3D loss documentation for insurance claims

3D loss documentation: what it is

3D loss documentation consists of scanning the damaged premises with the Matterport Pro3 camera, before demolition, drying or restoration. The camera photographs each position and laser-measures the space; according to Matterport, it is accurate to ±20 mm at 10 m. The result is a dated 3D virtual tour, online 24 to 48 hours later in most cases: you move through it, open the dollhouse view, consult the floor plan, take measurements.

For restoration contractors, claims adjusters and property managers, it is a post-loss virtual tour that serves as photo file, measurement survey and meeting place. Everyone looks at the same thing, at the same date.

Xactimate sketch: TruePlan, ordered at cost

From the scan, Matterport produces a TruePlan sketch automatically imported into Xactimate; according to Matterport, it is delivered in 48 hours and covers up to 125,000 sq. ft. We order it for you and bill it at cost, with no markup; the price depends on floor area. The sketch does not include blocks such as cabinets or bathtubs, again according to Matterport: the estimator adds them in Xactimate.

Matterport also offers a Sketch drawing for the Cotality platform, mostly used in the United States. For estimators who work differently, the included 2D floor plan and the measurements taken in the tour are often enough.

Remote damage estimating

Once the tour is online, remote damage estimating becomes the rule rather than the exception. The estimator measures the floor area to remove, the height of the water line, the length of walls to open; the adjuster checks a detail weeks later without returning to the site; the owner sees what justifies the work. Matterport cites two of its restoration customers: Paul Davis, which reduced its site visits by 40% and sped up its estimates by 50%, and ATI, whose sketch accuracy went from 87–90% to 97.5–99%. These are results published by Matterport, not commitments by Panosphere, but the mechanism is the same: fewer trips, measurements taken once and for all.

Water damage, fire, vandalism: scan before the work

The right time to scan is before anything is touched, or at the latest before demolition. For water damage documentation, the tour shows the path of the water from one floor to the next, the materials reached and the equipment affected; in a building, every unit and the common areas go into a single file. After a fire or vandalism, the scan freezes the condition of the premises before cleanup.

Tags and notes are then pinned at the exact spot: water entry point, area to demolish, equipment to replace, with photos and documents. Our team adds them at $90 per hour, or your team does it itself with editor access, at $150 per year. A second scan after restoration closes the file with a 3D before-and-after comparison.

Safety on site

We scan following the safety instructions of your person in charge on site: protective equipment, off-limits areas, waiting period after drying. An area deemed unsafe is not scanned. The Pro3 camera operates, according to Matterport, from 0 to 40 °C; tell us if the premises have no heating or no electricity, so that we plan the scan accordingly.

Before the loss, and in other cases

The documentation is even more useful when an earlier tour exists. The pre-loss inventory preserves the condition of the premises and their contents before any incident; the 3D condition report does the same for a rental unit; the pre-construction condition report documents neighbouring buildings before a construction project. For a technical survey of the building after a loss, point cloud or CAD drawings, see the 3D building scan.

Loss documentation with Panosphere 360

Based in Boucherville, on the South Shore, we scan in Montreal and across Quebec; beyond about 100 km from Montreal, a travel fee of $0.73/km applies, shared between the sites of a single trip.

• A single point of contact, Marc Durand Bréard, from the quote to the one-hour training session included.
• More than 1,000 tours published on Google Maps since 2015.
• Matterport Service Partner, equipped with the Pro3 camera.
• Service in French, with scans possible in the evening and on Saturday mornings.

See all our prices, or write to us: give us the address, the affected floor area and the safety instructions, and we set a date quickly.