THE WHY.

Does Arch-Surveys provide 3D laser scanning / cloud files / Revit models?  Not at this time.  Other friendly Building Surveyors can provide that intensive 3D data level for projects that need them.  

 

Architectural Building Surveys focuses on those clients who need dimensionally accurate floor plans, though in simpler, and often less costly, flat pdf or printed 2D format.  The goal is to provide you with an overview of the layout that is easy to read and understand, without unnecessary detail.

 

The Analogy may be the difference between a photo with several thousand pixels, versus the Caricature artist at the Fair, who draws your likeness in 50 strokes.  He knows how to focus on the detail that captures your image in a simple clear presentation.

 

A 3D scan will pick up way more detail in a room than is needed, like the flowers in the vase, pictures on a desk, laptop, lamp, tissue box, umbrella, etc.  This requires deleting much data from a 3D file, to produce a simpler story of just walls, doors, windows, cabinetry, etc.  I like to tell a buildings’ story, filtering what I see, and measuring only the aspects that you need to see in a drawing and helps you read and understand a space.  It is also about honesty.  I only draw what I can see and verify.  A 3D scan will miss data hidden behind other objects, and a 3D as-built Revit model will include many justified assumptions like wall thicknesses and other unseen data.

 

I prefer to give my clients the best value for their investment, over making additional income at their expense.  

Like a car mechanic, who can’t give an estimate until he pops the hood, I really don’t know how long a building will take to document, until I’ve worked my way through it.  Over the years, I do have an educated estimate of building types, their densities, geometries, detail, etc. to estimate a cost, though multiple factors on site can quicken or slow me down.

 

Let’s say I estimate the work to cost $5k.  A lump sum proposal would be sent for $5500 or $6000, to make sure I have a cushion, and don’t lose out. If the actual work only costs $4200, I prefer to invoice, with all hours and expenses transparent, only my actual cost.  This is in line with an honest man’s wage. I do not wish to take more from another person or business that I did not earn.

 

Can we just update our old drawings?  Some clients rightfully would like to save cost, by updating old drawings instead of redrawing the whole floorplan. Unfortunately, it would take a lot longer to check every line in someone else’s file, for location accuracy.  It is faster and cheaper to develop drawings from scratch. All buildings and spaces are surveyed on site, creating new drawings, without using any old paper or cad files.  Old files are helpful in referencing scale and scope of the project, and aid in creating the proposal, though I do not mix third party data into my drawings.  This way every line measured and drawn is trusted as my work, and covered by Arch-Surveys General, and Errors & Omissions Insurance policies.

 

Original Architectural Design and Construction drawings for any given building were conceptual and differ from what was actually built.  Any future tenant fit-out, space planning, or renovation project needs accurate data of existing conditions as it is today.  Previous drawings may be helpful in a broad view of the space, though dimensional accuracy is needed by multiple players at the table, for moving forward.