What is in a set of existing conditions drawings

A set of existing conditions drawings is built up in layers, and the layers are priced separately because not every project needs all of them. Here is what each one contains, in the order most renovations order them. Every item below is a line on the published rate card; the names here are the names there.

The capture package, which every project includes

The 3D walkthrough. A browser based model of every room, built from the scan positions, that you can measure in. Share the link with the contractor and the client. During bidding it answers the dimension questions that would otherwise mean another site visit.

Floor plans, as PDF. One per floor, with dimensions and room labels, measured to ANSI Z765-2021. Wall positions, wall thickness, door and window openings, stairs, and fixed elements visible in the scan.

The DWG export. The same measured geometry as vector linework at full scale: walls, openings, and fixtures, ready to draft over in AutoCAD, Revit, or ArchiCAD. This is the file an office that drafts its own base starts from.

The room and opening report. Every room’s area and every door and window opening, as a CSV you can drop into a schedule.

360 imagery. A high resolution panorama from every scan position, for the details a plan does not carry: finishes, fixtures, what is on the wall, what the ceiling does in the corner.

The registered point cloud. Every measured point from every position, registered into one model, as DXF. Included at no charge because it is the raw output of the scan. Use it to verify a drawing against the source, or to model from yourself.

The drafted add ons, each priced per square foot

CAD floor plans. The plan drafted at LOD 200 with AIA standard layers: walls with measured thickness, openings, stairs, fixtures, annotation. The difference from the DWG export is drafting judgment: cleaned lines, layered, annotated, ready to issue.

The plotted drawing package. The full set laid out on sheets and plotted to PDF, with title blocks, ready to print or issue.

Exterior elevations. Measured facade drawings with openings, trim lines, and grade, from exterior scan positions. Additions, second story work, and anything in a historic district usually need them. Ask at booking so the exterior positions are planned in; heavy tree cover is the one condition that sometimes needs a short return visit, which is included.

Reflected ceiling plans. Ceiling heights, soffits, drops, beams, and visible fixture positions per floor. The sheet that stops a kitchen design from meeting a duct chase.

Roof plan. Roof geometry, planes, and slopes from the exterior capture.

The 3D model, Revit or DWG. Walls, openings, levels, and basic structure modeled at LOD 200 from the drafted floors. The geometry a Revit team builds on top of. It is not a parametric model with types, materials, or phases; a point cloud is not a Revit model explains what that step involves and why it is yours.

The estimating export. Room geometry as ESX for estimating and claims software, which is what restoration and insurance work runs on.

What the set says with a note instead of a line

A scan records surfaces the laser can reach. Inside a wall, above a hard ceiling, and under a slab it records nothing, and it does not record what a wall is made of. So a good set carries notes where the measurement stops: structure to be verified, framing assumed, concealed services not shown. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing beyond the visible fixtures and panels are not in any sheet above unless the hand measured MEP add on is ordered before the visit, and even then it covers panels, meters, shutoffs, risers, and fixture centerlines, not runs behind finishes.

None of it is sealed. The set is the measured base your own sealed drawings are drawn over, and it is not a land survey: lot lines, setbacks, and elevation certificates are a licensed surveyor’s work. Which document your project needs walks through the three, and the guide to existing conditions drawings covers the rest.

How accurate each sheet is

The same tolerances apply to every sheet, because every sheet comes from the same registered model: 10mm typical measurement uncertainty from the instrument, 0.5% on floor plan distance, and 1% on square footage. Accuracy on a plan is a distance figure, so plan around spans. How the numbers are reached.