USER STORY
Fire-protection documentation and as-built plans – for 12,000 m² of inhabited floor space
Contents
Surveying 12,000 m² of Inhabited Floor Space: Why a Complete 3D As-Built Survey Was Needed?
The Challenge: Surveying a Large, Inhabited Mixed-Use Building
How the Survey Was Completed: FAST Laser Scanning With Only Two People
Point Cloud Evaluation in PointCab Origins: From Scan to Plans
Digital Data for Future Use: One Scan, Many Applications
Surveying 12,000 m² of Inhabited Floor Space:
Why a Complete 3D As-Built Survey Was Needed
The project involved surveying more than 12,000 m² of inhabited floor space, including a hotel, a municipal theatre, offices and residential units.
For such mixed-use buildings, reliable and up-to-date as-built plans are essential — especially when fire-protection documentation is required.
Because existing plans were incomplete and the building was in active daily use, a full digital survey became the most efficient and accurate solution.
The Challenge: Surveying a Large, Inhabited Mixed-Use Building
Inhabited buildings present extra challenges compared to empty or unused structures:
- Continuous operation: Hotel guests, office staff and residents could not be disturbed.
- Mixed layouts: Hotels, theatres, offices and residential spaces each have different room structures, escape routes and technical areas.
- Complex circulation: Theatre back-of-house zones, technical rooms and varying ceiling heights complicate manual measurement.
- Large total area: Over 12,000 m² had to be captured consistently across several building sections and levels.
To meet these challenges, the team selected a high-precision, fast and non-intrusive method: 3D laser scanning.
How the Survey Was Completed: FAST Laser Scanning With Only Two People
The surveying was executed by Faschang Service & Management GmbH, who used a FARO Focus3D laser scanner to capture every part of the building.
Despite the size and complexity, the entire scanning process was completed:
- in 45 hours,
- using just two employees.
This shows the efficiency of laser scanning in inhabited environments: the scanner captures geometry quickly, quietly and with minimal disruption to regular building operations.
Point Cloud Evaluation in PointCab Origins: From Scan to Plans
Once the point cloud was created, it was processed in PointCab Origins, where essential deliverables were generated automatically:
- floor plans,
- site plans
- sections
- orthophotos.
Using these true-to-scale orthophotos, the team produced the required as-built drawings and fire-protection plans in AutoCAD.
Because all data originated from the point cloud, the resulting plans were consistent, accurate and based on the current state of the entire 12,000 m² complex.
Digital Data for Future Use: One Scan, Many Applications
A major advantage of the workflow is that the complete point cloud was stored as a digital record.
This proved useful later: when façade drawings were needed for extension planning, the team was able to generate them directly from the existing scan — without additional site visits.
One scan created a long-term data resource that can support fire protection, renovation, design updates or further documentation tasks.
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