▼Highlights of this case study
Additionally, legal revisions had increased the importance of accurate elevation data.
[Renovation] Between on-site inspections and proposal preparation, there were frequent re-visits due to overlooked details.
Solution: Adopted Scanat, which can scan large areas and import point cloud data into CAD to calculate elevation differences.
Results: [New Construction] Elevation surveys, which previously required two people, can now be completed by a single person. Work time has been drastically reduced to one-fifth of the previous amount.
[Renovation] Oversights were eliminated, reducing the total workload—including on-site inspections and proposals—by approximately 50%.
\Life Arch is using it too!/
Scanat: Complete on-site surveys "all by yourself with just a smartphone"
About Life Arch Co., Ltd.
♦ A small but highly skilled construction firm that handles everything from design to construction
Life Arch Co., Ltd. is an architectural firm and general contractor specializing in the new construction and renovation of residential homes.
By integrating design and on-site management, the company’s president personally oversees construction sites to ensure the delivery of high-quality living spaces.
Challenges Before Implementing Scanat
♦︎ [New Construction] Surveying sites with significant elevation changes poses a major challenge, partly due to stricter legal regulations.
Many of the new construction projects the company undertakes involve sites with long distances from the road to the building lot, or challenging conditions such as elevation differences of 30 to 40 meters.
Due to recent changes in building permit regulations—including stricter foundation design requirements resulting from the scaling back of the Special Provision No. 4 and tighter regulations imposed by local governments—accurately measuring elevation differences on a site and incorporating them into drawings has become more essential than ever.
In the past, we used a "rotating laser level" (a surveying instrument typically used in civil engineering) to repeatedly remeasure the survey points and machine installation points, plot the elevation differences on drawings, and finally calculate the results. However, this method had the following issues:
- Because of the effort involved in reinstalling the machinery and the fact that survey points cannot be moved, [at least two workers] are required.
- Coordinating schedules among staff is cumbersome and puts a strain on operations
♦︎ [Renovation] Site inspections that "can't be fully assessed in a single visit" and repeated follow-up visits
In one renovation project, while we had previously used photography and 360° cameras, we faced challenges such as "difficulty understanding the layout of the rooms" and "time-consuming searches for necessary information later on," as described at
. As a result, we had to visit the same site two or three times or more to check for any oversights, leading to inefficient workflows.
How We Discovered Scanat and Why We Chose It
♦︎ Digitize everything—from "large outdoor areas" to "indoor floor plans"—with just your smartphone
While searching for a solution to our problem, Scanat and decided to implement it.
We were impressed not only by its “ease of use—it can be set up immediately with just an iPad or iPhone”—but also by its wide-area scanning capability, which allows us to scan the entire distance from the road to private property (about 50 meters) in a single pass, and its expandability, which enables us to import point cloud data into CAD software.
Benefits of Implementation
♦︎ [New Construction] The number of personnel required for elevation surveys has been reduced from 2 to 1. The time required for the work has been drastically reduced to one-fifth.
Scanat has completely transformed the workflow for surveying new construction sites.
Even for a distance of about 50 meters from the road to private property, Scanat complete the survey simply by “walking the entire route and capturing the data in one go.”By exporting the acquired point cloud data and importing it into 3D CAD software, we can now calculate precise elevation differences right on our office computers.
Since on-site surveying and calculations are no longer necessary, and no equipment setup is required, a task that previously required at least two people can now be completed by a single person. Work efficiency has dramatically improved to just one-fifth of what it used to be.
♦︎ [Applies to Both New Construction and Renovation] Prevent Oversights and Reduce the Time Spent on Site Inspections and Proposals by About 50%
Whether for new construction or renovation projects, Scanat has proven to be Scanat effective Scanat.
While we take on-site measurements for fine details, Scanat a general sense of the space Scanat the approximate Scanat windows and doors, effectively allowing us to “bring the entire site back with us.”
As a result, we’ve eliminated the need for return visits due to oversights—our original goal—and reduced the total workload from on-site inspection to proposal by approximately 50%.
♦︎ [Using in Sales Materials] Sharing "Before and After" Photos at Open Houses
At open houses for fully renovated properties, we show clients 3D data of the property before renovation so they can experience what it looked like “before.” Whereas traditional 360° cameras have a limited field of view, making it difficult to grasp the overall atmosphere, Scanat conveys the “floor plan of the entire house and the flow of the spaces” in three dimensions. This has significantly improved the persuasiveness of our proposals and customer satisfaction.
Future Outlook
♦︎Turning "invisible infrastructure" into data to create new customer experiences
The implementation Scanat has led to a dramatic increase in productivity, from site surveying to on-site inspections and proposal development.
Looking ahead, we are planning to expand our use Scanat new construction projects at the “structural framework completion stage” and storing the data digitally alongside the relevant floor plans.
We intend to explore ways to provide new value by utilizing on-site 3D data, such as Scanat “structural elements hidden behind walls” during completion tours.
\Life Arch is using it too!/
Scanat: Complete on-site surveys "all by yourself with just a smartphone"
