Over the past decade, PCL has invested in reality capture not simply to document projects but to consistently understand site conditions, track progress and have a central repository for project information. What began as an effort to improve visual documentation has matured into a standardized way of supporting safety, quality, accountability and long‑term asset value for owners.

The journey highlights how digital tools can be adopted deliberately, woven into daily work and used to turn project data into practical insights at scale. 

Reality capture is the process of documenting the physical world and converting it into digital assets such as ground‑level imagery, 360‑degree photos, aerial maps, point clouds and three‑dimensional models. These assets provide visual and spatial context that traditional reports and drawings don’t.

For owners and project teams, reality capture enables clearer visibility into site conditions, faster issue resolution and more informed decision‑making. It also creates a historical record that continues to be useful long after construction ends, making it a valuable tool for a building operations team. 

As capture technologies have advanced, the focus has shifted from simply collecting images to providing shared context and insight across the project life cycle.   

Before modern reality capture platforms, documenting a project was often fragmented and inefficient.

“Back then, we were using digital cameras to take site photos, dumping everything into folders. If you were smart, when you took a photo you’d hold up a small whiteboard with the room number written on it, so later you’d know where that photo was taken,” says Alex Ramirez, director of construction technology at PCL.

Visual documentation has always been critical. “Construction benefits from visual documentation. A photo equals a thousand words,” Ramirez explains. Project teams needed to capture preconstruction conditions, track progress, document what was behind walls, ceilings and floors, and record final conditions at turnover.

The challenge was not the lack of photos but the lack of context. Images were difficult to organize, search and interpret later, especially when teams changed or projects became more complex.

Early ground‑based reality capture tools fixed that by linking imagery directly to location and time. By placing photos within floor plans and using 360‑degree cameras, teams could now see exactly where images were taken and understand surrounding conditions in a single view.

“It was exciting to see a process — that was needed but always complicated — transform into a more simplified and useful workflow,” Ramirez says.

The value of reality capture became especially clear on complex projects where access was limited and owners needed reliable documentation they could use over time. 

On a highly controlled research facility project, PCL used reality capture to create a detailed, 360‑degree digital record of conditions behind walls and above ceilings. Physical access to many areas required extensive preparation and controls, making repeated site entry costly and disruptive.

“This allowed the owner to diagnose maintenance issues virtually, before sending teams through an extensive decontamination process, reducing disruption and repeat site entry," Ramirez explains.

On a multi‑building high‑rise residential project, PCL used reality capture as a routine part of the team’s workflow for documentation and progress tracking. By planning regular captures and completing milestone captures before work was completed, the team could flag items that were out of place before walls went up and quickly confirm what had been installed in specific locations. Early drone flights also helped the team understand existing site conditions, work through underground utility challenges, and model crane and building clearances on a constrained site. 

These early use cases demonstrate that reality capture was not just a construction‑phase tool, but a long‑term asset for owners. By preserving visual context and making it accessible beyond project completion, PCL helps clients reduce uncertainty and extend the value of project data across the building life cycle.

As reality capture technologies matured, PCL shifted to enterprise‑wide adoption to ensure a consistent approach across projects.

“Now we’re using the same systems, the same workflows across all of our projects,” says Larry Laxdal, manager of integrated construction technology for PCL. “It doesn’t matter where you go in PCL, the way that we do reality capture is standardized.”

That standardization was key to scaling its impact. Reality capture was no longer limited to specialists or specific project types — it became something whole project teams could use.

“That consistency means information is easy to find and easy to use, whether it was captured days ago or years earlier,” Laxdal says. Reflecting on how far things have come, he adds, “Having all the information available in one place and super accessible and usable by everybody is just fantastic.” 

In 2024, PCL formalized this approach by consolidating both ground and aerial reality capture into a single platform through its partnership with DroneDeploy. This allowed teams to capture, store and analyze visual data in one unified environment, reducing complexity and increasing adoption.

Aerial reality capture has become an integral part of how PCL teams plan and execute work.

Drone imagery is now routinely used to map sites, track earthworks, measure stockpiles, inspect building envelopes, and review historical site conditions. These capabilities support more accurate quantity verification, better schedule alignment and safer inspection practices.

In many cases, drone capture has reduced the need for scaffolding, swing stages or repeated physical inspections, lowering risk and minimizing exposure for workers while still delivering high‑quality information.

“The system just works,” Laxdal says. “Teams don’t need to come to me to say, ‘Hey, I need to see this.’ They just go into DroneDeploy and find it.” 

For owners, this means faster answers, fewer site visits and greater confidence that decisions are based on accurate, up‑to‑date information.

A key differentiator in PCL’s reality capture journey has been its close partnership with DroneDeploy.

“What excites me the most about the future of reality capture and really our partnership with DroneDeploy is just how integrated we've become," says PCL Senior Manager, Integrated Construction Services, Andy Degroff. "It almost feels like it's an extension of our current operations."

For DroneDeploy, that level of integration is built on a close working relationship with PCL, where a focus on field-team value and company-wide standardization turns day-to-day feedback into the product improvements that matter most.

“PCL has some of the most well-documented construction projects on earth. Working with the PCL team directly, this past year, we embarked on a complete refresh of our interior user interface, enabling even the most complex projects to document every room, every day, yet find and load the latest pano in seconds,” says DroneDeploy Chief Product Officer James Stripe. 

Rather than forcing technology into existing workflows, PCL focused on aligning reality capture with processes teams were already using.

“Information is key, and reality capture is gathering a lot more data for processes that we’re already doing,” says Degroff. “Now the focus will be to leverage that data to make more informed decisions.”

“We share PCL’s vision that we can improve safety and productivity on every job site through aerial and ground reality capture, automatic safety, progress and quality insights, and robotic capture automation. We’re excited to deliver that together, on every project," says Stripe.

Integration also supports stronger collaboration with clients. By giving owners access to the same visual information as project teams, discussions are grounded in shared context rather than assumptions.

“Reality capture provides real‑time visualization, and it’s very quick to align with each other because all stakeholders are working with the same context,” says Degroff.

Looking ahead, the next phase of reality capture is focused on insight, not imagery.

As capture becomes more frequent and increasingly automated, teams gain access to more timely information that supports proactive decision-making related to safety, quality and schedule.

That accessibility is what makes the data useful in practice. "Now, everyone is a stakeholder," Degroff says. “Everyone down to the foreman can pull the data up on their phone or their tablet and dive into that information.”

As analytics and artificial intelligence continue to evolve, reality capture data will increasingly be used to reveal trends, identify risks earlier and support accountability across projects.

PCL’s approach to reality capture reflects a broader philosophy around innovation: adopt early, standardize thoughtfully and scale what works.

By investing in reality capture over the past decade, PCL has positioned it as a core capability rather than a specialized service. The result is clearer visibility, stronger alignment and better‑informed decisions for both project teams and owners.