LiDAR Scanning, Photogrammetry & Drone Surveying in Montréal

The three capture technologies and when we use them

‘LiDAR’, ‘drone survey’ and ‘photogrammetry’ get thrown around as if they were interchangeable. They are not — and picking the wrong one is where most survey budgets bleed. Here is the honest breakdown from our field crews.

• Terrestrial LiDAR (Leica RTC360, Faro Focus) — a tripod-mounted scanner spins a laser 360° and records millions of points per second. Best for interiors, MEP-dense spaces, heritage façades and structural elements where ±2–3 mm matters.
• Drone LiDAR (DJI M300 RTK with L1/L2 payloads) — the same physics as terrestrial LiDAR but flown. Best for large outdoor sites, rooftops, mining pits, corridors and anywhere ground access is limited. Typical accuracy ±15–30 mm.
• Aerial photogrammetry — high-resolution imagery stitched into a 3D mesh using photogrammetric software. Cheaper than drone LiDAR, richer visually, but accuracy degrades in vegetation and low light. Best for orthomosaics, marketing renderings and stockpile snapshots up to ±25 mm.

Accuracy envelopes you can actually plan with

Vendors love quoting best-case accuracy. That number rarely survives contact with a real jobsite. These are the numbers our Montréal crews commit to in writing, based on 2,000+ delivered projects.

What a Montréal LiDAR project actually looks like

Most clients have never sat in on a scan, so the process feels opaque. It should not be. Here is exactly how a typical DCMS engagement runs, from the first call to the deliverable landing in your inbox.

• Day 0 — Discovery call. We ask what decisions the scan needs to support (renovation? lease audit? clash detection?) because that drives the LOD.
• Day 1 — Site walk and control network. A surveyor sets targets tied to NAD83 CSRS or a local grid, so future scans register perfectly.
• Day 2–3 — Capture. Most 30,000 sq ft interiors take one crew a single day. Larger campuses run 2–4 days.
• Day 4–7 — Registration and QC. Point clouds are aligned, decimated and quality-checked against the control network.
• Day 7–14 — Deliverables. DWG floor plans, RVT Revit models, E57 point cloud, PDF sections — whatever the scope calls for.

Where DCMS crews scan in and around Montréal

Because we are physically based in Montréal (Global HQ, Rue Sherbrooke), our mobilization to any site on the island is measured in hours, not days. Regular capture zones include Downtown, Vieux-Montréal, the Plateau, Griffintown, Saint-Laurent, Anjou, Laval, Longueuil, and the South Shore. For projects in Québec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau or Trois-Rivières we drive same-day; further afield we deploy through our Toronto and New York offices.

Local highlights our crews have supported include heritage façade documentation in Vieux-Montréal, MEP as-builts for downtown office towers, retail scans across Quartier DIX30, and pre-renovation captures for institutional buildings on the McGill and Concordia campuses.

Choosing between LiDAR and traditional surveying

You do not always need LiDAR. A simple rectangular retail unit with clear drawings might be perfectly fine with a laser distometer and a couple of hours of a technician's time. LiDAR earns its keep when any of the following are true:

• The building is older than 40 years or has been through multiple renovations
• MEP density is high (mechanical rooms, hospitals, data centres, labs)
• The design team needs a Revit model, not just floor plans
• You need to prove tolerances or defend measurements in a dispute
• Timeline is tight — LiDAR captures in hours what tape-and-paper takes days
• The site is unsafe, tall, or difficult to access on foot

A short checklist before you request a scan

Ninety percent of the scans that go over budget do so because the scope was fuzzy on day one. Before you request a quote — from us or anyone else — try to answer these seven questions.

• What decisions will the scan data support?
• What is the required LOD of the final BIM model (100 / 200 / 300 / 350)?
• Do you need the deliverable in Revit, AutoCAD, IFC, or all three?
• Is there an existing control network or coordinate system to tie into?
• Are there access windows (nights, weekends, tenant coordination)?
• Who on your team will consume the point cloud — and do they have a viewer?
• What is the acceptable tolerance for the smallest feature you care about?