(Photo: © elevisionXperts)
October 2026
If Sebastian Heduschka gets his way, measuring with yardsticks and plumb lines should become a thing of the past. He deploys a 3D laser scanner to obtain more precise data and transfer the digital model to BIM.
BY BERND LORENZ
Sebastian Heduschka has been working in the lift sector for over 20 years – including for many years as an assembly manager at a company group. During this time, he has experienced a lot: incorrectly-sized building shell openings for landing doors that necessitated retrospective concrete removal, divergently positioned ceiling openings that required additional load distribution beams in the machine room or incorrectly-placed anchor rails where dowels later had to be deployed.
"All of this results in delays in the construction process, higher costs and in the end disputes with the customer." Consequently, he became increasingly obsessed with one question at every building site. "What technical solution reliably measures geometries in lift shafts?"
He more or less stumbled upon the 3D laser scan method. He was so delighted with its technical possibilities that he contacted a major manufacturer – Leica. "The RT360 is the best device on the market for lift building requirements," as far as Heduschka is concerned. However, so much quality also comes at a price.
The 3D laser scanner and accompanying software cost him "a small fortune." He took out a bank loan to help pay for it. Following an intensive induction involving many Leica program courses and several further education courses, he has enough expertise to be able to measure lift shafts using 3D scanning. At the beginning of 2025 he founded his own company in Potsdam "elevisionXperts".
His target group are above all SME planning firms and lift companies as well as the major global players, which design lifts for new installation or as part of modernisations. Sebastian Heduschka creates true-to-deformation sectional views. He does so according to a precise process.
First, he places the scanner and several reference points in the shaft. The latter assist him later in linking up the scan positions. The measuring device mounted on a tripod makes a horizontal 360°-turn, occasionally also overhead. It records up to two million measurement points a second. "During the measurements, I switch my scanning positions crosswise. Finally, I link the individual scan points to form a uniform scatter plot showing the entire installation." The scanner records data in the pit, every few metres in the shaft, at the landing doors and if necessary in the machine room.
He needs about half-a-working-day on site to measure a standard lift with six landings. The real work begins in the office with the processing of the data collected. This involves twice as many working hours. "In the end, we have a digital map of the shaft and its environment with a precision down to 2 mm, which is sometimes also necessary."
Companies often approach him when it is already too late. "In the execution phase, it’s just about limiting the damage." This is why he advises considering a 3D scan during the planning phase. "This does increase the costs at the project start but down the road one avoids any expensive surprises because the door gaps are too small or the lift shaft doesn’t fit in the stairwell."
Sebastian Heduschka can provide his 3D survey in varying file formats. Normally, his clients request a PDF drawing where they can see the lift geometry. However, apart from the PDF format, there is also plan view generation in DWG format for classic planning in 2D. The data is provided as RVT or IFC file for companies that already work in 3D using "Building Information Modeling" (BIM) as working method.
So far, Sebastian Heduschka has measured over 60 projects throughout Germany by means of 3D laser scanning. In his opinion, there was still plenty of room for expansion. "I hope the lift sector wakes up soon and recognises the advantages of this technology and of the BIM methodology."
More informations: elevisionxperts.de
Digitalpaper
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