Guide
Pick the floor, choose the standard, tap Check. Pointscape lays virtual straightedges over the scan, grades every gap against the limit, maps the high and low spots and pins the worst ones into the PDF report. On site, on the iPad you already carry.
Pointscape checks a floor or ceiling the way the standards do. It lays virtual straightedges over the surface and grades the largest gap under each against DIN 18202, BS 8204, EN 13670 or ACI 117, estimates ASTM E1155 F-numbers and TR34 properties, shows a deviation map with the share within tolerance, reports the scan noise, and says which spans it could not resolve. The worst high and low spots can be pinned as issues that go into the PDF report. It is a measurement from a scan by the standard's method, not a certified test.
Updated October 2026
Definitions
No floor standard defines flatness as deviation from a best-fit plane. DIN 18202, BS 8204, EN 13670 and ACI 117 measure the gap under a rigid straightedge resting on two high points, with a limit that depends on the length of the edge. ASTM E1155 F-numbers and Concrete Society TR34 take elevation readings at fixed spacing along survey lines and turn the differences into a statistic. Deviation from a plane or a datum is a different property, levelness, and a surface can pass one and fail the other.
A colour map alone tells you neither. That is why Pointscape runs the standard's geometry on the points rather than painting distance from a plane and calling it flatness.
Standards
| Standard | Metric | In Pointscape |
|---|---|---|
| DIN 18202 | Gap under a straightedge at 0.1, 1, 4, 10 and 15 m, one limit per span, by table row for floors and ceilings | Graded per span; interpolated between spans as the standard describes |
| BS 8204-2 | Gap under a 2 m straightedge: SR1 3 mm, SR2 5 mm, SR3 10 mm | Graded |
| EN 13670 | Gap under a 2 m edge (global) and a 0.2 m edge (local), moulded or not | Graded at both spans |
| ACI 117 | Gap under a 10 ft straightedge, with a share of placements that must pass a tighter limit | Graded for conventional, moderately flat and flat |
| ASTM E1155 | FF flatness and FL levelness numbers from 12 in elevation readings along sample lines | Estimated from the scan, with the section-size rules checked; not a certified test |
| TR34 4th ed. | Property F (flatness) and Property E (levelness) at the 95th percentile | Estimated alongside |
How it works
Open the project and the scan in Pointscape. The floor is found as the lowest large horizontal surface; choose Ceiling to check the one above you instead.
Open Flatness in the viewer tools. Pick a standard, DIN 18202 by table row, BS 8204 SR1 to SR3, EN 13670 or ACI 117, and a tolerance in millimetres for the level map.
Pointscape reads the points, fits the plane, lays virtual straightedges at each span the standard names and grades the largest gap under each against its limit. It estimates ASTM E1155 F-numbers and TR34 properties, reports the scan noise, and says plainly which spans it could not check because the area is too small or the noise is too high.
Switch between 3D and Plan to see the deviation map, the share of the surface within tolerance, the 2nd and 98th percentiles, and the worst high and low spots listed with their centre, area and peak.
Pin the worst patches as issues. They stay in the project's notes and appear in the PDF report beside anything you recorded by hand. Saved checks keep their result and warn you if the scan is edited afterwards.
Research since 2014 has converged on the method Pointscape uses: simulate the standard's instrument on the point cloud. Done carefully, it matches manual straightedge and F-number measurements to within a millimetre or two. The limit is the scanner, not the method. Terrestrial scans as practised on site carry a few millimetres of vertical error; a phone LiDAR carries more. Pointscape measures that noise on your scan, prints it with the result, and refuses to grade a limit the noise cannot resolve. Treat the result as a measurement by the standard's method, not as a certified test, and follow the test method the contract names for acceptance.
With an AI connected to Pointscape, the same check is one sentence: "Check the floor slab in the scan I have open against ±10 mm and pin every area that is out of tolerance." The AI runs the check, proposes an issue at each worst patch and you confirm. It can also check a wall for flatness and plumb, which the in-app tool does not do. Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or any MCP client, or read what else AI can do with a scan.
Can a laser scan replace a straightedge or an F-number survey? It can run the standard's geometry virtually and match manual measurements closely. It is still a measurement, not a certified test; for contractual acceptance, follow the method the contract names.
Does it work on a wall? The tool in the app checks floors and ceilings. With an AI connected, you can ask it to check a wall for flatness and plumb; it uses the same straightedge method.
Which plan includes it? Floor flatness is part of the optional AI step on the Pro and Cloud plans; Pro and Cloud work in full without it. The check runs on the device and needs no AI account. Plans.
Which files? Any scan Pointscape opens: E57, LAS, LAZ, PLY, COPC and XYZ. See the point cloud viewer for iPad and the PDF report guide.
Free download. Floor flatness comes with the optional AI step on Pro and Cloud.