As-Built Measuring & LiDAR Scanning in Vieux-Montréal
Scanning heritage stone in the shadow of Notre-Dame Basilica — accuracy for buildings older than the country.
Vieux-Montréal has more pre-1900 masonry per square kilometre than anywhere else in Canada — and almost none of it has usable drawings. If you're renovating a warehouse on Rue Saint-Paul, converting a bank on Rue Notre-Dame, or coordinating a hotel retrofit near the Old Port, tape measurements will let you down within the first week of design.
DCMS scans Vieux-Montréal properties week in and week out. We know which streets close for the summer terrasses, when the cruise ships dock, and how to move a Leica RTC360 through a stone-arched cellar without scratching anything. Our crews mobilize from Saint-Henri, so a Vieux-Montréal site call is a 7-minute drive — not a plane ticket.
What you get back is a millimetre-accurate point cloud, coordinated AutoCAD floor plans, and (when the project needs it) a full LOD 300 Revit model of the existing building — ready for your architect, structural engineer and Ville de Montréal permit reviewer.
Why Vieux-Montréal needs LiDAR, not tape measures
Buildings in the historic district almost never square up. Walls lean by 40–120 mm over three storeys, floor slabs sag toward interior courtyards, and 19th-century additions were built against neighbouring party walls with no formal survey.
Terrestrial LiDAR captures all of that geometry at ±3 mm in a single day and lets us model the building as it actually stands — not as a drawing from 1892 says it stands. That difference is usually worth 8–15% of a renovation budget in avoided change orders.
- Non-contact capture — nothing touches the stone, plaster or original millwork
- Full site captured in one mobilization, including exterior façade and roof
- Interior scanning at night or between hotel check-outs to avoid guest disruption
- Deliverables coordinated to Ville de Montréal heritage permit requirements
Services we run most often in Vieux-Montréal
- Full-building as-built surveys for boutique hotel and condo conversions
- Façade documentation for heritage permits and stone restoration bids
- Structural deflection analysis on cast-iron and timber floor systems
- MEP as-builts for kitchen, spa and mechanical retrofit projects
- BOMA area re-certifications on office and mixed-use assets
- Digital twins for property managers running multiple heritage assets
Working around tourist season, terrasses and film shoots
From late May through October, the streets between Place d'Armes and the river fill with pedestrians, terrasses, calèches and film crews. We schedule exterior façade scans early morning (05:30–08:00) before the crowds and terrasse setups start, and use tripod-mounted LiDAR rather than drones anywhere near Notre-Dame airspace and the heliport.
Winter is actually our favourite time to scan Vieux-Montréal — snow load exposes roof geometry, tourist volume drops 70%, and we can close half a lane without a special-events permit.
What Vieux-Montréal clients tell us matters
We're 7 minutes away
Our Saint-Henri office to Place Jacques-Cartier is a short drive over the Bonaventure. Same-day site walks are normal.
We speak the paperwork
Loi 122, PIIA, and Ville de Montréal heritage permit language are part of our daily workflow.
Heritage-grade equipment
Leica RTC360, BLK360 and drone photogrammetry — the same kit used on Château Ramezay-scale projects.
Bilingual crews
Our field teams work in French and English, so tenants, concierges and city inspectors all get answered in their language.
Working around the neighbourhood
- Notre-Dame Basilica
- Bonsecours Market
- Place Jacques-Cartier
- Old Port of Montreal
- Champ-de-Mars
Getting to site
- From Place Jacques-Cartier: 7 min west via Rue Notre-Dame O and Autoroute Bonaventure to our Saint-Ambroise office.
- From Palais des congrès: 10 min via boulevard Robert-Bourassa and Autoroute 720.
- STM: Champ-de-Mars métro (Orange line) → 15 min direct to Lionel-Groulx, 4 min walk to office.
- Site parking: crews arrive with unmarked vans that fit standard Vieux-Montréal loading zones.
Explore related services and areas
Local questions from Vieux-Montréal
Can you scan a Vieux-Montréal building without closing it to the public?+
Yes. Our RTC360 units capture 2 million points per second per scan position, so a typical retail space or hotel lobby is documented in 20–40 minutes with staff simply walking around us. For heavier traffic we scan after hours or in early morning windows.
Do you handle Loi 122 heritage documentation requirements?+
Yes. We deliver point clouds and drawings at the level of detail city heritage reviewers expect, and we can produce elevation drawings with stone-course accuracy for façade restoration permits.
How fast can you mobilize to a Vieux-Montréal site?+
Same-day for site walks, next business day for scans on projects under 5,000 sq ft, and 2–3 business days for full building surveys. Our office is 7 minutes away.
Can you fly drones over Old Montreal?+
We can, but very selectively. The Old Port is inside controlled airspace and near heliport approaches, so we use tripod LiDAR and manual pole-mounted cameras for façade capture in most of the district.
Do you provide bilingual deliverables?+
Yes. Drawings can be delivered with French or English title blocks, and reports are available in either language.
What's the typical turnaround for a boutique hotel or condo conversion?+
Point cloud in 48–72 hours, 2D AutoCAD plans in 5–7 business days, and a coordinated Revit model in 10–15 business days for a typical 4-storey heritage building.
Can you scan basement vaults and stone cellars?+
Yes — this is one of our most common Vieux-Montréal scopes. We use compact BLK360 units in tight cellars and register them into the building-wide point cloud.
Do you carry the insurance heritage clients require?+
Yes. $5M commercial general liability plus professional errors and omissions coverage, and we can add project-specific additional insureds on request.
What we deliver in Vieux-Montréal
Every capability below is available on Vieux-Montréal projects — the same in-house engineering team handles LiDAR and drone surveying, turns it into as-built drawings or a full digital twin, and can layer on structural inspections when the scope needs them. Combine any two or three in a single mobilization.
LiDAR, Photogrammetry & Drone Surveying
High-precision 3D laser scanning, aerial drone surveys and photogrammetry for comprehensive site documentation.
SVC // 02As-Built Documentation & Reality Capture
Fast, accurate as-built surveys delivering AutoCAD plans and Revit BIM models with industry-leading turnaround times.
SVC // 03Digital Twins & BIM Models
Cloud-hosted digital twins and BIM coordination models (LOD 200–300) for long-term asset management.
SVC // 04Building & Structural Inspections
Comprehensive envelope inspections, deflection analysis and structural assessments using advanced LiDAR.
SVC // 05Engineering Consulting & Technical Analysis
Expert engineering analysis, technical diagnostics and MEP system documentation for retrofit and renovation.
SVC // 06Forensics, Condition Assessment & Remedial Planning
Technical investigations, heritage documentation and condition reports for remedial engineering.
Browse the rest of Greater Montréal
Downtown Montréal
LiDAR scanning, BOMA re-certification and BIM for the towers, retail podiums and underground city of Ville-Marie.
Laval
As-built scanning and BIM for the retail parks, industrial buildings and healthcare campuses of Laval.
Longueuil & South Shore
LiDAR, drone and BIM services across Longueuil, Brossard, Boucherville and the Rive-Sud industrial belt.
West Island
LiDAR and BIM services for corporate campuses, pharmaceutical facilities and warehouses across Pointe-Claire, DDO, Kirkland and Baie-d'Urfé.
Scanning a heritage building in Vieux-Montréal?
Send us the address and a rough scope — we'll respond same day with a mobilization window and a fixed-fee quote.