As-Built 3D Scanning for Modular, Container and Skid Builds

As-built documentation services for modular and container builders

Modular and container builders live with the gap between the drawing set and the unit. Changes made on the shop floor — because a fitting would not clear, because the client added an outlet, because the welder found a better bracket location — rarely make it back into the drawings, and the next unit inherits the same problems. We scan each unit at completion and produce the as-built set the shop can build the next one from and the client can keep as the record of what they bought.

We built this service for our own container laboratories before we sold it: 40-foot steel boxes with benches, tanks, HVAC, and lab equipment, where the fabricated unit differed from the drawings in a dozen places that mattered. The method that came out of that — tape-measure backbone, overlapping zones, reference features on blank walls — is what we use on every unit now.

Skid and equipment enclosure 3D scanning with fabrication verification

Process skids, pump packages, compressor enclosures, and E-houses are scanned for the interfaces the installer cares about: anchor bolt pattern, battery-limit flange locations and orientations, cable entries, lifting points, and envelope dimensions. The scan is compared with the design model and the report lists what moved, so a skid that must bolt to an existing foundation is verified before it leaves the yard. Where we scanned the foundation at the pre-pour, the two models are overlaid and the fit-up is checked virtually.

Existing conditions 3D scan to as-built drawings and models

For units already installed, we scan existing conditions on site: a modular lab that is being refitted, a container office being relocated, a skid being tied into new piping. The point cloud is turned into plans, sections, and elevations or a 3D model at the level of detail the project needs, and the drawings carry the dimensions the next contractor will build to.

Scan-to-BIM as-built deliverables: DWG, Revit, STEP and E57

Deliverables follow your workflow. Steel and equipment builders usually want 2D as-built drawings in DWG and PDF and a STEP or Parasolid solid of the structure and major equipment; architects and owners want a Revit model at a stated level of development; everyone gets the E57 point cloud so their own team can measure anything we did not draw. Each deliverable states the accuracy achieved and the drift control used.

As-built drawings from a 3D scan: cost and turnaround

A container-size unit is a half-day to a day of scanning depending on how much is inside it; drawings and models are priced by the deliverable — point cloud only, 2D set, or 3D model — and by the level of detail. Point clouds are delivered within a few business days; drawing sets and models in one to three weeks depending on complexity, with faster turnaround on repeat units once a template exists. Send the drawings and a few photos of the unit for a written quote.

Capturing field changes before the unit ships

The useful moment to scan is the day the unit is finished and still in the shop: every change is fresh, the people who made it are on the floor, and nothing has been closed up by a wall panel. We scan only what changed when the shell dimensions are already known, which keeps cost down, and we document each change with the scan, a photo, and a note so the drawing revision is straightforward rather than a reconstruction.

As-built 3D scanning in Houston, Texas and 27 US hubs

Modular builders, container fabricators, and skid shops around Houston, Conroe, Rosenberg, and the Ship Channel are scheduled from our Sugar Land headquarters, with a standing schedule for shops that ship units every week. Builders elsewhere are served through the nearest regional hub, and the scanner travels as carry-on luggage, so a yard in another state is a flight rather than a logistics problem.