Concrete Scanning · 12 services · 47 BC cities
See inside the concrete before you cut it.
Rebar, post-tension cables, conduits, in-slab pipes, voids, and thickness — imaged at 1.6 GHz from one side, with no radiation, no evacuation, and marks your crew can drill against the same visit. BC's concrete scanning specialists since 1999.
Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT
The 15-tonne reason scanning isn't optional
Most BC towers and parkades poured since the early 1970s are post-tensioned. Each tensioned strand carries roughly 15–20 tonnes of force — cut one and it can rupture through the slab edge at lethal speed, with repairs running tens of thousands. A scan takes minutes per location. Assume PT until imaging proves otherwise.
Post-tension cable mappingAll concrete scanning services
Twelve specialised services — six with dedicated pages for all 47 BC cities we serve.
Concrete Scanning (flagship)
Full internal imaging of slabs, walls, and beams — rebar, cables, conduits, voids — at 1.6 GHz.
Details + 47 city pagesPost-Tension Cable Mapping
Every PT cable mapped before coring or cutting — the scan that prevents catastrophic strikes.
Details + 47 city pagesRebar & Conduit Locating
Per-point clearance for anchors and penetrations; targets marked on the surface same visit.
Details + 47 city pagesCore Drilling Safety Scanning
Two-direction scans at every core location; clear-or-offset calls with photo documentation.
Details + 47 city pagesSlab Thickness & Void Detection
±5 mm thickness verification and sub-slab void mapping before the soft spot becomes a sinkhole.
Details + 47 city pagesParkade Slab Scanning
Deck corrosion, delamination, and chloride zones quantified for repair budgeting and depreciation reports.
Details + 47 city pagesConcrete Cutting Safety Scanning
Saw-cut lines cleared along their full length — not just spot checks.
Service detailsWall Scanning
Vertical surfaces scanned for embeds before sleeves, openings, and mounts.
Service detailsFloor Scanning
Radiant heating loops, in-slab plumbing, and conduits mapped before any floor work.
Service detailsReinforcement Depth Analysis
Cover-depth surveys for corrosion risk assessment and structural review.
Service detailsConcrete Thickness Verification
Non-destructive QA against structural drawings — no coring required.
Service detailsStructural Integrity Analysis
Engineering-grade internal condition assessment of suspect concrete elements.
Service detailsGPR concrete scanning vs X-ray — the honest comparison
One-sided access, zero radiation, and 10× speed versus sub-centimetre detail with evacuations and permits. Feature-by-feature table, when-to-choose-which, and the 95/5 rule we apply on real BC jobs.
Read the comparisonHow this plays out on real BC jobs
Representative scenarios from the kinds of work we run every week (details generalised).
Office tower TI
28 core locations cleared in one morning
Mechanical and electrical rough-in scope on a post-tensioned floor. Three locations sat over PT cables and were offset 15 cm on the spot — zero strikes, drilling completed the same day.
Strata parkade
Void found before it became a sinkhole
A drummy drive-lane bay imaged as a 4 m × 2 m sub-slab void under 90 mm of bridging concrete. Coned within the hour, repaired on schedule — instead of an overnight collapse and an insurance claim.
Heritage seismic upgrade
Archive drawings were wrong — the scan wasn't
Anchor layouts for bracing in a 1920s building were checked against actual reinforcement. The as-built bar pattern moved 40% of anchors before fabrication rather than after failed drilling.
Slab-on-grade retail
Radiant loops mapped where X-ray was impossible
A grocery TI needed saw cuts through a heated slab. With no underside access, radiography was a non-starter; GPR mapped every loop and the cuts threaded between them.
Concrete scanning near you
Local pages cover each city's ground conditions, building stock, and what they mean for the scan.
Concrete scanning questions, answered
What is concrete scanning?
Concrete scanning is non-destructive imaging of what's inside a slab, wall, or beam — rebar, post-tension cables, electrical conduits, pipes, voids, and thickness — using high-frequency (1.6 GHz) ground-penetrating radar. It's the standard safety step before coring, cutting, drilling, or anchoring into any structural concrete, and the diagnostic step for voids, delamination, and embedded-utility questions.
Concrete scanning vs concrete X-ray — which should I use?
GPR scanning needs only one side of the slab, emits no radiation, requires no evacuation or permits, and delivers marked results in minutes per location. X-ray needs access to both faces, area evacuation, and licensed radiation handling — but resolves sub-centimetre detail in extremely congested embeds. For roughly 95% of BC jobs, GPR is the right call; we'll tell you honestly when yours is in the other 5%. See our full GPR-vs-X-ray comparison.
How accurate is concrete scanning?
Embedded targets locate within ±5 cm horizontally with the 1.6 GHz antenna; depth estimates run about ±10%. Rebar, PT cables, and conduits are distinguished by depth, spacing, and signature — and every penetration point gets its own scan rather than extrapolation from a sample area.
How deep can you see into concrete?
Up to roughly 45 cm with the 1.6 GHz concrete antenna — covering virtually all slabs, toppings, and walls encountered in BC construction. Thicker elements are handled with lower-frequency antennas at reduced resolution.
What does concrete scanning cost in BC?
Single-location pre-coring scans typically run $350–$500 per visit; multi-point tenant-improvement scopes (10–40 locations) usually land between $500 and $1,500; full-slab surveys and parkade condition programs are quoted by area. Province-wide pricing across all 47 cities — the free phone consult (604-239-9934) gives you a firm number in five minutes.
Can crews drill immediately after you scan?
Yes — that's the standard workflow. Targets and safe windows are painted on the surface and photographed, and drilling proceeds the same visit. For congested zones we stay on site, re-scanning offsets in real time as cores advance.
Coring, cutting, or anchoring soon?
Free phone consult — locations counted, slab type assessed, firm quote in five minutes. Same-visit drilling clearance is the default, not the upsell.