A scan to as-built building information modeling workflow: A case study in Malaysia

Purpose: Three dimensional (3 D) laser scanner surveying is widely used in many fields, such as agriculture, mining and heritage documentation and can be of great benefit for as-built documentation in construction and facility management domains. However, there is lack of applied research and use cases integrating 3 D laser scanner surveying with building information modeling (BIM) for existing facilities in Malaysia. This study aims to develop a scan to as-built BIM workflow to use 3 D laser scanner surveying and create as-built building information models of an existing complex facility in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach was followed to develop a scan to as-built BIM workflow through four main steps: 3 D laser scanning, data preprocessing, data registration and building information modeling. Findings: This case study proposes a comprehensive scan to as-built BIM workflow which illustrates all the required steps to create a precise 3 D as-built building information model from scans. This workflow was successfully implemented to the Eco-Home facility at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Originality/value: Scan to as-built BIM is a digital alternative to manual and tedious process of documentation of as-built condition of a facility and provides a detail process using laser scans to create as-built building information models of facilities.