Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Advanced Engineering Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aei

Review article

Applications of 3D point cloud data in the construction industry: A fifteen- T

year review from 2004 to 2018
Qian Wanga, , Min-Koo Kimb
⁎

a
Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore
b
Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: 3D point cloud data obtained from laser scans, images, and videos are able to provide accurate and fast records
Point cloud data of the 3D geometries of construction-related objects. Thus, the construction industry has been using point cloud
Construction applications data for a variety of purposes including 3D model reconstruction, geometry quality inspection, construction
Review progress tracking, etc. Although a number of studies have been reported on applying point cloud data for the
Data acquisition
construction industry in the recent decades, there has not been any systematic review that summaries these
Data processing
applications and points out the research gaps and future research directions. This paper, therefore, aims to
provide a thorough review on the applications of 3D point cloud data in the construction industry and to provide
recommendations on future research directions in this area. A total of 197 research papers were collected in this
study through a two-fold literature search, which were published within a fifteen-year period from 2004 to 2018.
Based on the collected papers, applications of 3D point cloud data in the construction industry are reviewed
according to three categories including (1) 3D model reconstruction, (2) geometry quality inspection, and (3)
other applications. Following the literature review, this paper discusses on the acquisition and processing of
point cloud data, particularly focusing on how to properly perform data acquisition and processing to fulfill the
needs of the intended construction applications. Specifically, the determination of required point cloud data
quality and the determination of data acquisition parameters are discussed with regard to data acquisition, and
the extraction and utilization of semantic information and the platforms for data visualization and processing are
discussed with regard to data processing. Based on the review of applications and the following discussions,
research gaps and future research directions are recommended including (1) application-oriented data acqui-
sition, (2) semantic enrichment for as-is BIM, (3) geometry quality inspection in fabrication phase, and (4) real-
time visualization and processing.

1. Introduction building information modelling (BIM) is widely used in the construction

A 3-dimensional (3D) point cloud is a set of data points in a 3D
coordinate system. These data points are usually defined by X, Y, and Z
coordinates, and often are intended to represent the external surfaces of
an object [1]. 3D point cloud data can be obtained from various data
sources such as laser scans, images, and videos through their respective
equipment and technologies [2,3]. In the recent decade, reality capture
techniques that can generate 3D point cloud data are becoming mature
and ready for use, enabling more accurate and economical point cloud
data acquisition.
While the techniques for point cloud data acquisition are becoming
mature, the needs of capturing 3D point cloud data for existing build-
ings and civil infrastructures are keeping increasing as well. Nowadays,
industry to enhance project performance from design to construction
and facilities management (FM). Usually, an as-planned BIM is created
in the planning and design phases of a project to present the design
intention. However, due to design changes occurring in the construc-
tion phase, the as-planned BIM often does not reflect the as-built con-
ditions of the project. Hence, it is necessary to create an as-built BIM
upon the completion of construction phase. Furthermore, additions and
alteration works may be carried out in the FM phase, making the as-
built BIM out-of-date. In this case, there is also a need to create an as-is
BIM for existing facilities to support FM functionalities. Hence, 3D point
cloud data that can capture the accurate as-is conditions of facilities can
be used to create as-built/as-is BIM models. In addition to 3D model
creation, point cloud data are also used for a variety of purposes such as

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bdgwang@nus.edu.sg (Q. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2019.02.007
Received 13 September 2018; Received in revised form 10 February 2019; Accepted 11 February 2019
1474-0346/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319

geometry quality inspection of buildings and civil infrastructures and

construction progress tracking.
Due to the popularity of applying 3D point cloud data for con-
struction applications, several review articles have been published to
summarize the state-of-the-art in this area. Tang et al. [2] reviewed the
related techniques for automatic reconstruction of as-built BIM models
from laser scanned point cloud data. Pătrăucean et al. [4] reviewed the
state-of-the-art research works on as-built BIM model reconstruction
particularly focused on the modelling of the geometries of building
elements from point cloud data. Lu and Lee [3] reviewed the methods
for image-based reconstruction of as-is BIM models. The above-men-
tioned three review articles are mainly focused on the methods to
process laser scan data or image data for automatic creation of as-built/
Fig. 1. Number per year of the collected papers regarding construction appli-
as-is BIM models. Furthermore, Son et al. [5] reviewed the use of point
cations of point cloud data.
cloud data for two specific applications including production mon-
itoring and automated layout of civil infrastructure. Ma and Liu [6]
presented a review of 3D reconstruction techniques in civil engineering journals and conferences, supplementary literature search is conducted
and their applications. However, the applications are roughly reviewed in Google Scholar and Scopus using keyword search. The keywords used
in two categories only including (1) reconstructing and managing for literature search are a combination of tools (point cloud or tech-
construction sites and (2) reconstructing pipelines of MEP systems, nologies for generating point clouds) and application areas. Keywords
which is not complete. Hence, none of the existing review articles representing tools include “point cloud”, “laser scan”, “LiDAR”, and
thoroughly summarize the construction applications of 3D point cloud “photogrammetry”. Keywords representing application areas include
data throughout a project lifecycle. “building”, “construction”, “structure”, “civil engineering”, “bridge”,
This paper aims to provide a thorough review on the applications of “road”, and “tunnel”. A selected paper must use point cloud data for
3D point cloud data in the construction industry. Following the review construction-related applications.
of different applications, discussions are provided regarding how to Based on the above-mentioned two-fold literature search, a total of
properly acquire and process point cloud data to fulfill the needs of the 197 research papers are collected until July 2018. Fig. 1 shows the
intended construction applications. Based on the literature review and number per year of the collected papers from 2004 to 2018. Fig. 1 re-
in-depth discussions, research gaps are identified and future research veals that the number of publications in this area keeps increasing in
directions are suggested. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. the past ten years. In the recent five years (from 2013 to 2017), more
Section 2 explains the methodology for literature search and provides than 20 papers are published per year on average, showing that point
an overview of the collected papers in this study. The applications of 3D cloud data for construction applications has been a popular research
point cloud data in the construction industry are reviewed in Section 3. topic.
Section 4 discusses on the acquisition and processing of 3D point cloud
data. The research gaps and recommended future research directions 3. Applications of point cloud data
are elaborated in Section 5. Lastly, Section 6 summaries and concludes
this study. According to the collected papers, 3D point cloud data are applied
in the construction industry for two major applications including 3D
model reconstruction and geometry quality inspection, as shown in
2. Literature search
Fig. 2. Besides the two major applications, the other applications in-
clude construction progress tracking, building performance analysis,
As numerous research papers in this area have been published in the
construction safety management, building renovation, construction
past decades, the literature search is mainly focused on a few reputable
automation, heritage applications, and robot navigation. Note that
international journals and conferences in the areas of civil engineering
some of the collected papers are focused on a specific processing pro-
informatics, construction engineering and management, remote sensing
cedure of point cloud data, such as data acquisition planning, data
and computer vision, as shown in Table 1. All the papers published in
cleansing, data registration, and data segmentation, without any spe-
these journals and conferences in or after year 2004 are examined as
cific construction application. Such papers will not be categorized into
there are few papers before 2004. A total of 160 journal articles are
identified from these selected journals and conferences. As shown in
Table 1, Automation in Construction has the most identified papers fol-
lowed by Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering and Advanced En-
gineering Informatics.
In addition to literature search from the above-mentioned selected

Table 1
Number of papers published in each of the selected journals and conferences.
Journal/Conference Number of papers

Automation in Construction 71
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering 27
Advanced Engineering Informatics 22
Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering 14
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 7
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 6
Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 6
European Conference on Computer Vision 4
Fig. 2. Number of papers for each point cloud application in the construction
International Conference on Computer Vision 3
industry.

307
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
Table 2
Examples of literature on 3D model reconstruction for different categories.
Category Literature
Construction site Site geological models [7,8], earthwork models [9,10], construction equipment and vehicles [11,12], scaffolds [13]
Buildings and their components Entire buildings [14–28], indoor components and furniture [16,29–41], pipelines [42–44], building façades [12,45–47], welding
specimens [48], staircases [49], doors [50], smaller objects on walls [51]
Civil infrastructures and their components Roads [52–58], bridges [59–61], tunnels [62], industrial instruments [63,64], sewer manholes [65], precast bridge elements [66]
any application category in Fig. 2. The following Sections 3.1 and 3.2
review the two major applications, respectively. Section 3.3 then re-
views the other applications. Lastly, Section 3.4 summarizes all the
applications according to different phases of a project lifecycle.
3.1. 3D model reconstruction
3D model reconstruction refers to the process of reconstructing a 3D
model of an object based on point cloud data. Research efforts have
been reported on the reconstruction of different construction-related
objects including construction sites, buildings, civil infrastructures, and
their components, as summarized in Table 2. The construction site
objects include the site geological models, earthwork, construction
equipment and vehicles, and scaffolds. The buildings and their com-
ponents include the entire buildings, indoor furniture, pipelines,
building facades, welding specimens, doors, and small objects on walls.
Civil infrastructures and their components include roads, bridges, tun-
nels, industrial instruments, sewer manholes, and precast bridge ele-
ments.
Based on the information contained in the models, 3D model re-
construction can be classified into two categories: (1) reconstruction of
geometry model and (2) reconstruction of semantic model. For the first
category, the reconstructed model only contains the geometric in-
formation. Therefore, the reconstruction process is mainly to process
the original sensing data (e.g., laser scans, images, videos, etc.) to ob-
tain a complete point cloud. On the other hand, for the second category,
the reconstructed model not only contains geometric information, but
also contains object-based semantic information. Hence, the re-
construction process also involves the recognition of objects from point
cloud data and the enrichment of semantic information. The two ca-
tegories of 3D model reconstruction are reviewed in Sections 3.1.1 and
3.1.2, respectively.
3.1.1. Reconstruction of geometry model
The reconstruction of geometry model is to transfer original sensing
data into a complete point cloud of the target object. For laser scanning,
the key task of geometry modelling is to register multiple scans in a
shared coordinate system. While target-based registration [67,68] re-
quires human intervention, recent research efforts are mostly focused
on automatic or semi-automatic feature-based registration [69–72].
Feature-based registration matches two scans by finding and matching
the corresponding features in two scans including points [68,69,71,73]
and surfaces [66,74]. The plane-based registration approach proposed
in [66] is particularly appropriate for the construction context since
most building components are composed of planar surfaces. Hence,
corresponding planes from two scans can be identified for the regis-
tration of the two scans.
For approaches other than 3D laser scanning, the main task of
geometry modelling is to transfer original 2D data (e.g. images and
videos) into 3D point clouds. Generally, photogrammetry or video-
grammetry algorithms find distinctive features from overlapping
images or video frames, estimate the parameters and poses of cameras,
and eventually generate 3D point cloud data. For example, Golparvar-
Fard et al. [75] developed an automated image-based reconstruction
technique using unordered daily construction photo collections. The
Scale Invariant Feature Transforms (SIFT) features were extracted from
308
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
individual images and SfM was adopted to recover the camera para-
meters. Brilakis et al. [76] presented a videogrammetric framework for
progressive 3D reconstruction of infrastructure. This developed frame-
work detected Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) from video frames
and then recovered the structures and motion. In order to improve the
performance of 3D reconstruction, researchers have also investigated
the combinations of different approaches. For example, Brilakis et al.
[77] integrated videogrammetry and laser scanning to achieve better
automation in the creation of 3D models.
3.1.2. Reconstruction of semantic model
The reconstruction of semantic models includes two major tasks,
namely geometric modelling and object recognition. The geometric
modelling aims to model the geometry of a building element from point
cloud data. The most common geometry in building elements are
planes. Several algorithms including Hough Transform [78], region
growing [79], and random sample consensus (RANSAC) [80] have been
adopted to detect planar surfaces from point cloud data. For more
complex shapes, parametric representations are adopted such as the
non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) curves and surfaces [81]. On
the other hand, object recognition aims to label the point cloud data
into object categories such as walls, floors, roofs, doors, windows.
Various object recognition methods have been developed in previous
studies such as supervised learning based method, hard-coded knowl-
edge based method.
The strategies and algorithms for semantic model reconstruction
vary according to different problems. Based on the collected papers, the
four most popular approaches to semantic model reconstruction from
point cloud data include (1) geometric shape descriptor based ap-
proach, (2) hard-coded knowledge based approach, (3) supervised
learning based approach, and (4) matching by alignment with BIM
based approach. The procedures of the four approaches are illustrated
in Fig. 3 and a summary of literature adopting the four approaches is
shown in Table 3.
The geometric shape descriptor based approach is suitable for the
case when the CAD/BIM model of the object to be recognized is
available. Due to the geometric uniqueness of different objects, a geo-
metric shape descriptor that describes the shape of an object is used to
recognize a certain object instance or object class. The geometric shape
descriptor based method is usually performed in three steps including
(1) offline library generation, (2) online search, and (3) final verifica-
tion [2]. In the offline library generation step, geometric shape de-
scriptors of each object to be recognized are calculated based on the
object’s CAD/BIM model and then stored in a library. Usually, local or
semi-local shape descriptors are used for the recognition of object in-
stances, while global shape descriptors are used for the recognition of
object classes because global descriptors are able to handle more shape
variations. For example, Czerniawski et al. [82] developed a curvature-
based local shape descriptor to locate and extract pipe spools in clut-
tered point cloud data. After library generation, online search is con-
ducted to search for the target object in the point cloud data by com-
paring the shape descriptors stored in the library with the shape
descriptors calculated at different locations of the point cloud data.
Lastly, in the final verification step, for each potential matching point,
the corresponding point cloud data are aligned with the CAD/BIM
model of the object to examine whether they match well. The geometric
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319

Fig. 3. Four different approaches to semantic model reconstruction.

shape descriptor based approach performs well for the search and re-
cognition of complex-geometry elements with unknown positions from
point cloud data. However, this approach is feasible only when the
CAD/BIM model of the object to be recognized is available. Hence, its
applicability is limited in real-world cases because many existing
buildings and their components do not have any CAD/BIM model.
The hard-coded knowledge based approach is to use hard-coded
prior knowledge of building elements for object classification. For ex-
ample, many building elements are represented as planar surfaces in-
cluding walls, roofs, floors, etc. Hence, planar segments are first ex-
tracted from point cloud data and each planar segment may represent a
wall, a roof, or a floor. Then, these planar segments are classified into
object categories based on hard-coded prior knowledge such as walls
being vertical, roofs being horizontal and above walls, and floors being
horizontal and below walls [83,84]. The hard-coded knowledge can be
divided into four categories including size, position, orientation, and
topology [83]. Size refers to the dimensions of an element, such as the
area of a door having a certain range. Position refers to the relative
position of an element with respect to another element, such as a door
being on a wall and a roof being above the wall. Orientation is focused
on the principal direction or normal vector of an element, such as a wall
being vertical. Last, topology refers to the topological relationship be-
tween elements, such as a wall intersecting the floor. The hard-coded
knowledge based method is a simple and effective algorithm for simple-
geometry building components with distinct geometric characteristics.
However, it works only for cases within the constraints that are defined
in the hard-coded knowledge. Recognition of any irregular-shape
building element such as an inclined wall will be a challenge using this

Table 3
Examples of literature adopting four different object recognition approaches.
Approach Details Target Refs.

Geometric Shape Descriptor
Hard-coded Knowledge
Supervised Learning
Matching by alignment with BIM
Object instance recognition with curvature-based shape descriptor Pipe spool [64,82]
Object instance recognition using local feature on a pair of points Pipe spool [90]
Prior knowledge based classification Walls, doors, windows, roofs, raise floors, shade [14]
Prior knowledge based classification Ceilings, floors, walls and staircases [24]
Prior knowledge based classification Cupboards, kitchen appliances, and tables [84]
Prior knowledge based classification Ground, wall, door, roof, protrusion and intrusion [83]
Prior knowledge based classification Doors [50]
Random forest (RF) classifier with features from LSSHOT descriptor Scaffold [13]
Support vector machines (SVM) based classification of data segments Column, beam, slab, and others [86]
Machine learning framework to classify planar patches Wall, ceiling, floor, and clutter [15]
Machine learning based classification using principal axes descriptor Construction equipment [87]
SVM based one-class classification Rebar [85]
Align scan with BIM and match as-built points to as-designed surfaces Simulated columns [89]
Align scan with BIM and match as-built with as-designed points Columns [91]
Align scan with BIM and match as-built with as-designed points Steel structures [88,92]
Align scan with BIM and match as-built points to as-designed surfaces Features on precast concrete elements [93]

309
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319

method. Furthermore, it is also difficult to extend this method to object Table 4

categories with more complex geometries because it is challenging to Examples of literature on different categories of geometry quality inspection.
extract robust and distinct geometric characteristics for complex-geo- Category Target problem Refs.
metry objects.
The supervised learning based approach uses machine learning al- Dimensional quality Dimensions of precast [93–95]
inspection concrete elements
gorithms to train classifiers that can classify point cloud data into object
Dimensions of prefabricated [109–111]
categories. There are two strategies for supervised learning based object pipe spools
recognition, namely point-based classification and segment-based Dimensions of building [112,113]
classification. For point-based classification, each point is classified façade elements
individually into an object category using local features of each point. Dimensions of steel columns [88]
Dimensions of rebars [85]
For example, Wang et al. [85] adopted a one-class SVM classifier to
Post-disaster damages of [96–98]
extract rebar from the point cloud data of a reinforced precast concrete building elements
element. Both geometric features and color features of each point were Damages of heritage sites [114]
used for classification. After each point is assigned to an object cate- Surface quality Surface crack [115]
inspection Surface spalling [100,101,103,116–118]
gory, the as-built geometry of the object is modelled with geometric
Surface flatness [102,119–121]
modelling algorithms. On the other hand, for segment-based classifi- Surface deformation/ [102,114,122,123]
cation, point cloud data are first divided into meaningful segments distortion
using data segmentation algorithms and each data segment is classified Displacement Displacement of retaining [104]
into an object category using the features of each segment. For example, inspection walls
Displacement of dams [105]
Kim et al. [86] first segmented point cloud data of a structure into
Deflection of bridges [107,106]
different segments, which corresponded to different building compo- Displacement of landslide [108]
nents. Then, these segments were classified into four object categories
including column, beam, slab, and other using an SVM classifier. The
features for segment classification included the Lalonde feature, direc- problems.
tion, and continuity, all of which were determined by the geometries of For dimensional quality inspection, research efforts have covered a
segments. In general, the supervised learning based approach has a wide range of target problems including dimensions of precast and
wide applicability. This method is able to handle objects with complex prefabricated elements, dimensions of building façade elements, da-
geometries such as construction equipment [87] and scaffold [13]. mages of building elements, damages of heritage sites, etc. The focuses
However, the disadvantage of this approach is that it requires large of these studies include the size [93,94], shape [95], position [88],
amounts of labelled dataset to train the classifier, which requires great orientation [88], and post-disaster damages [96–98] of buildings and
time and effort. civil infrastructures. For dimensional quality inspection, an as-designed
The matching by alignment with BIM based approach aligns the BIM model of the target object is usually needed and the BIM-vs.-scan
point cloud data with a reference BIM model to facilitate object re- approach [99] is adopted to compare the BIM model with the point
cognition. This approach usually consists of three steps. First, the point cloud data and identify any dimensional discrepancy. The key steps in a
cloud data are aligned with the reference BIM model, which is usually BIM-vs.-scan process include the alignment between point cloud data
the as-designed BIM model of the project. The common practice in the and the BIM model and the recognition of objects from point cloud
industry is to use geo-reference based on site referencing systems. data. This is similar to the matching with BIM based object recognition
Recently, automated solutions are developed based on a two-step re- method as discussed in a previous section. For the damage detection of
gistration process consisting of a coarse registration and a fine regis- post-disaster buildings, the BIM model may not be needed because
tration based on the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm [88]. damages can be directly detected with laser spectral data [98].
Second, each point is matched to a building element in the reference For surface quality inspection, most research works are focused on
BIM model based on the geometric and semantic features of the point. concrete surfaces, and mainly four target problems are reported in-
For example, Zhang and Arditi [89] searched for laser scan points cluding surface crack, spalling, flatness, and deformation/distortion.
within a certain distance from the column in the reference BIM model The former two are local defects of concrete surfaces while the latter
and treated these points as belonging to the column. Third, the points two are focused on the overall concrete surface shapes. For surface
matched to the same element in the reference BIM model are modelled cracks and spalling, local geometric features are commonly used to
into an as-built model using geometric modelling algorithms. Object detect the target problems such as the local curvatures [100] or normal
recognition by alignment with BIM model objects can easily achieve vectors [101]. On the other hand, for surface flatness and deformation/
high recognition accuracy as long as the point cloud data do not have distortion, they are usually measured using quantitative indexes de-
huge discrepancy from the reference BIM model. However, this ap- fined in relevant industry standards. For example, the Floor Flatness
proach always requires the precondition that there exists a reference (FF) number was used to measure surface flatness and warping and
BIM model for the target object. For existing buildings without any BIM bowing were used to measure surface distortion in [102]. Surface
model, this approach will not be feasible. Hence, this approach is quality inspection can be conducted even though the as-designed BIM
mostly adopted for geometry quality inspection and construction pro- of the target surface is not available. This is because most surfaces in the
cess tracking of new buildings, where as-designed BIM is available, and construction context are planar and the point cloud data can be directly
these two applications are reviewed in Sections 3.2 and 3.3. compared to a plane for surface quality inspection. In addition to
concrete surfaces, a few studies also look at the surface defects of steel
3.2. Geometry quality inspection structures such as steel delamination [103].
Different from the aforementioned two categories, displacement
Point cloud data that capture the as-is conditions of facilities are inspection is focused on the change of relative position of a structure,
adopted for the geometry quality inspection of buildings and civil in- rather than the change of structure geometry itself. Only a few research
frastructures. According to the different types of geometry quality, re- works are reported on displacement measurement. The target problems
search efforts on geometry quality inspection can be divided into three include displacement of highway retaining walls [104], displacement of
categories, namely (1) dimensional quality inspection, (2) surface dams [105], deflection of bridges [106,107], and displacement of
quality inspection, and (3) displacement inspection. Table 4 sum- landslide [108]. These research works often need to collect point cloud
marizes the collected papers according to different categories and target

310
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319

For example, the surface quality of concrete and steel structures of

buildings and civil infrastructures (e.g. bridges and tunnels) is ex-
tensively studied. Furthermore, the dimensional defects are checked for
post-disaster buildings [96–98] and heritage sites [114] and the land-
slide displacement [108] is monitored for risk assessment and control.

3.3. Other applications

Fig. 4. Inspection targets of geometry quality inspection at different project
phases.
data at a certain interval to keep monitoring the displacement of
structures by comparing point cloud data captured at different epochs.
According to the collected literature, geometry quality inspection of
buildings and civil infrastructures has been carried out in various
phases of construction projects from fabrication to construction and O&
M phase. The inspection target objects at different project phases are
summarized in Fig. 4. In the fabrication phase, precast and pre-
fabricated components such as precast concrete elements or pre-
fabricated pipe spools are inspected to ensure smooth installation and
assembly on site such as the studies reported by Wang et al. [93] and
Nahangi and Haas [109]. Other than the inspection of individual pre-
cast and prefabricated elements, the alignment and assembly of these
elements are also simulated based on the point cloud data and rea-
lignment of the assemblies can be carried out to minimize the dis-
crepancy [109]. During the construction phase, construction works on
site need to be assessed to make sure the as-built constructions are
consistent with the as-designed BIM model and the discrepancy is al-
ways less than the tolerance value. This includes the dimensional
quality inspection of building façade elements and steel columns, sur-
face quality inspection of building floor slabs, and displacement in-
spection of highway retaining wall. Most of the inspections are con-
ducted after the construction works are finished and only one
inspection is conducted during the construction process as real-time
monitoring [104]. Last, in the O&M phase, the geometry quality is
routinely inspected in order to detect and repair any defect in time and
eventually extend the service life of buildings and civil infrastructures.
Point cloud data are also leveraged to track the progress of con-
struction activities. Point cloud data of a construction activity are
usually acquired over time and then compared with a 4D BIM model
that contains the planned schedule of the construction activity. By
comparing the point cloud data with the 4D BIM model, the actual
schedule will be compared to the planned schedule to identify activities
behind schedule. As summarized in Table 5, studies have been con-
ducted on construction progress tracking of various construction ac-
tivities, including earthwork, concrete structures (e.g. floors, columns,
beams), steel structures (e.g. columns, beams), as well as secondary and
temporary components. The tracking of earthwork is relatively simple,
involving only the calculation and comparison of earthwork volumes. It
is more difficult to track the progress of concrete structures or steel
structures, which include multiple and various building elements. To
track the progress, individual building elements need to be recognized
from the point cloud data and the progress is measured by comparing
the as-built elements in the point cloud data with the corresponding as-
designed elements in the 4D BIM model. The key to automatic con-
struction progress tracking lies in the automation of object recognition
from point cloud data, similar to the matching by alignment with BIM
based object recognition approach.
Point cloud data are adopted for building performance analysis in-
cluding mechanical analysis, accessibility analysis, and building energy
analysis, as shown in Table 5. For mechanical analysis, Riveiro et al.
[124] generated a 3D geometric model of historical masonry bridge
arches from point cloud data for mechanical analysis including failure
load estimation and stress distribution analysis. Lee and Park [125]
estimated the stress of a steel beam using the point cloud data with a
finite element method. For building accessibility analysis, Balado et al.
[126] detected steps in building entrances from point cloud data and
then diagnosed the building accessibility. For building energy analysis,
Ham and Golparvar-Fard [127] used a single thermal camera to capture
the thermal and digital imagery of a building. The thermal point cloud
data were generated from images for building energy analysis. For these
applications regarding building performance analysis, the key is to
extract necessary geometric and semantic information (such as mor-
phologic information of masonry walls [128], semantic models of steps
[126], and thermal properties [127]) of buildings from the point cloud
data.
Some studies use point cloud data for construction safety manage-
ment as point cloud data provide accurate geometric information of
construction-related objects, as summarized in Table 5. For example,
Wang et al. [129] collected the point cloud data of excavated pits to

Table 5
Summary of literature on the other applications of point cloud data.
Category Examples

Construction progress tracking
Building performance analysis
Construction safety management
Building renovation
Construction automation
Heritage applications
Robot navigation
Steel structural components [70,142,143], earthwork [144,145], concrete structural components [86,146,147], fake structures simulating
columns [89], concrete construction secondary and temporary objects [148]
Mechanical analysis of bridge structure [124], morphologic analysis [128], stress estimation [125], building accessibility diagnosis [126],
energy performance modelling [127,149], structural analysis of bridges such as finite element modeling [150]
Active safety management [151], safety hazards identification [129], identification of blind spots of construction equipment [130,131], safety
hazard simulation [132], safety assistance for mobile crane lifting operations [133]
Re-design and renovation of the façades [134], interior design [152], energy performance retrofit [153], refurbishment [154]
Digital reproduction [135], automated earthwork excavation [10]
Surveying, repair and maintenance [136], stability analysis [137], heritage site preservation [114], documentation [155]
Navigation in indoor and outdoor environments [138], navigation in indoor environment [139–141]

311
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
measure their geometric properties for automatic identification and
localization of fall hazards including cave-ins and fall-from-heights. Ray
and Teizer [130] and Marks et al. [131] obtained the point cloud data
of construction equipment to compute the blind spot map of construc-
tion equipment and to further design safer construction equipment.
Some studies also combined point cloud data and virtual reality (VR) to
enhance construction safety. For example, Cheng and Teizer [132]
generated 3D models of construction site resources from point cloud
data and safety hazard simulations were conducted based on the models
in a VR environment. Fang et al. [133] proposed a framework that
utilized the 3D models of construction sites generated from point cloud
data to assist VR-based mobile crane lifting operations. In general, the
main contribution of point cloud data for construction safety manage-
ment is to provide accurate geometries for construction sites and con-
struction equipment.
Based on point cloud data of the existing buildings, building re-
novation, retrofit, and refurbishment can also be improved. For ex-
ample, Aydin [134] leveraged the point cloud data of existing building
façades to assist in the renovation of the façades. The point cloud data
were used to evaluate the building design regarding the visual har-
mony, aesthetics, design compatibility, architectural features, and how
these elements affect the appearance of commercial streets. For such
applications, the accurate geometric information of existing buildings is
the most important and semantic information is often less important.
Construction automation also benefits from the adoption of point
cloud data. For example, Chae et al. [10] captured the point cloud data
of an earthwork site to assist in automated earthwork with unmanned
remotely controlled excavator. In another study, Xu et al. [135] com-
bined 3D laser scanning with 3D printing for digital reproduction. The
geometry of a historical building ornamental component was captured
using 3D laser scanning and the obtained point cloud data were fed into
a 3D concrete printer for digital reproduction of the component.
Point cloud data are also widely adopted for heritage-related ap-
plications. For example, Valero et al. [136] used laser scan data to
segment masonry units and mortar regions in cultural heritage build-
ings, which helped in surveying, repair and maintenance of heritage
buildings. D'Altri et al. [137] generated 3D finite element meshes from
point clouds of historic masonry structures to analyze the structural
stability. Sánchez-Aparicio et al. [114] detected chemical, biological,
and physical damages of heritage assets based on combined radiometric
and geometric analysis of laser scanning data.
Robot navigation is also relying on point cloud data. For example,
Kim et al. [138] reported an autonomous mobile robot that navigated
scanning sites based on a continuously updated point cloud map. The
developed system was tested in both indoor and outdoor testbeds,
showing promising results. Rodriguez-Telles et al. [139] developed a
new method to segment the floor of a building, which was defined as
free space, for the purpose of robot navigation. Many similar efforts on
robot navigation are reported in the area of computer and robot vision
such as the works reported by Biswas and Veloso [140] and Marder-
Eppstein et al. [141].
3.4. Summary of applications
As reviewed in the previous subsections, point cloud data are
adopted in various applications throughout construction project life-
cycle from planning and design phase to fabrication and construction
phase, and to O&M phase. The applications and benefits of point cloud
data in different project phases are summarized in Fig. 5. In the plan-
ning and design phase, point cloud data are used to collect the geo-
metric information of the construction sites and existing buildings to
assist in project planning and design. The project quality and pro-
ductivity are expected to improve due to the better decision-makings
with accurate site data.
In the fabrication and construction phase, point cloud data are le-
veraged to check the geometry quality of precast and prefabricated
312
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
construction components as well as completed construction works on
site. Construction progress can also be tracked using point cloud data in
a more efficient and automated manner. Construction safety is en-
hanced by using point cloud data for the identification of safety ha-
zards, identification of blind spots of construction equipment, assisting
in crane operations, as well as training of site workers. Furthermore,
point cloud data are also useful for digital reproduction of construction
components as well as automated earth excavation system. In conclu-
sion, point cloud data have been utilized to improve the construction
quality, productivity, and safety, by providing accurate geometric and
semantic data for construction objects.
In the O&M phase, by creating 3D models of the existing facilities
from point cloud data, FM can be done in virtual 3D environments with
improved efficiency. The geometry quality of facilities is checked rou-
tinely to keep smooth operation and timely repair of any defect. In
addition, point cloud data are adopted for building performance ana-
lysis in various aspects so that the facility managers have a better idea
on the building performance. Building renovation, retrofit, and re-
furbishment also benefit from point cloud data because of the accurate
and efficient modelling of the existing buildings. Heritage preservation,
repair, and maintenance also benefit from point cloud data due to the
geometric and semantic information that could be extracted from point
cloud data. Robot navigation is also replying on point cloud data, which
eventually improve the O&M quality of a facility. As a result, point
cloud data are expected to bring improved FM efficiency, improved
facility quality and extended service life, as well as improved renova-
tion quality and efficiency in the O&M phase.
4. Point cloud data acquisition and processing
To make sure the point cloud data fulfill the needs of the intended
construction applications, the acquisition and processing of point cloud
data should be performed properly. Thus, this section discusses on the
acquisition and processing of point cloud data, particularly focusing on
how to cater the needs of construction applications. First, the acquisi-
tion of point cloud data is discussed including the determination of
required point cloud data quality and the determination of data ac-
quisition parameters, in Section 4.1. Second, the processing of point
cloud data is elaborated including the extraction and utilization of se-
mantic information from point cloud data and the platforms for data
visualization and processing, in Section 4.2.
4.1. Point cloud data acquisition
4.1.1. Determination of required data quality
It is important to make sure that the acquired point cloud data sa-
tisfy the requirements of the specific construction application. In
practice, point cloud data are usually acquired based on the engineer’s
experience, which may result in either low-quality or redundant data.
As a result, it is necessary to specify the required quality of point cloud
data before data acquisition so that the collected data meet the speci-
fied requirement and have no redundancy. The parameters for point
cloud data quality have been discussed in previous research and in-
dustry guidelines [156]. For example, the U.S. General Services Ad-
ministration (GSA) BIM Guide for 3D Imaging defined four levels of
detail for point cloud data. The four levels of detail are defined with
different criteria on the tolerance (i.e. allowable dimensional deviation)
and resolution (i.e. dimensions of the smallest recognizable feature)
[157]. Dai et al. [158] evaluated the quality of point cloud data from
different technologies using three parameters including accuracy,
completeness, and density. Rebolj et al. [156] used three parameters
including minimum local density, minimum local accuracy, and level of
scatter to measure the quality of point cloud data for construction
progress tracking.
Although different parameters have been proposed, the two most
popular parameters for point cloud data quality are accuracy and
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
Fig. 5. Summary of applications and benefits of point cloud data in different project phases.
spatial resolution. Accuracy measures the ranging accuracy of each
individual point, which is mainly determined by the hardware perfor-
mance of the data acquisition equipment and the data acquisition
parameters. For laser scanning, the scanning parameters include scan-
ning distance, angular resolution, and incident angle. Furthermore,
other factors including the surface reflectivity of the target object, the
surface smoothness of the target object, color of the target object, at-
mosphere humidity and temperature, and ambient light also affect the
accuracy of laser scan data [158]. On the other hand, spatial resolution
measures the spatial density of point cloud data, which is mainly de-
termined by the data acquisition parameters. Sometimes, coverage is
introduced as a third parameter of point cloud data quality [159].
Coverage measures the proportion of the target object that is covered by
the point cloud data. This parameter is particularly important when
occlusions among building components exist so that some components
cannot be fully captured by the point cloud data. The required point
cloud data quality should be specified according to the needs of the
specific application. Very few research efforts have been reported to
tackle this question. A recent research conducted by Rebolj et al. [156]
studied the relationship between the point cloud data quality and the
success identification of building elements from point cloud data for
construction progress tracking. The required point cloud data quality
was then specified using three parameters to ensure successful con-
struction progress tracking.
4.1.2. Determination of data acquisition parameters
When the required point cloud data quality is specified, point cloud
data are acquired accordingly. It is necessary to determine the para-
meters for point cloud acquisition so that the acquired data fulfill the
required quality and the acquisition time is minimized. To this end,
researchers have developed algorithms to optimize the acquisition of
point cloud data [159–163]. Most of these studies are focused on the
planning of laser scanning, which is also known as “scan planning”. For
example, Argüelles-Fraga et al. [160] proposed an algorithm to de-
termine the scan locations for circular cross-section tunnels such that
the prescribed data accuracy is satisfied and the scanning time is
minimized. Biswas et al. [159] automatically generated laser scanning
strategies based on the 3D BIM model of the target facility and the
characteristics and specifications of the laser scanner. In this work, they
313
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
also considered the occlusions among facility components. Zhang et al.
[162] proposed an efficient scan planning method using the “divide-
and-conquer” strategy, which first clustered target points to be scanned
and then found the scan locations for each cluster individually.
Despite the developed methods for determining data acquisition
parameters, one precondition of these methods is that the BIM model of
the building to be scanned must exist so that different scanning para-
meters can be simulated through computer simulations. However, in
most real-world applications, no BIM model exists for the building to be
scanned. Hence, the determination of data acquisition parameters re-
mains a problem for cases where the BIM model is not available.
4.2. Point cloud data processing
4.2.1. Extraction and utilization of semantic information
Semantic information of construction-related objects can be derived
from point cloud data, such as the spatial relationships between
building elements and surface properties of building elements such as
material and color. Some research works are focused on the extraction
of semantic information and some others are focused on the utilization
of semantic information for construction applications.
For relationship modelling, Nguyen et al. [164] outlined an auto-
mated approach to deduct the topological relationships between
building components from a 3D CAD model. Son et al. [64] re-
constructed the as-is BIM models for industrial instruments from laser
scan data and topological relationships between the pieces of in-
strumentation were leveraged to assist the reconstruction process.
However, the previous studies did not directly derive the topological
relationships between building elements from point cloud data.
The materials of building elements are possibly inferred from point
cloud data because different materials may have different colours,
roughness levels, textures, patterns, etc. Recently, a few studies have
utilized 3D point cloud data for material classification. Hassan [165]
found that the intensity and RGB values from laser scan data have
potentials for classifying structural concrete, light-weight concrete, and
clay brick. Valero et al. [136] proposed an automatic method for the
segmentation of masonry units and mortar regions in digitised rubble
stone constructions based on coloured laser scan data. For laser scan
data, each scan data point also has an intensity value that measures the
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
intensity of the reflected laser from the target object. The intensity
value is mainly determined by the characteristics of the target object
surface. Hence, the intensity value is also utilized for material re-
cognition. For example, Riveiro et al. [128] classified laser scan data
into mortar and masonry units based on the intensity values. Armesto-
González et al. [166] detected damages on stony materials that con-
stitute historical buildings based on the intensity values of laser scan
data and unsupervised classification algorithms.
Color information in the point cloud data is widely utilized for
object recognition. For example, Son and Kim [143] recognized struc-
tural steel components based on colour information as the structural
steel components had substantially different colours from the back-
ground. Instead of using the traditional RGB color space, an illumina-
tion-invariant color space, namely HSI (Hue, Saturation, and Intensity),
was used in this study to handle varying illumination conditions. Wang
et al. [85] extracted rebar from the point cloud data of reinforced
precast concrete elements using supervised learning algorithms. The
RGB values were used as features for object classification considering
that the colors of rebar were different from other objects. Quintana
et al. [50] and Adán et al. [51] also utilized colored point cloud data for
the detection of secondary building components and doors, respec-
tively.
In addition to the above-mentioned semantic information, to fulfil
the needs of specific construction applications, additional sensors may
be needed to collect other semantic information. For example, to con-
duct building energy simulation, Ham and Golparvar-Fard [127] com-
bined 2D digital and thermal imagery from a thermal camera to gen-
erate a thermal point cloud of the building for automated energy
performance analysis. Wang et al. [167] developed a hybrid LiDAR
system that could construct a 3D thermal model consisting of point
clouds of building geometry with thermal data on each point. It is worth
noting that commercial laser scanners with built-in infrared cameras
are now available on the market [168,169].
4.2.2. Platforms for data visualization and processing
For construction applications, point cloud data usually need to be
visualized and processed to support decision making for different pro-
ject stakeholders. Various platforms have been utilized for point cloud
data visualization and processing. They include software packages de-
veloped by manufacturers of point cloud acquisition devices (e.g. FARO
Scene [170], Leica Cyclone [171], and Trimble RealWorks [172]),
manufacturer-independent software packages (e.g. PointCab [173],
PolyWorks [174], and LiDAR360 [175]), as well as BIM modelling tools
(e.g. Autodesk Recap [176], Autodesk Revit [177], Bentley [178], and
Graphisoft ArchiCAD [179]). More computer programs for point cloud
visualization and processing can be found in [180]. To achieve efficient
visualization of point cloud data with large data sizes, spatial indexing
structures such as octree and kd-tree are usually adopted, and only the
part of point cloud data that is visible to the observer will be rendered
by the software [181].
In addition, web-based visualization and processing tools are also
available such as FARO SCENE WebShare [182], Leica Pegasus [183],
Flyvast [184], Voxxlr [185]. These tools allow the creation, manage-
ment, and sharing of point cloud data within interactive web platforms.
They also support simple data processing such as measurements, an-
notations, section cutting, and creation of virtual walkthrough. The
web-based platforms eliminate the needs to store the point cloud data
in local devices and facilitate convenient sharing of point cloud data
without transferring the original point cloud data to other parties. Point
cloud data can also be visualized in VR and mixed reality (MR) en-
vironments. For example, the FARO Scene includes a VR feature that
can connect point cloud data with VR systems including Oculus Rift and
HTC Vive [186]. Using the VR feature, one can navigate the point cloud
data and conduct dimension measurements and make annotations using
the VR headset and controllers. Furthermore, combing Kinect with
HoloLens enables real-time visualization of point cloud data generated
314
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
from Kinect through HoloLens to achieve MR [187]. However, research
is still lacking for real-time visualization and processing of point cloud
data for construction applications.
5. Research gaps and future directions
5.1. Application-oriented data acquisition
Currently, the point cloud data acquisition is heavily performed in a
manual way based on site engineer’s experiences. Collecting insufficient
data will render a model useless for its intended use while collecting too
much data will take a longer time and more efforts and result in re-
dundant data. Hence, it is important to determine the required point
cloud data quality for each specific application to facilitate the acqui-
sition of point cloud data. Although a recent study investigated the
relationship between point cloud data quality and the successful iden-
tification of building elements [156], research is still lacking to identify
the required point cloud data quality for each specific application.
Future research should be conducted to investigate the required
data quality for each specific application. This should start by identi-
fying the information requirement for each specific application, in-
cluding the building elements to be captured and the required level of
detail (LOD) for the captured elements. The required LOD of the cap-
tured elements depends on the needs of the application. For example,
geometry quality inspection of building elements may need a higher
LOD than the reconstruction of 3D models for building renovation
purpose. After the information requirement is identified, the required
data quality can be determined regarding accuracy, spatial resolution,
and coverage. The accuracy and spatial resolution are depending on the
required LOD of BIM. The coverage depends on not only LOD but also
the type of elements. For example, to model a wall, a small coverage
may be sufficient because a wall is vertical and planar. However, to
model complex MEP elements, a high coverage is needed to capture all
the detailed connections. Currently, the relationship between the in-
formation requirement and the required data quality is mostly con-
sidered in a qualitative way instead of quantitative way. Future re-
search should be conducted to establish quantitative relationships
between the information requirement and the required point cloud data
quality.
Furthermore, it is also important to establish the relationship be-
tween the required data quality and the data acquisition parameters.
Particularly for laser scanning, the key is to optimize scanning para-
meters to minimize the scanning time and avoid collecting redundant
scan data. Although scan planning algorithms have been proposed in
previous studies [159–162], the BIM model of the facility is always
needed for scan planning in these studies. However, BIM model does
not exist for most existing buildings, making it difficult to conduct scan
planning for such cases. Future research needs to be carried out to solve
this problem. One potential solution is to evaluate scan data quality and
optimize scanning parameters in real-time. During the scanning pro-
cess, the obtained scan data are evaluated in real-time and necessary
adjustment of scanning parameters is made so that the obtained scan
data fulfill certain requirements. Such a system will be possible for
mobile or airborne laser scanning systems that support instant change
of scanning parameters. Another potential solution is to construct BIM
models of buildings based on the as-designed 2D drawings, such as the
study reported by Gimenez et al. [188], and then used the constructed
BIM for scan planning.
5.2. Semantic enrichment for as-is BIM
Semantic information of building elements in as-is BIM models is
important for various applications. The spatial relationship between
building elements is useful for applications such as BIM-based spatial
reasoning for the diagnosis of the water distribution system of a
building [2]. Although some studies either extracted topological
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
relationships from CAD model [164] or utilized such relationships for
as-is BIM reconstruction [64], these studies did not directly derive to-
pological relationships from point cloud data. Future research is needed
to explore the extraction of spatial relationships between building ele-
ments directly from point cloud data. Identifying the construction
materials of building elements is necessary for many applications such
as facility maintenance and repair and building energy simulation.
However, very few studies utilized 3D point cloud data for material
classification except for a few recent publications [136,165]. Future
research should be conducted for 3D point cloud data based material
classification as material recognition has various potential applications
on site. One example is to recognize different components with different
materials for the purpose of geometry quality inspection of complicated
construction works consisting of multiple materials. Another example is
for construction material volume estimation onsite, in which the dif-
ferent materials need to be recognized from the noisy site point cloud
data. Data fusion between point cloud data and other data has the
potential to improve the accuracy of material and object recognition.
For example, Rottensteiner et al. [189] detected buildings based on the
Dempster-Shafer fusion of airborne laser scanner data and multi-spec-
tral images.
Some other semantic information for as-is BIM models includes the
thermal properties of building façade elements, acoustic properties of
indoor elements, mechanical properties of structural elements, and
technical specifications and warranty information of equipment. In
some cases, such information is available but stored in other data for-
mats such as PDF documents and Excel spreadsheets, especially for FM-
related data. Hence, text mining techniques such as natural language
processing (NLP) may be deployed to achieve automated retrieval of
semantic data from large volumes of non-structured documents. For
example, Zhang and El-Gohary [190] extracted regulatory information
from building codes based on semantic NLP algorithms and transformed
into logic rules for automatic code checking. Such algorithms can po-
tentially provide a much more efficient way for extracting necessary
information, resulting in time and cost savings. For semantic informa-
tion that is currently unavailable, additional sensors can be deployed to
generate point cloud data with such semantic information. For example,
X-Ray imaging could provide information on the structural materials
and properties, and could be used to detect rebar within reinforced
concrete elements for quality inspection. In addition, ultrasonic waves
could be used to detect, localize, and quantify structural damages
especially for steel elements.
5.3. Geometry quality inspection in fabrication phase
The geometry quality inspection of precast and prefabricated
building components is essential to ensure the smooth installation and
assembly of these components on site. Any construction delay or cost
overrun can be avoided if the components are checked before they are
transported to construction site. This study has collected nine papers on
the geometry quality inspection in the fabrication phase, accounting for
less than 20% of all the papers on geometry quality inspection. Besides
the limited number of publications, existing research on geometry
quality inspection in the fabrication phase has two major limitations.
First, most collected papers are focused on precast concrete bridge
elements and prefabricated pipe spools, which were published by two
research groups, respectively. Research on other types of precast and
prefabricated elements is very limited. Second, all the collected papers
conduct geometry quality inspection after the precast and prefabricated
elements are fabricated such as [93,102]. Even though geometric
quality problems of precast and prefabricated components are identi-
fied from point cloud data, it is already too late to resolve the problem.
Future research directions are suggested in the following two as-
pects. First, future research is needed for the geometry quality inspec-
tion of other types of precast and prefabricated components. For ex-
ample, the precast bathroom unit (PBU) and prefabricated and
315
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) are popularly adopted in
Singapore to improve the construction productivity. One essential issue
is the difficulty in installing PBU and PPVC units on site due to the
limited site space. Hence, it is essential to check the dimensional quality
of PBU and PPVC units before on-site installations. Also, with the point
cloud data of the PBU and PPVC units, virtual installation and assembly
can be carried out in a virtual BIM environment to identify any po-
tential issues. Another example is the prefabricated MEP modules,
which include multiple MEP elements within one module. Two adjacent
modules need to be aligned on site and all the individual MEP elements
from two modules should be precisely connected, which is a challen-
ging task on site. To handle this problem, pre-assembly scanning is
needed to inspect the dimensional quality of each module, and if ne-
cessary, re-alignment is needed to adjust the installation location to
optimize the alignment between two adjacent modules.
Second, future research should be conducted to extend the geometry
quality inspection from post-fabrication stage to pre-fabrication and
fabrication stage. That is, construction works should be inspected even
before the fabrication process and should be ideally monitored in real-
time during the fabrication process. For example, the locations of re-
inforcing bars in a reinforced precast concrete element are essential
items to be checked. Due to the large amount of reinforcing bars,
workers often make mistakes and place them at wrong locations. Hence,
the locations of reinforcing bars should be checked before casting the
concrete using point cloud data. Once any location discrepancy is
found, corrective measures can be taken before the casting of concrete
to avoid any problem with the final products. Furthermore, the form-
works should be inspected before casting to avoid any deformations or
defects of formworks, and the formwork locations could also be mon-
itored in real-time during the curing process to avoid any displacement.
5.4. Real-time visualization and processing
In the current workflow of utilizing point cloud data for construc-
tion applications, the acquisition of point cloud data is usually sepa-
rated from the visualization and processing of point cloud data. While
the point cloud data are acquired on construction sites, the acquired
data are only visualized and processed using computer programs in
office. Due to the fragmented processes, site engineers cannot obtain
meaningful information on construction activities from point cloud data
in time. This delay hinders in-time identification and handling of pro-
blems on site, especially for issues related to geometry quality inspec-
tion and construction progress tracking.
In view of this limitation, future research is needed to develop
methods for real-time visualization and processing of point cloud data for
practical uses. One possible solution is to combine point cloud acquisi-
tion and processing tools with VR/MR techniques. Taking geometry
quality inspection of construction components as an example, once the
point cloud data of the construction components are obtained, the point
cloud data can be fed into a VR system for visualization. At the same
time, the corresponding as-designed BIM model can also be fed into and
visualized in the VR system and a built-in function can be executed by
the user to compare the point cloud data with the as-designed BIM and
show the dimensional discrepancies between them. In this way, site
engineers can visualize and identify the geometry quality problems on
site once the point cloud data are acquired, and necessary measures can
be taken immediately to resolve the problems. Although studies
[187,191] have been conducted for real-time point cloud data processing
for mapping and self-driving car navigation and for point cloud data
integration with immersive VR environment [192], applications in the
construction industry integrating VR/MR techniques are still lacking,
which should be investigated in future research. One potential challenge
of such applications is how to achieve high-accuracy localization of
headset on construction sites, which are highly complex and dynamic.
Some researchers recommended to use hybrid localization approaches to
improve the accuracy and stability of localization results [193].
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
6. Conclusions
This paper reviews the applications of 3D point cloud data in the
construction industry. A two-fold literature search was conducted and a
total of 197 academic papers were collected from selected journals and
conferences and a keyword search. The collected papers were published
within a fifteen-year period from 2004 to 2018. The three major ap-
plications of 3D point cloud data in the construction industry are re-
viewed in this paper. The first is 3D model reconstruction, which in-
cludes the reconstruction of geometry models and the reconstruction of
semantic models. The second is geometry quality inspection of con-
struction works, mainly including dimensional quality inspection, sur-
face quality inspection, and displacement inspection. In addition to the
two major applications, 3D point cloud data are also applied for con-
struction progress tracking, building performance analysis, construction
safety management, building renovation, construction automation,
heritage applications, and robot navigation. The applications and
benefits of 3D point cloud data at different project phases from planning
and design to fabrication and construction and to O&M are analyzed.
This study also discusses on the acquisition and processing of point
cloud data, which should be properly performed to fulfill the needs of
the intended applications. For data acquisition, the required point cloud
data quality is discussed regarding data accuracy, spatial resolution,
and coverage. In addition, the determination of data acquisition para-
meters, including the scan planning problem, is reviewed and dis-
cussed. On the other hand, for data processing, the extraction and
utilization of semantic information from point cloud data is discussed
including the spatial relationships between building elements, surface
materials, surface colors, surface intensity values, and potential se-
mantic information from other sensors. Furthermore, the platforms for
data visualization and processing are reviewed including software
packages, web-based tools, as well as the integration with VR/MR
techniques.
The research gaps and future research directions are identified
based on the literature review and discussions. First, application-or-
iented data acquisition should be further studied including the identi-
fication of information requirement for each specific application, the
determination of required point cloud data quality, and the determi-
nation of data acquisition parameters. Second, semantic enrichment for
as-is BIM should be further studied on the collection of semantic in-
formation through text mining techniques and integration with other
sensors. Third, more research on geometry quality inspection in the
fabrication phase should be carried out in the future, particularly for
the inspection of other types of prefabricated elements and the in-
spection before and during the fabrication process. Fourth, future re-
search is needed to develop methods for real-time visualization and
processing of point cloud data for construction applications, potentially
integrating with VR/MR techniques.
Acknowledgement
The second author would like to acknowledge that this research was
supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of
Education (2016R1A6A3A03010355).
References
[1] Wikipedia, Wikipedia of Point Cloud, 2017. Available from: < https://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_cloud > (cited 2017 30 October).
[2] P. Tang, D. Huber, B. Akinci, R. Lipman, A. Lytle, Automatic reconstruction of as-
built building information models from laser-scanned point clouds: a review of
related techniques, Autom. Constr. 19 (7) (2010) 829–843.
[3] Q. Lu, S. Lee, Image-based technologies for constructing as-is building information
models for existing buildings, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 31 (4) (2017) 04017005.
[4] V. Pătrăucean, I. Armeni, M. Nahangi, J. Yeung, I. Brilakis, C. Haas, State of re-
search in automatic as-built modelling, Adv. Eng. Inf. 29 (2) (2015) 162–171.
[5] H. Son, F. Bosché, C. Kim, As-built data acquisition and its use in production
316
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
monitoring and automated layout of civil infrastructure: a survey, Adv. Eng. Inf.
29 (2) (2015) 172–183.
[6] Z. Ma, S. Liu, A review of 3D reconstruction techniques in civil engineering and
their applications, Adv. Eng. Inf. 37 (2018) 163–174.
[7] H. Hu, T. Fernandez-Steeger, M. Dong, R. Azzam, Numerical modeling of LiDAR-
based geological model for landslide analysis, Autom. Constr. 24 (2012) 184–193.
[8] E.P. Karan, R. Sivakumar, J. Irizarry, S. Guhathakurta, Digital modeling of con-
struction site terrain using remotely sensed data and geographic information
systems analyses, J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 140 (3) (2013) 04013067.
[9] S. Kwon, M. Lee, M. Lee, S. Lee, J. Lee, Development of optimized point cloud
merging algorithms for accurate processing to create earthwork site models,
Autom. Constr. 35 (2013) 618–624.
[10] M.J. Chae, G.W. Lee, J.Y. Kim, J.W. Park, M.Y. Cho, A 3D surface modeling system
for intelligent excavation system, Autom. Constr. 20 (7) (2011) 808–817.
[11] C. Wang, Y.K. Cho, Smart scanning and near real-time 3D surface modeling of
dynamic construction equipment from a point cloud, Autom. Constr. 49 (2015)
239–249.
[12] F. Dai, M. Lu, Three-dimensional modeling of site elements by analytically pro-
cessing image data contained in site photos, J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (7)
(2012) 881–894.
[13] Y. Xu, S. Tuttas, L. Hoegner, U. Stilla, Reconstruction of scaffolds from a photo-
grammetric point cloud of construction sites using a novel 3D local feature de-
scriptor, Autom. Constr. 85 (2018) 76–95.
[14] C. Wang, Y.K. Cho, C. Kim, Automatic BIM component extraction from point
clouds of existing buildings for sustainability applications, Autom. Constr. 56
(2015) 1–13.
[15] X. Xiong, A. Adan, B. Akinci, D. Huber, Automatic creation of semantically rich 3D
building models from laser scanner data, Autom. Constr. 31 (2013) 325–337.
[16] E. Valero, A. Adán, F. Bosché, Semantic 3D reconstruction of furnished interiors
using laser scanning and RFID technology, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 30 (4) (2015)
04015053.
[17] J. Jung, S. Hong, S. Yoon, J. Kim, J. Heo, Automated 3D wireframe modeling of
indoor structures from point clouds using constrained least-squares adjustment for
as-built BIM, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 30 (4) (2015) 04015074.
[18] L. Ma, R. Sacks, R. Zeibak-Shini, A. Aryal, S. Filin, Preparation of synthetic as-
damaged models for post-earthquake BIM reconstruction research, J. Comput. Civ.
Eng. 30 (3) (2015) 04015032.
[19] R. Zeibak-Shini, R. Sacks, L. Ma, S. Filin, Towards generation of as-damaged BIM
models using laser-scanning and as-built BIM: first estimate of as-damaged loca-
tions of reinforced concrete frame members in masonry infill structures, Adv. Eng.
Inf. 30 (3) (2016) 312–326.
[20] L. Truong-Hong, D.F. Laefer, T. Hinks, H. Carr, Combining an angle criterion with
voxelization and the flying voxel method in reconstructing building models from
LiDAR data, Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 28 (2) (2013) 112–129.
[21] M. Murphy, E. McGovern, S. Pavia, Historic Building Information Modelling-
Adding intelligence to laser and image based surveys of European classical ar-
chitecture, ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 76 (2013) 89–102.
[22] G. Vosselman, S. Dijkman, 3D building model reconstruction from point clouds
and ground plans, Int. Arch. Photogrammetry Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. 34 (3/
W4) (2001) 37–44.
[23] Y. Arayici, Towards building information modelling for existing structures, Struct.
Surv. 26 (3) (2008) 210–222.
[24] V. Sanchez, A. Zakhor, Planar 3D modeling of building interiors from point cloud
data, 2012 19th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), IEEE,
2012.
[25] K. Khoshelham, L. Díaz-Vilariño, 3D modelling of interior spaces: learning the
language of indoor architecture, Int. Arch. Photogrammetry Remote Sens. Spatial
Inf. Sci. 40 (5) (2014) 321.
[26] A. Budroni, J. Boehm, Automated 3D reconstruction of interiors from point clouds,
Int. J. Architect. Comput. 8 (1) (2010) 55–73.
[27] A. Budroni, J. Böhm, Automatic 3D modelling of indoor manhattan-world scenes
from laser data, Proceedings of the International Archives of Photogrammetry,
Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2010, pp. 115–120.
[28] T. Koch, M. Korner, F. Fraundorfer, Automatic alignment of indoor and outdoor
building models using 3D line segments, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops, (2016).
[29] O.M. Mozos, Z.-C. Marton, M. Beetz, Furniture models learned from the www,
IEEE Rob. Autom. Mag. 18 (2) (2011) 22–32.
[30] R.B. Rusu, Z.C. Marton, N. Blodow, A. Holzbach, M. Beetz, Model-based and
learned semantic object labeling in 3D point cloud maps of kitchen environments,
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2009, IROS
2009, IEEE, 2009.
[31] X. Ye, J. Li, H. Huang, L. Du, X. Zhang, 3D Recurrent neural networks with context
fusion for point cloud semantic segmentation, European Conference on Computer
Vision, Springer, 2018.
[32] Z. Wang, H. Liu, Y. Qian, T. Xu, Real-time plane segmentation and obstacle de-
tection of 3D point clouds for indoor scenes, European Conference on Computer
Vision, Springer, 2012.
[33] S. Ikehata, H. Yang, Y. Furukawa, Structured indoor modeling, Proceedings of the
IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, (2015).
[34] T.T. Pham, I. Reid, Y. Latif, S. Gould, Hierarchical higher-order regression forest
fields: an application to 3d indoor scene labelling, Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Computer Vision, (2015).
[35] D. Lin, S. Fidler, R. Urtasun, Holistic scene understanding for 3d object detection
with rgbd cameras, Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer
Vision, (2013).
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
[36] G. Tsai, C. Xu, J. Liu, B. Kuipers, Real-time indoor scene understanding using
bayesian filtering with motion cues, 2011 IEEE International Conference on
Computer Vision (ICCV), IEEE, 2011.
[37] D. Neumann, F. Lugauer, S. Bauer, J. Wasza, J. Hornegger, Real-time RGB-D
mapping and 3-D modeling on the GPU using the random ball cover data structure,
2011 IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision Workshops (ICCV
Workshops), IEEE, 2011.
[38] S. Gupta, P. Arbelaez, J. Malik, Perceptual organization and recognition of indoor
scenes from RGB-D images, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer
Vision and Pattern Recognition, (2013).
[39] I. Armeni, O. Sener, A.R. Zamir, H. Jiang, I. Brilakis, M. Fischer, S. Savarese, 3d
semantic parsing of large-scale indoor spaces, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference
on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, (2016).
[40] S. Choi, Q.-Y. Zhou, V. Koltun, Robust reconstruction of indoor scenes,
Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition,
(2015).
[41] A. Handa, V. Patraucean, V. Badrinarayanan, S. Stent, R. Cipolla, Understanding
real world indoor scenes with synthetic data, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference
on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, (2016).
[42] H. Son, C. Kim, Automatic segmentation and 3D modeling of pipelines into con-
stituent parts from laser-scan data of the built environment, Autom. Constr. 68
(2016) 203–211.
[43] J. Lee, H. Son, C. Kim, C. Kim, Skeleton-based 3D reconstruction of as-built pi-
pelines from laser-scan data, Autom. Constr. 35 (2013) 199–207.
[44] H. Son, C. Kim, C. Kim, Fully automated as-built 3D pipeline extraction method
from laser-scanned data based on curvature computation, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 29
(4) (2014) B4014003.
[45] L. Truong-Hong, D.F. Laefer, T. Hinks, H. Carr, Flying voxel method with Delaunay
triangulation criterion for façade/feature detection for computation, J. Comput.
Civ. Eng. 26 (6) (2011) 691–707.
[46] T. Werner, A. Zisserman, New techniques for automated architectural re-
construction from photographs, European Conference on Computer Vision,
Springer, 2002.
[47] A. Martinovic, J. Knopp, H. Riemenschneider, L. Van Gool, 3d all the way: se-
mantic segmentation of urban scenes from start to end in 3d, Proceedings of the
IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, (2015).
[48] M. Rodríguez-Martín, P. Rodríguez-Gonzálvez, S. Lagüela, D. González-Aguilera,
Macro-photogrammetry as a tool for the accurate measurement of three-dimen-
sional misalignment in welding, Autom. Constr. 71 (2016) 189–197.
[49] A. Pérez-Yus, G. López-Nicolás, J.J. Guerrero, Detection and modelling of stair-
cases using a wearable depth sensor, European Conference on Computer Vision,
Springer, 2014.
[50] B. Quintana, S. Prieto, A. Adán, F. Bosché, Door detection in 3D coloured point
clouds of indoor environments, Autom. Constr. 85 (2018) 146–166.
[51] A. Adán, B. Quintana, S.A. Prieto, F. Bosché, Scan-to-BIM for ‘secondary’building
components, Adv. Eng. Inf. 37 (2018) 119–138.
[52] M. Golparvar-Fard, V. Balali, J.M. de la Garza, Segmentation and recognition of
highway assets using image-based 3D point clouds and semantic Texton forests, J.
Comput. Civ. Eng. 29 (1) (2012) 04014023.
[53] A. Holgado-Barco, B. Riveiro, D. González-Aguilera, P. Arias, Automatic inventory
of road cross-sections from mobile laser scanning system, Comput.-Aided Civ.
Infrastruct. Eng. 32 (1) (2017) 3–17.
[54] A. Holgado-Barco, D. González-Aguilera, P. Arias-Sanchez, J. Martinez-Sanchez,
Semiautomatic extraction of road horizontal alignment from a mobile LiDAR
system, Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 30 (3) (2015) 217–228.
[55] H. Cai, W. Rasdorf, Modeling road centerlines and predicting lengths in 3-D using
LIDAR point cloud and planimetric road centerline data, Comput.-Aided Civ.
Infrastruct. Eng. 23 (3) (2008) 157–173.
[56] B. Yang, L. Fang, J. Li, Semi-automated extraction and delineation of 3D roads of
street scene from mobile laser scanning point clouds, ISPRS J. Photogramm.
Remote Sens. 79 (2013) 80–93.
[57] S. Pu, M. Rutzinger, G. Vosselman, S.O. Elberink, Recognizing basic structures
from mobile laser scanning data for road inventory studies, ISPRS J. Photogramm.
Remote Sens. 66 (6) (2011) S28–S39.
[58] A. Boyko, T. Funkhouser, Extracting roads from dense point clouds in large scale
urban environment, ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 66 (6) (2011) S2–S12.
[59] A. Bhatla, S.Y. Choe, O. Fierro, F. Leite, Evaluation of accuracy of as-built 3D
modeling from photos taken by handheld digital cameras, Autom. Constr. 28
(2012) 116–127.
[60] I. Lubowiecka, J. Armesto, P. Arias, H. Lorenzo, Historic bridge modelling using
laser scanning, ground penetrating radar and finite element methods in the con-
text of structural dynamics, Eng. Struct. 31 (11) (2009) 2667–2676.
[61] R. Lu, I. Brilakis, C.R. Middleton, Detection of structural components in point
clouds of existing RC bridges, Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. (2018).
[62] S. Han, H. Cho, S. Kim, J. Jung, J. Heo, Automated and efficient method for ex-
traction of tunnel cross sections using terrestrial laser scanned data, J. Comput.
Civil Eng. 27 (3) (2012) 274–281.
[63] A.K. Patil, P. Holi, S.K. Lee, Y.H. Chai, An adaptive approach for the reconstruction
and modeling of as-built 3D pipelines from point clouds, Autom. Constr. 75 (2017)
65–78.
[64] H. Son, C. Kim, C. Kim, 3D reconstruction of as-built industrial instrumentation
models from laser-scan data and a 3D CAD database based on prior knowledge,
Autom. Constr. 49 (2015) 193–200.
[65] C. Bellés, A kinect-based system for 3D reconstruction of sewer manholes,
Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 30 (11) (2015) 906–917.
[66] Q. Wang, H. Sohn, J.C. Cheng, Automatic as-built BIM creation of precast concrete
317
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
bridge deck panels using laser scan data, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 32 (3) (2018)
04018011.
[67] B. Becerik-Gerber, F. Jazizadeh, G. Kavulya, G. Calis, Assessment of target types
and layouts in 3D laser scanning for registration accuracy, Autom. Constr. 20 (5)
(2011) 649–658.
[68] D. Yun, S. Kim, H. Heo, K.H. Ko, Automated registration of multi-view point clouds
using sphere targets, Adv. Eng. Inf. 29 (4) (2015) 930–939.
[69] M. Bueno, H. González-Jorge, J. Martínez-Sánchez, H. Lorenzo, Automatic point
cloud coarse registration using geometric keypoint descriptors for indoor scenes,
Autom. Constr. 81 (2017) 134–148.
[70] C. Kim, H. Son, C. Kim, Fully automated registration of 3D data to a 3D CAD model
for project progress monitoring, Autom. Constr. 35 (2013) 587–594.
[71] Y.D. Eo, M.W. Pyeon, S.W. Kim, J.R. Kim, D.Y. Han, Coregistration of terrestrial
lidar points by adaptive scale-invariant feature transformation with constrained
geometry, Autom. Constr. 25 (2012) 49–58.
[72] F. Bosché, Plane-based registration of construction laser scans with 3D/4D
building models, Adv. Eng. Inf. 26 (1) (2012) 90–102.
[73] J. Gómez-García-Bermejo, E. Zalama, R. Feliz, Automated registration of 3D scans
using geometric features and normalized color data, Comput.-Aided Civ.
Infrastruct. Eng. 28 (2) (2013) 98–111.
[74] M. Bueno, F. Bosché, H. González-Jorge, J. Martínez-Sánchez, P. Arias, 4-Plane
congruent sets for automatic registration of as-is 3D point clouds with 3D BIM
models, Autom. Constr. 89 (2018) 120–134.
[75] M. Golparvar-Fard, J. Bohn, J. Teizer, S. Savarese, F. Peña-Mora, Evaluation of
image-based modeling and laser scanning accuracy for emerging automated per-
formance monitoring techniques, Autom. Constr. 20 (8) (2011) 1143–1155.
[76] I. Brilakis, H. Fathi, A. Rashidi, Progressive 3D reconstruction of infrastructure
with videogrammetry, Autom. Constr. 20 (7) (2011) 884–895.
[77] I. Brilakis, M. Lourakis, R. Sacks, S. Savarese, S. Christodoulou, J. Teizer,
A. Makhmalbaf, Toward automated generation of parametric BIMs based on hy-
brid video and laser scanning data, Adv. Eng. Inf. 24 (4) (2010) 456–465.
[78] D. Borrmann, J. Elseberg, K. Lingemann, A. Nüchter, The 3d hough transform for
plane detection in point clouds: a review and a new accumulator design, 3D
Research 2 (2) (2011) 3.
[79] T. Rabbani, F. Van Den Heuvel, G. Vosselmann, Segmentation of point clouds
using smoothness constraint, Int. Arch. Photogrammetry Remote Sens. Spatial Inf.
Sci. 36 (5) (2006) 248–253.
[80] R. Schnabel, R. Wahl, R. Klein, Efficient RANSAC for point‐cloud shape detection,
Computer Graphics Forum, Wiley Online Library, 2007.
[81] L. Barazzetti, Parametric as-built model generation of complex shapes from point
clouds, Adv. Eng. Inf. 30 (3) (2016) 298–311.
[82] T. Czerniawski, M. Nahangi, C. Haas, S. Walbridge, Pipe spool recognition in
cluttered point clouds using a curvature-based shape descriptor, Autom. Constr. 71
(2016) 346–358.
[83] S. Pu, G. Vosselman, Knowledge based reconstruction of building models from
terrestrial laser scanning data, ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 64 (6) (2009)
575–584.
[84] R.B. Rusu, Z.C. Marton, N. Blodow, M. Dolha, M. Beetz, Towards 3D point cloud
based object maps for household environments, Rob. Auton. Syst. 56 (11) (2008)
927–941.
[85] Q. Wang, J.C. Cheng, H. Sohn, Automated estimation of reinforced precast con-
crete rebar positions using colored laser scan data, Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct.
Eng. (2017).
[86] C. Kim, H. Son, C. Kim, Automated construction progress measurement using a 4D
building information model and 3D data, Autom. Constr. 31 (2013) 75–82.
[87] J. Chen, Y. Fang, Y.K. Cho, C. Kim, Principal axes descriptor for automated con-
struction-equipment classification from point clouds, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 31 (2)
(2016) 04016058.
[88] F. Bosché, Automated recognition of 3D CAD model objects in laser scans and
calculation of as-built dimensions for dimensional compliance control in con-
struction, Adv. Eng. Inf. 24 (1) (2010) 107–118.
[89] C. Zhang, D. Arditi, Automated progress control using laser scanning technology,
Autom. Constr. 36 (2013) 108–116.
[90] M.M. Sharif, M. Nahangi, C. Haas, J. West, Automated model‐based finding of 3D
objects in cluttered construction point cloud models, Comput.‐Aided Civ.
Infrastruct. Eng. 32 (11) (2017) 893–908.
[91] F. Bosche, C.T. Haas, Automated retrieval of 3D CAD model objects in construction
range images, Autom. Constr. 17 (4) (2008) 499–512.
[92] F. Bosche, C.T. Haas, B. Akinci, Automated recognition of 3D CAD objects in site
laser scans for project 3D status visualization and performance control, J. Comput.
Civ. Eng. 23 (6) (2009) 311–318.
[93] Q. Wang, M.-K. Kim, J.C. Cheng, H. Sohn, Automated quality assessment of precast
concrete elements with geometry irregularities using terrestrial laser scanning,
Autom. Constr. 68 (2016) 170–182.
[94] M.-K. Kim, H. Sohn, C.-C. Chang, Automated dimensional quality assessment of
precast concrete panels using terrestrial laser scanning, Autom. Constr. 45 (2014)
163–177.
[95] M.-K. Kim, Q. Wang, J.-W. Park, J.C. Cheng, H. Sohn, C.-C. Chang, Automated
dimensional quality assurance of full-scale precast concrete elements using laser
scanning and BIM, Autom. Constr. 72 (2016) 102–114.
[96] A.G. Kashani, P.S. Crawford, S.K. Biswas, A.J. Graettinger, D. Grau, Automated
tornado damage assessment and wind speed estimation based on terrestrial laser
scanning, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 29 (3) (2014) 04014051.
[97] Z. Zhou, J. Gong, M. Guo, Image-based 3D reconstruction for posthurricane re-
sidential building damage assessment, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 30 (2) (2015)
04015015.
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
[98] A.G. Kashani, A.J. Graettinger, Cluster-based roof covering damage detection in
ground-based lidar data, Autom. Constr. 58 (2015) 19–27.
[99] F. Bosché, M. Ahmed, Y. Turkan, C.T. Haas, R. Haas, The value of integrating Scan-
to-BIM and Scan-vs-BIM techniques for construction monitoring using laser
scanning and BIM: the case of cylindrical MEP components, Autom. Constr. 49
(2015) 201–213.
[100] G. Teza, A. Galgaro, F. Moro, Contactless recognition of concrete surface damage
from laser scanning and curvature computation, NDT & E Int. 42 (4) (2009)
240–249.
[101] M.-K. Kim, H. Sohn, C.-C. Chang, Localization and quantification of concrete
spalling defects using terrestrial laser scanning, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 29 (6) (2015)
04014086.
[102] Q. Wang, M.-K. Kim, H. Sohn, J.C. Cheng, Surface flatness and distortion inspec-
tion of precast concrete elements using laser scanning technology, Smart Struct.
Syst. 18 (3) (2016) 601–623.
[103] B.G. Erkal, J.F. Hajjar, Laser-based surface damage detection and quantification
using predicted surface properties, Autom. Constr. 83 (2017) 285–302.
[104] P. Oskouie, B. Becerik-Gerber, L. Soibelman, Automated measurement of highway
retaining wall displacements using terrestrial laser scanners, Autom. Constr. 65
(2016) 86–101.
[105] D. González-Aguilera, J. Gómez-Lahoz, J. Sánchez, A new approach for structural
monitoring of large dams with a three-dimensional laser scanner, Sensors 8 (9)
(2008) 5866–5883.
[106] B. Riveiro, H. González-Jorge, M. Varela, D.V. Jáuregui, Validation of terrestrial
laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for the measurement of vertical
underclearance and beam geometry in structural inspection of bridges,
Measurement 46 (1) (2013) 784–794.
[107] B. Riveiro, D. Jauregui, P. Arias, J. Armesto, R. Jiang, An innovative method for
remote measurement of minimum vertical underclearance in routine bridge in-
spection, Autom. Constr. 25 (2012) 34–40.
[108] G. Teza, A. Galgaro, N. Zaltron, R. Genevois, Terrestrial laser scanner to detect
landslide displacement fields: a new approach, Int. J. Remote Sens. 28 (16) (2007)
3425–3446.
[109] M. Nahangi, C.T. Haas, Skeleton-based discrepancy feedback for automated rea-
lignment of industrial assemblies, Autom. Constr. 61 (2016) 147–161.
[110] M. Nahangi, C.T. Haas, Automated 3D compliance checking in pipe spool fabri-
cation, Adv. Eng. Inf. 28 (4) (2014) 360–369.
[111] C. Rausch, M. Nahangi, C. Haas, J. West, Kinematics chain based dimensional
variation analysis of construction assemblies using building information models
and 3D point clouds, Autom. Constr. 75 (2017) 33–44.
[112] C. Ordóñez, J. Martínez, P. Arias, J. Armesto, Measuring building façades with a
low-cost close-range photogrammetry system, Autom. Constr. 19 (6) (2010)
742–749.
[113] C. Ordóñez, P. Arias, J. Herráez, J. Rodríguez, M.T. Martín, Two photogrammetric
methods for measuring flat elements in buildings under construction, Autom.
Constr. 17 (5) (2008) 517–525.
[114] L.J. Sánchez-Aparicio, S. Del Pozo, L.F. Ramos, A. Arce, F.M. Fernandes, Heritage
site preservation with combined radiometric and geometric analysis of TLS data,
Autom. Constr. 85 (2018) 24–39.
[115] Y.-F. Liu, S. Cho, B. Spencer Jr., J.-S. Fan, Concrete crack assessment using digital
image processing and 3D scene reconstruction, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 30 (1) (2014)
04014124.
[116] T. Mizoguchi, Y. Koda, I. Iwaki, H. Wakabayashi, Y. Kobayashi, K. Shirai, Y. Hara,
H.-S. Lee, Quantitative scaling evaluation of concrete structures based on terres-
trial laser scanning, Autom. Constr. 35 (2013) 263–274.
[117] P. Tang, D. Huber, B. Akinci, Characterization of laser scanners and algorithms for
detecting flatness defects on concrete surfaces, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 25 (1) (2010)
31–42.
[118] M.J. Olsen, F. Kuester, B.J. Chang, T.C. Hutchinson, Terrestrial laser scanning-
based structural damage assessment, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 24 (3) (2009) 264–272.
[119] F. Bosché, E. Guenet, Automating surface flatness control using terrestrial laser
scanning and building information models, Autom. Constr. 44 (2014) 212–226.
[120] F. Bosché, B. Biotteau, Terrestrial laser scanning and continuous wavelet trans-
form for controlling surface flatness in construction–a first investigation, Adv. Eng.
Inf. 29 (3) (2015) 591–601.
[121] N. Puri, E. Valero, Y. Turkan, F. Bosché, Assessment of compliance of dimensional
tolerances in concrete slabs using TLS data and the 2D continuous wavelet
transform, Autom. Constr. 94 (2018) 62–72.
[122] T. Nuttens, C. Stal, H. De Backer, K. Schotte, P. Van Bogaert, A. De Wulf,
Methodology for the ovalization monitoring of newly built circular train tunnels
based on laser scanning: Liefkenshoek Rail Link (Belgium), Autom. Constr. 43
(2014) 1–9.
[123] O. Monserrat, M. Crosetto, Deformation measurement using terrestrial laser
scanning data and least squares 3D surface matching, ISPRS J. Photogramm.
Remote Sens. 63 (1) (2008) 142–154.
[124] B. Riveiro, J. Caamaño, P. Arias, E. Sanz, Photogrammetric 3D modelling and
mechanical analysis of masonry arches: an approach based on a discontinuous
model of voussoirs, Autom. Constr. 20 (4) (2011) 380–388.
[125] H. Lee, H. Park, Gage-free stress estimation of a beam-like structure based on
terrestrial laser scanning, Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 26 (8) (2011)
647–658.
[126] J. Balado, L. Díaz-Vilariño, P. Arias, M. Soilán, Automatic building accessibility
diagnosis from point clouds, Autom. Constr. 82 (2017) 103–111.
[127] Y. Ham, M. Golparvar-Fard, An automated vision-based method for rapid 3D en-
ergy performance modeling of existing buildings using thermal and digital ima-
gery, Adv. Eng. Inf. 27 (3) (2013) 395–409.
318
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
[128] B. Riveiro, P.B. Lourenço, D.V. Oliveira, H. González-Jorge, P. Arias, Automatic
morphologic analysis of quasi-periodic masonry walls from LiDAR, Comput.-Aided
Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 31 (4) (2016) 305–319.
[129] J. Wang, S. Zhang, J. Teizer, Geotechnical and safety protective equipment
planning using range point cloud data and rule checking in building information
modeling, Autom. Constr. 49 (2015) 250–261.
[130] S.J. Ray, J. Teizer, Computing 3D blind spots of construction equipment:
Implementation and evaluation of an automated measurement and visualization
method utilizing range point cloud data, Autom. Constr. 36 (2013) 95–107.
[131] E.D. Marks, T. Cheng, J. Teizer, Laser scanning for safe equipment design that
increases operator visibility by measuring blind spots, J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139
(8) (2013) 1006–1014.
[132] T. Cheng, J. Teizer, Real-time resource location data collection and visualization
technology for construction safety and activity monitoring applications, Autom.
Constr. 34 (2013) 3–15.
[133] Y. Fang, Y.K. Cho, J. Chen, A framework for real-time pro-active safety assistance
for mobile crane lifting operations, Autom. Constr. 72 (2016) 367–379.
[134] C.C. Aydin, Designing building façades for the urban rebuilt environment with
integration of digital close-range photogrammetry and geographical information
systems, Autom. Constr. 43 (2014) 38–48.
[135] J. Xu, L. Ding, P.E. Love, Digital reproduction of historical building ornamental
components: from 3D scanning to 3D printing, Autom. Constr. 76 (2017) 85–96.
[136] E. Valero, F. Bosché, A. Forster, Automatic segmentation of 3D point clouds of
rubble masonry walls, and its application to building surveying, repair and
maintenance, Autom. Constr. 96 (2018) 29–39.
[137] A.M. D'Altri, G. Milani, S. de Miranda, G. Castellazzi, V. Sarhosis, Stability analysis
of leaning historic masonry structures, Autom. Constr. 92 (2018) 199–213.
[138] P. Kim, J. Chen, Y.K. Cho, SLAM-driven robotic mapping and registration of 3D
point clouds, Autom. Constr. 89 (2018) 38–48.
[139] F.G. Rodriguez-Telles, L.A.T. Mendez, E.A.M. Garcia, A fast floor segmentation
algorithm for visual-based robot navigation, 2013 International Conference on
Computer and Robot Vision (CRV), IEEE, 2013.
[140] J. Biswas, M. Veloso, Depth camera based indoor mobile robot localization and
navigation, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
(ICRA), IEEE, 2012.
[141] E. Marder-Eppstein, E. Berger, T. Foote, B. Gerkey, K. Konolige, The office
marathon: Robust navigation in an indoor office environment, 2010 IEEE
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, 2010.
[142] N.-J. Shih, P.-H. Wang, Point-cloud-based comparison between construction
schedule and as-built progress: long-range three-dimensional laser scanner’s ap-
proach, J. Archit. Eng. 10 (3) (2004) 98–102.
[143] H. Son, C. Kim, 3D structural component recognition and modeling method using
color and 3D data for construction progress monitoring, Autom. Constr. 19 (7)
(2010) 844–854.
[144] S. El-Omari, O. Moselhi, Integrating 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry for
progress measurement of construction work, Autom. Constr. 18 (1) (2008) 1–9.
[145] M. Bügler, A. Borrmann, G. Ogunmakin, P.A. Vela, J. Teizer, Fusion of photo-
grammetry and video analysis for productivity assessment of earthwork processes,
Comput.-Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng. 32 (2) (2017) 107–123.
[146] Y. Turkan, F. Bosche, C.T. Haas, R. Haas, Automated progress tracking using 4D
schedule and 3D sensing technologies, Autom. Constr. 22 (2012) 414–421.
[147] Y. Turkan, F. Bosché, C.T. Haas, R. Haas, Toward automated earned value tracking
using 3D imaging tools, J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (4) (2012) 423–433.
[148] Y. Turkan, F. Bosché, C.T. Haas, R. Haas, Tracking of secondary and temporary
objects in structural concrete work, Constr. Innovation 14 (2) (2014) 145–167.
[149] Y. Ham, M. Golparvar-Fard, Mapping actual thermal properties to building ele-
ments in gbXML-based BIM for reliable building energy performance modeling,
Autom. Constr. 49 (2015) 214–224.
[150] S.B. Walsh, D.J. Borello, B. Guldur, J.F. Hajjar, Data processing of point clouds for
object detection for structural engineering applications, Comput.-Aided Civ.
Infrastruct. Eng. 28 (7) (2013) 495–508.
[151] J. Teizer, 3D range imaging camera sensing for active safety in construction, J. Inf.
Technol. Constr. (ITcon) 13 (8) (2008) 103–117.
[152] N.-J. Shih, J.-Z. Hu, The application of 3D range images in the interior design
practice, 11th International Conference on Information Visualization, 2007. IV'07,
IEEE, 2007.
[153] K.E. Larsen, F. Lattke, S. Ott, S. Winter, Surveying and digital workflow in energy
performance retrofit projects using prefabricated elements, Autom. Constr. 20 (8)
(2011) 999–1011.
[154] Y. Arayici, An approach for real world data modelling with the 3D terrestrial laser
scanner for built environment, Autom. Constr. 16 (6) (2007) 816–829.
[155] A.D. Styliadis, Digital documentation of historical buildings with 3-d modeling
functionality, Autom. Constr. 16 (4) (2007) 498–510.
[156] D. Rebolj, Z. Pučko, N.Č. Babič, M. Bizjak, D. Mongus, Point cloud quality re-
quirements for Scan-vs-BIM based automated construction progress monitoring,
Autom. Constr. 84 (2017) 323–334.
[157] (GSA), G.S.A. GSA BIM Guide for 3D Imaging, 2009. Available from: < https://
www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/GSA_BIM_Guide_Series_03.pdf > (cited 2018 25 April).
[158] F. Dai, A. Rashidi, I. Brilakis, P. Vela, Comparison of image-based and time-of-
flight-based technologies for three-dimensional reconstruction of infrastructure, J.
Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (1) (2012) 69–79.
[159] H.K. Biswas, F. Bosché, M. Sun, Planning for scanning using building information
models: a novel approach with occlusion handling, 32nd International Symposium
on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining: Connected to the Future,
(2015).
[160] R. Argüelles-Fraga, C. Ordóñez, S. García-Cortés, J. Roca-Pardiñas, Measurement
Q. Wang and M.-K. Kim
planning for circular cross-section tunnels using terrestrial laser scanning, Autom.
Constr. 31 (2013) 1–9.
[161] B. Quintana, S. Prieto, A. Adán, A.S. Vázquez, Semantic scan planning for indoor
structural elements of buildings, Adv. Eng. Inf. 30 (4) (2016) 643–659.
[162] C. Zhang, V.S. Kalasapudi, P. Tang, Rapid data quality oriented laser scan planning
for dynamic construction environments, Adv. Eng. Inf. 30 (2) (2016) 218–232.
[163] C. Cabo, C. Ordóñez, R. Argüelles-Fraga, An algorithm for optimizing terrestrial
laser scanning in tunnels, Autom. Constr. 83 (2017) 163–168.
[164] T.-H. Nguyen, A.A. Oloufa, K. Nassar, Algorithms for automated deduction of to-
pological information, Autom. Constr. 14 (1) (2005) 59–70.
[165] M.U. Hassan, A. Akcamete-Gungor, C. Meral, Investigation of terrestrial laser
scanning reflectance intensity and RGB distributions to assist construction mate-
rial identification, Joint Conference on Computing in Construction (JC3),
Heraklion, Greece, (2017).
[166] J. Armesto-González, B. Riveiro-Rodríguez, D. González-Aguilera, M.T. Rivas-
Brea, Terrestrial laser scanning intensity data applied to damage detection for
historical buildings, J. Archaeol. Sci. 37 (12) (2010) 3037–3047.
[167] C. Wang, Y.K. Cho, M. Gai, As-is 3D thermal modeling for existing building en-
velopes using a hybrid LIDAR system, J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 27 (6) (2012) 645–656.
[168] Optris, 3D imaging using thermal analysis, 2018. Available from: < https://www.
optris.global/id-3d-imaging-using-thermal-analysis > (cited 2018 28 Nov).
[169] GmbH, Z.F. Z+F T-Cam, 2018. Available from: < https://www.zf-laser.com/Z-F-
T-Cam.150.0.html?&L=1 > (cited 2018 28 Nov).
[170] FARO, FARO® SCENE, 2018. Available from: < https://www.faro.com/en-sg/
products/product-design/faro-scene/ > (cited 2018 4 May).
[171] Leica, Leica Cyclone 3D Point Cloud Processing Software, 2018. Available
from: < http://hds.leica-geosystems.com/en/Leica-Cyclone_6515.htm > (cited
2018 4 May).
[172] Trimble, Trimble RealWorks, 2018. Available from: < https://geospatial.trimble.
com/products-and-solutions/trimble-realworks > (cited 2018 4 May).
[173] PointCab, PointCab - Point Cloud Software Company, 2018. Available from: <
http://www.pointcab-software.com/en/ > (cited 2018 4 May).
[174] InnovMetric, PolyWorks, 2018. Available from: < https://www.innovmetric.com/
en > (cited 2018 4 May).
[175] International, G. LiDAR360 Comprehensive Point Cloud Post-Processing, 2018.
Available from: < https://greenvalleyintl.com/software/lidar360/ > (cited 2018
4 May).
[176] Autodesk, Autodesk Recap, 2018. Available from: < https://www.autodesk.com/
products/recap/overview > (cited 2018 28 Nov).
[177] Autodesk, Revit® BIM software, 2018. Available from: < https://www.autodesk.
com/products/revit/overview > (cited 2018 4 May).
[178] Bentley, Bentley - Infrastructure and Engineering Software and Solutions, 2018.
Available from: < https://www.bentley.com/en > (cited 2018 4 May).
319
Advanced Engineering Informatics 39 (2019) 306–319
[179] Graphisoft, About ARCHICAD—a 3D architectural BIM software for design &
modeling, 2018. Available from: < www.graphisoft.com.sg/archicad/ > (cited
2018 4 May).
[180] Wikipedia, List of programs for point cloud processing, 2018. Available from: <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_for_point_cloud_
processing > (cited 2018 4 May).
[181] T. Krijnen, J. Beetz, An IFC schema extension and binary serialization format to
efficiently integrate point cloud data into building models, Adv. Eng. Inf. 33
(2017) 473–490.
[182] FARO, SCENE WEBSHARE CLOUD, 2018. Available from: < https://www.faro.
com/en-sg/products/construction-bim/scene-webshare-cloud/ > (cited 2018 28
Nov).
[183] Leica, Leica Pegasus: WebViewer Data Sharing Tool, 2018. Available from: <
https://leica-geosystems.com/products/mobile-sensor-platforms/software/leica-
pegasus_webviewer > (cited 2018 28 Nov).
[184] Flyvast, Flyvast - Independent Web 3D, 2018. Available from: < https://www.
flyvast.com/ > (cited 2018 4 May).
[185] Voxxlr, Online Point Cloud Storage, Analysis and Visualization, 2018. Available
from: < https://www.voxxlr.com/ > (cited 2018 4 May).
[186] FARO, Virtual Reality with the HTC Vive Headset in SCENE, 2018. Available
from: < https://knowledge.faro.com/Software/FARO_SCENE/SCENE/PT_2_-_
Virtual_Reality_with_the_HTC_Vive_Headset_in_SCENE_7.1 > (cited 2018 1 May).
[187] Microsoft, Developers: Use HoloLens and Kinect to build a telepresence app, 2017.
Available from: < https://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2017/04/19/developers-
use-hololens-and-kinect-to-build-a-telepresence-app/ > (cited 2018 1 May).
[188] L. Gimenez, S. Robert, F. Suard, K. Zreik, Automatic reconstruction of 3D building
models from scanned 2D floor plans, Autom. Constr. 63 (2016) 48–56.
[189] F. Rottensteiner, J. Trinder, S. Clode, K. Kubik, Building detection by fusion of
airborne laser scanner data and multi-spectral images: performance evaluation
and sensitivity analysis, ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens. 62 (2) (2007)
135–149.
[190] J. Zhang, N.M. El-Gohary, Integrating semantic NLP and logic reasoning into a
unified system for fully-automated code checking, Autom. Constr. 73 (2017)
45–57.
[191] J. Li, H. Bao, X. Han, F. Pan, W. Pan, F. Zhang, D. Wang, Real-time self-driving car
navigation and obstacle avoidance using mobile 3D laser scanner and GNSS,
Multimedia Tools Appl. 76 (21) (2017) 23017–23039.
[192] G. Bruder, F. Steinicke, A. Nuchter, Poster: Immersive point cloud virtual en-
vironments, 2014 IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI), IEEE, 2014.
[193] H.-L. Chi, S.-C. Kang, X. Wang, Research trends and opportunities of augmented
reality applications in architecture, engineering, and construction, Autom. Constr.
33 (2013) 116–122.