SiteScope Tech
Scan to BIM

Scan to BIM With an iPhone: From LiDAR Scan to IFC Model

SiteScope turns an iPhone or iPad Pro LiDAR scan of an existing building into files your BIM tools open. A room scan becomes a measured floor plan that exports as IFC, with walls, doors, windows, rooms, and floors as real objects. A point cloud scan exports E57, LAZ, and PLY for ReCap and point-cloud workflows.

IFC opens in Revit and ArchiCAD, E57 comes in through Autodesk ReCap, and the layered DXF opens in AutoCAD and SketchUp. You start design from a measured as-built instead of re-modeling a building that already exists.

Start for Free Talk to us

Four Steps, Not a Day of Re-Drawing

Scan to BIM is the path from a real building to a model you can design in. SiteScope runs the whole chain from your phone.

1

Scan on site

Walk the space with iPhone or iPad Pro LiDAR. Every wall, opening, and ceiling height is captured in minutes.

2

Refine the plan

Adjust walls, place doors and windows, and label rooms in the editor. A measured plan, not a raw mesh.

3

Verify dimensions

Confirm the critical, code-driven dimensions against the field, the same as any existing-conditions survey.

4

Export IFC

Open the building in Revit, ArchiCAD, or Navisworks with objects intact. Start design, skip the re-modeling.

Objects Come Across as Objects

IFC is the open BIM exchange format, so the model is not locked to one vendor. And it carries real building objects, not just lines. That is the difference between a model you can work with and a drawing you have to trace over.

  • Walls as real wall objects, with doors and windows hosted in them
  • Rooms as IFC spaces, plus floor slabs and stairs
  • Multiple stories stacked as separate building levels
  • Layered DXF, GLB, and PDF from the same geometry
See how scan-to-IFC works
Export Formats

Take the point cloud, not just the model

Some workflows want the structured model. Others want the raw cloud to register, trace, or verify against. SiteScope exports both from the same capture, in the formats the scanner industry already uses.

E57

The scanner-industry exchange format. Drop it into Autodesk ReCap to bring the cloud into Revit, or into an ArchiCAD or Vectorworks workflow.

LAZ / COPC

Compressed point cloud in the LAS family, cloud-optimized so a large scan streams instead of downloading whole.

PLY

The raw points, unprocessed, for the pipelines and research tools that want the cloud as captured.

GLB

A 3D model that opens in native viewers, macOS Quick Look and the Windows 3D viewer, with nothing to install.

Before you export, work the cloud in the browser

The web viewer opens any scan by share link with progressive streaming, so even a whole-building capture loads fast. Measure with level and plumb locks, hold Shift to lock a run level and Option to lock a plumb height like floor-to-floor. The Slice tool crops the building with a draggable box, reads live feet-inches dimensions, rotates to square with the walls, and sets a height band for clean plan-style slices.

See the architect workflow and exports
Works With Your Tools

Want it in Revit, AutoCAD, or SketchUp? The exports already open there

Revit and ArchiCAD read the IFC model, with walls, doors, windows, and rooms as real objects. Autodesk ReCap reads the E57 cloud and hands it to Revit. AutoCAD and SketchUp read the layered DXF, and AutoCAD saves it out as a DWG with your own layer standards. Same scan, same day. No re-scanning, no re-measuring.

Book a demo See scan-to-CAD exports

Accurate Enough to Model From, Honest About the Limits

Phone LiDAR is not a survey-grade terrestrial scanner, and it does not need to be. Room-scale captures typically land within a couple of centimeters over a normal room, well inside the tolerance renovation and space-planning work requires. Accuracy drops on long runs and on glass, mirrors, and gloss.

Treat the scan the way you would treat any field survey: capture fast, then verify the dimensions that are code-driven or fabrication-driven before you build design work on top of the import. The step that disappears is the manual measuring and re-drawing, not your judgment.

How accurate is iPhone LiDAR for as-builts?
Construction Document Set

Schedules Generated From the Plan

The same scan that feeds your BIM tool also generates Room, Wall, Door, and Window schedules with a master summary. Net areas already deduct openings and trim, and every element is tagged to match the drawing.

Where Scan to BIM Fits

Architects

As-built documentation, schedules, and CAD export

3D Room Scanning

Capture existing conditions in 3D from your phone

Floor Plan Reports

Room, Wall, Door, Window schedules with PDF markup

Digital Twin

A measured 3D record of the space you can return to

Scan to BIM guides

Scan to BIM FAQ

Can you do scan to BIM with an iPhone?
Yes, for most renovation, interior, and space-planning work. An iPhone 12 Pro or newer, or an iPad Pro (2020 or newer), has a LiDAR sensor that captures room geometry. SiteScope turns that scan into a measured plan you refine and export as IFC for Revit and ArchiCAD, and captures point clouds you export as E57 for ReCap. It is not a replacement for a survey-grade terrestrial scanner on large or high-tolerance jobs.
What is scan to BIM?
Scan to BIM is the workflow of capturing an existing building with a 3D scanner, then turning that capture into a structured building model you can open in BIM tools like Revit or ArchiCAD. SiteScope does this from an iPhone or iPad Pro LiDAR scan: capture the space, refine the measured plan, and export IFC with walls, doors, windows, rooms, and multiple stories as real objects.
Do I need a terrestrial laser scanner?
Not for most renovation and space-planning work. The LiDAR sensor on a Pro iPhone or iPad Pro captures room-scale geometry within a couple of centimeters over a typical room, which is inside the tolerance existing-conditions modeling needs. For survey-grade point clouds across a large site a terrestrial scanner still wins, but for getting an accurate as-built into BIM fast, a phone is enough.
What formats can I export?
IFC for Revit, ArchiCAD, and Navisworks, layered DXF for AutoCAD, GLB for 3D, and PDF for the construction document set. The geometry comes from the same measured plan, so every format stays consistent.
Can I export the point cloud itself, not just the model?
Yes. Export E57, the scanner-industry exchange format that imports into Autodesk ReCap and then Revit, plus compressed LAZ/COPC and raw PLY. That covers the workflows that want to register, trace, or verify against the captured cloud rather than the structured model.
How accurate is an iPhone LiDAR scan?
Room-scale LiDAR captures typically land within a couple of centimeters over a normal room. Accuracy drops on long runs, where tracking error accumulates, and on glass, mirrors, and high-gloss surfaces. Treat the scan as the survey and verify critical, code-driven, or fabrication-driven dimensions with a tape or laser before you build design work on it.
Does it handle multiple floors?
Yes. The IFC export is multi-story aware, so a whole building comes across with its floors stacked as separate building levels rather than flattened into one plate.
Is the exported model editable, or just a mesh?
It is a structured model, not a mesh. Walls come across as walls, doors as doors, rooms as IFC spaces. You refine the plan in the SiteScope editor first, so what lands in your BIM tool is geometry you can work with, not a point cloud to trace over.
What does the IFC model include, and what does it leave out?
It models the architectural shell: walls, doors and windows hosted in them, rooms as spaces, floor slabs, stairs, and multiple levels. Furniture comes across as simple labeled boxes. Structure, MEP, and ceiling detail are not modeled, so use the point cloud as a reference when you model those in your BIM tool.
How do I get the point cloud into Revit?
Export E57 from SiteScope, index it in Autodesk ReCap to create an RCP project, then link that into Revit. The step-by-step is in how to import an E57 point cloud into Revit.
Do you draft the Revit model for me?
No. SiteScope is software, not a drafting service. You scan, refine the measured plan in the editor, and export IFC, DXF, and E57 that open in Revit, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, and SketchUp. The model and the timeline stay in your hands.
Is scan to BIM free?
You can start free with no credit card and scan rooms into measured floor plans and PDF reports. IFC and DXF exports and E57 point cloud files are on Pro and Business plans. Photoreal walkthroughs are on Business. See pricing or talk to us.

Ready to Get Started?

Scan your first room free, no credit card. Capture runs on an iPhone or iPad Pro, and everything else works in your browser.

Start for Free Book a Demo