Detecting anomalies in buildings using point cloud data and BIM: a practical application

Abstract Visual inspections using the traditional method can be inefficient and complicated in some buildings, making the anomaly survey process slow and inaccurate. Recently, studies have been carried out on digital surveying and reality capture techniques as a way of inspecting and capturing the in-situ state of structures, especially in complex scenarios. Anomaly detection using laser scanners is a new area of research that offers many opportunities to improve the current practice of visual inspections, which will reduce the need for skilled labor, avoid human access to hostile environments and allow for the automatic documentation of related information using building information modeling (BIM). This article discusses the implementation of a workflow to detect anomalies present in a commercial building using laser scanning and BIM. The results are a technical inspection report with a description of the anomalies and an as-is model of the building with the quantity for the recovery budget.