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To create as-built documentation, you need capture software, your usual CAD or BIM program, and sometimes an extra tool in between. The tools you need depend on where your data will end up. Revit, AutoCAD, and Navisworks require a conversion step, while open-format platforms do not. This guide explains the full tool stack and what each part does.
The Stack
Your Destination Decides the Stack
The way you capture data is the same for every project. The main difference is whether your software uses open formats or Autodesk formats.
If you’re starting with a drawing, you don’t need extra tools. Just export the floor plan as a DXF file and draft over it. There’s no conversion step, no matter how many buildings you have.
You also don’t need extra tools if you’re using a point cloud in open formats. NavVis IVION reads PLY, PTS, and XYZ files directly. CloudCompare works with LAS and PLY files. ArchiCAD accepts XYZ files. In each case, you can import the export right away.
You can align multiple scans for free. If a building is too big for one scan, you will have several files, each with its own origin and position. Registration brings them together into one coordinate system. CloudCompare can do this and also remove stray points, all at no cost. Plan for the time to learn the software, not for a license fee.
What the Capture Returns
A Spatial Report gives you the floor area, perimeter, ceiling height, and wall area for each room, both with and without openings. It lists every found door and window with its width, height, and area. It also lists furniture, fixtures, and appliances with their sizes. You can export room areas as a CSV file, making it quick and easy to create a schedule.
You can export in every format needed for as-built workflows. Use DXF for drafting. PLY, PTS, and XYZ work with platforms that read point clouds directly. LAS is for Autodesk workflows through ReCap. OBJ, FBX, GLTF, DAE, STL, and USDZ are for meshes. The software you use will decide if you need anything beyond the capture.
You correct scan errors, like when furniture blocks a wall, or a straight wall looks curved. You also add anything the scan missed, such as a partition behind a wardrobe that the sensor didn’t catch. You’ll need to set values the scan can’t measure, mainly wall thickness, since a scan records only interior surfaces and can’t tell whether a wall is four inches or twelve. You need this number for area calculations, so you must provide it.
You also need to make the plan easy to read. If the model cannot identify a room, it will label it as Other, but a builder needs to see names like Kitchen or Utility. This is the quality assurance step between capturing and delivering the plan, similar to cleaning up a point cloud before giving it to a modeler.
You can pin comments to specific spots on the capture, reply in threads, and mark them as resolved when done. Tag anything you need to ask the client, and mark it resolved once you get an answer. This feature works on every plan.
The Virtual Walkthrough feature lets you retrace your capture path and see the original photos at each spot. While a mesh might smooth out details like a nameplate or a thin conduit, the photos keep those details clear. This feature can save you from going back to the site for a missing detail, and it’s available on Business and Enterprise plans along with the export options.
Where Terrestrial Equipment Still Earns Its Place
Most work with existing conditions fits well with this tool stack. Renovation documentation, space planning, coordination references, and the drawing sets made from them all benefit from captures accurate to within half an inch on standard interiors, available the same day.
Certified tolerances. Anything a surveyor signs, any boundary work, and any volume calculation with money attached needs terrestrial equipment and a different budget.
Archival documentation. Heritage recording to a formal standard is held to an eighth of an inch, four times tighter than a phone can reach.
For dense overhead services, a tripod instrument can capture many more points at ceiling level from one spot. This matters for MEP coordination in plant rooms or service corridors.
Drawings out of date?
FAQ
What tools do I need for as-built documentation?
You’ll need capture software, alignment software if the building needs more than one scan, your usual CAD or BIM package, and a conversion step only if you use Autodesk. Polycam handles capture and all export formats, ReCap Pro does the conversion, and CloudCompare is free.
Do I need ReCap Pro?
Only if your point cloud is going into Revit, AutoCAD, or Navisworks, since those use RCP and RCS files and nothing else creates those formats. ReCap Pro comes with the AEC Collection, so most practices using Revit already have it.
Do I need CloudCompare?
Only if you need to register or align multiple scans. Each capture has its own origin, and registration brings them into one coordinate system. It also removes stray points before you hand off the files.
What’s the cheapest way to start?
Just use a free Polycam account and your phone. Scanning and viewing are free, so you can capture a real building and see the results before you commit. Point cloud exports, the Spatial Report, and the floorplan editor are on the Business plan, which has a 7-day trial.
