Ask which dimensions will be difficult to recover after close-in and who will use them. A facilities team may need an accessible location record; a trade may need a focused comparison before installation continues. These uses can require different outputs and checks.
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| Capture window | Information to agree | Next use |
|---|---|---|
| Before a wall closes | Visible service routes and surrounding wall geometry | Location reference for the agreed work area |
| Before ceiling close-in | Accessible services, structure and access constraints | Coordination or maintenance planning |
| Before a fit-sensitive installation | Interfaces, reference model revision and required checks | Review of measured differences before proceeding |
| After an agreed correction | Changed area and the same project coordinate basis | Verification record linked to the earlier issue |
Part 3 of 7
Understand what a FARO Focus scan records
A FARO Focus scanner measures distance and direction to visible surfaces from a fixed station, producing points in three dimensions. Congested services need several viewpoints. A duct can hide the pipe behind it, so a convenient station in the doorway may leave the exact connection you need unmeasured.
Finished walls block the view, and reflective surfaces can leave gaps. Photographs and field notes help explain what was visible, including equipment labels and access restrictions. Record the missing areas. Concealed conditions require another investigation or authorized access.
Part 4 of 7
Turn separate scans into a checked project record
Registration aligns separate scans into a common coordinate system. FARO SCENE supports shared geometry, targets and surveyed control. Overlap and stable references help the team connect the stations, especially through repetitive rooms or long corridors. The reviewed dataset then becomes a spatial reference that the receiving team can use.
Confirm whether the data must align with a construction grid or work on other floors. Check scan connections and suitable independent references, and identify incomplete coverage in the delivery. Instrument specifications, registration statistics and project accuracy describe different parts of that process. The checks should match the decision the information will support.
Part 5 of 7
Assign findings to the right reviewer
A comparison becomes useful when someone can locate the issue and decide what happens next. Agree the reference model revision, relevant surfaces and tolerances before preparing a deviation report. Record the location and the capture date with each issue. The responsible designer or trade can then review the finding with the relevant construction information.
Recent practitioner guidance follows this approach. In a 2025 ABC field-technology report, Balfour Beatty virtual design and construction director Sam Burns describes rough-in reviews against coordinated models, with deeper checks involving measurements, scanning and project stakeholders. A scan supports that review. Required inspections and the project's approval responsibilities continue alongside it.
FARO's historical Dover leisure-centre case gives a specific verification example. BAM used a Focus S and BuildIT to check a pool tank before tiling, locate differences for correction and repeat verification after tiling. The facility opened in 2019. The useful sequence is to capture the work, locate a measured difference, make an agreed correction and repeat the check.
Part 6 of 7
Ask for files the next team can use
A registered point cloud may be sufficient for a team that can review it in its own software. Plans, sections or an existing-condition BIM model require additional extraction and interpretation. Agree those requirements before capture, including the visible systems to represent and how the receiving team will check the result.
Keep each issue and deliverable traceable to a date and an area. A useful handoff identifies the coordinate system, file format and coverage limits, with the relevant quality checks. If the work changes after capture, preserve the earlier record and issue a dated update. A facilities team needs to know which condition it is looking at.
- Identify the capture zones and the latest planned close-in dates.
- Confirm the receiving software and required point cloud or modeled output.
- Name the reference revision and reviewer for any comparison report.
- Agree how missing views and subsequent changes will be recorded.
Part 7 of 7
Include the people who will inherit the information
Construction managers can use a shared spatial record to direct questions to a specific location. Designers can review exposed geometry without relying entirely on old drawings. Owners may retain a useful reference for later work, provided the files remain accessible and their limits are clear. The benefit depends on capturing the right area at the right time.
For a quote, send your marked-up work area and the decisions the record must support. Include the schedule for concealment, any coordinate or control requirements, and the formats your team expects. We can use those details to scope capture and delivery around the project.
Set the capture window before the required surfaces become hidden. Give each delivered record a date, a coordinate basis and a clear purpose, then assign responsibility for reviewing any differences before the work proceeds.
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Plan Your Project
Plan Capture Before Your Close-In Date
Send the work area, construction sequence and required deliverables so we can scope a useful record while the relevant surfaces remain accessible.
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