If you're searching for an "architectural plan scanner," you're probably not looking for another rough sketch app. A napkin drawing or a hand-measured floor plan is fine for a quick estimate — it's not fine for a permit application, a bid package, or importing into CAD software. There's a real difference between a floor plan and an architectural floor plan, and it comes down to precision and the file format you end up with.
What makes a floor plan "architectural"
An architectural floor plan has exact wall lengths, accurate room and ceiling area, and door and window openings correctly subtracted from wall area — not estimated, measured. BuildSuiteScan generates this automatically from a single LiDAR walk-through: wall lengths, area calculations, and opening placement are all captured directly from the 3D scan geometry, not typed in by hand after the fact.
That precision is what separates an architectural plan from a sketch. A sketch tells you roughly where the walls are. An architectural plan gives you numbers you can actually bid, permit, or build from.
From scan to CAD file, not just a picture
The other piece "architectural" implies is the output format. A floor plan you can only view as an image isn't usable by an architect, engineer, or anyone drafting in CAD software. BuildSuiteScan exports your scan two ways:
- PDF — a clean, client-ready floor plan for proposals and bid packages
- DXF — a CAD file format that opens directly in AutoCAD, Revit, or any other CAD software, for anyone who needs to keep working with the drawing itself
That DXF export is the real differentiator: most phone-based room scanning apps stop at a picture of a floor plan. BuildSuiteScan hands you a file the rest of your team — or a third-party architect — can actually open and edit.
Built on the same sensor technology surveyors use
BuildSuiteScan's scanning mode runs on Apple's RoomPlan API, powered by the LiDAR sensor built into iPhone 12 Pro and later, and iPad Pro (2020 or later) — the same underlying laser time-of-flight technology used in professional surveying equipment. Under typical conditions, that gets you room dimensions within 1–2% accuracy, which is precise enough for the wall lengths and areas that make a plan architectural-grade in the first place. (See our laser scanner accuracy breakdown for more on how that compares to handheld laser measures.)
An architectural plan is the starting point, not the finish line
A floor plan on its own — architectural or not — still leaves you with work to do: figuring out the scope, pricing it, and finding someone to do it. BuildSuiteScan generates a trade-by-trade scope of work directly from the same scan geometry (painting, flooring, drywall, trim, plumbing, electrical, and more), then lets you send it as a bid request to contractors in your BuildSuite Crew network, or export it as a PDF for anyone else. One scan gets you the plan, the scope, and — if you want it — a hired contractor, without re-entering the same measurements into three different tools.
Don't have a LiDAR-capable device?
Automatic scanning requires an iPhone 12 Pro or later, or an iPad Pro (2020 or later). On any other iPhone, iPad, or Android device, BuildSuiteScan's manual entry mode produces the same architectural floor plan and scope of work — you tap in corners and enter wall lengths instead of walking the room with LiDAR. See our full device compatibility guide for the complete breakdown.
Try it on your next scan
BuildSuiteScan is $12.99/month per user, unlimited scans and projects included — no per-project fees. Start your 14-day free trial and generate your first architectural floor plan today.