Structural · Service
Concrete Scanning and RCC Rebar Detection
See inside a slab, beam, wall or deck before the core barrel touches it — reinforcement, post-tension tendons, conduit and embedded services located and marked while the structure stays intact.
Twenty-two years, 1.5 lakh+ km surveyed, 100 km a day at full stretch and 700 KM in a single 30-day month, all delivered on owned fleet. A ₹1,00,000 per-project minimum applies outside Delhi NCR to cover rig and crew movement from Faridabad. NCR sites have no such floor.
Overview
One cut through a tendon can condemn a floor
A high-frequency radar antenna passed across a concrete surface returns the position of anything embedded in it. On a post-tensioned slab that difference matters enormously: severing a stressed tendon releases load instantly, can require the whole bay to be re-engineered, and in the worst case puts people beneath the slab in danger. Scanning first costs a fraction of a single mistake.
- Rebar, mesh and stirrup layout mapped
- Post-tension tendons and ducts identified
- Embedded conduit and services located
- Safe zones marked directly on the surface
What We Scan For
Targets found inside a structure
Reinforcement Layout
Bar spacing, orientation, cover depth and layer count read across the scan area.
Reinforcement Layout
Bar spacing, orientation, cover depth and layer count read across the scan area.
Post-Tension Tendons
Stressed strands and their sheathing traced before any core or anchor position is fixed.
Post-Tension Tendons
Stressed strands and their sheathing traced before any core or anchor position is fixed.
Embedded Conduit
Electrical conduit, data runs and small-bore pipe cast into the pour.
Embedded Conduit
Electrical conduit, data runs and small-bore pipe cast into the pour.
Slab Thickness
Member depth confirmed where drawings are missing, disputed or clearly out of date.
Slab Thickness
Member depth confirmed where drawings are missing, disputed or clearly out of date.
Delamination & Honeycombing
Separated layers and poorly compacted zones flagged for structural assessment.
Delamination & Honeycombing
Separated layers and poorly compacted zones flagged for structural assessment.
Safe Zone Marking
Clear-to-cut boxes painted on the surface so the driller works to a mark, not a guess.
Safe Zone Marking
Clear-to-cut boxes painted on the surface so the driller works to a mark, not a guess.
When It Is Called For
The jobs that trigger a scan
Core drilling is the classic one. A plumbing riser, an HVAC penetration, a new stair opening, a lift shaft alteration — each needs a hole through a member that somebody else designed, often decades ago, with drawings that may or may not reflect what was actually built.
Anchoring and fixing work is the quieter risk. Chemical and mechanical anchors drilled to depth into a soffit hit reinforcement more often than most site teams expect, and a bent or shortened anchor that was forced past a bar is a hidden defect nobody records.
Then there is structural assessment: an owner who needs to know the actual bar layout and cover before a change of use, a load increase or a strengthening design. Where drawings are missing entirely, a scan is the only non-destructive route to a reliable member section. Fit-out contractors, retrofit teams, structural consultants and facility managers all end up needing the same answer — what is in there, and where can I safely cut.
Method
Equipment, coverage and limitations
| Method | High-frequency Ground Penetrating Radar applied to the concrete surface, supported by covermeter where bar-only confirmation is sufficient |
|---|---|
| Antenna frequency | Typically 1.6–2.6 GHz — high resolution, shallow penetration, chosen for member thickness |
| Typical penetration | Commonly up to around 300–450 mm in sound concrete; reduced in wet, very dense or heavily congested sections |
| Access required | One clean face; two-sided access improves confidence but is not essential |
| Scan pattern | Orthogonal grid across the proposed opening, extended beyond its edges so nothing is missed at the boundary |
| Marking | Bar and tendon lines and a clear safe zone marked in removable paint or chalk on the surface |
| Reporting | Annotated photographs, scan sketch with dimensions from a fixed datum, and a short findings note |
| Turnaround | Marking is immediate on site; the written report follows within the agreed period |
Radar response in concrete is affected by moisture, dense mesh, congested reinforcement and surface finish. Very closely spaced upper-layer steel can mask what sits beneath it, and no scanning method can guarantee detection of every embedded item in every member. Our reports state the confidence achieved and the areas where it was reduced, rather than issuing a blanket clearance.
Commercials
How this work is priced
Concrete scanning is normally quoted per visit or per day rather than per square metre, because mobilisation and setup dominate the effort on small jobs. A handful of penetrations in one building on one day is a single mobilisation; the same number spread across three sites in three towns is three.
Number and size of openings matters next — a 50 mm service core needs a small clear zone, while a stair opening or a large duct penetration needs a properly gridded area with its boundary scanned too. Access drives the rest: soffit work off scaffolding or a boom lift, live-floor scanning that can only happen outside office hours, and permit-controlled plant areas all convert into time.
Where a client needs a written structural findings report rather than site marking alone, that is a separate deliverable with engineering hours behind it. We quote the two lines separately so you can see what you are buying. For the wider picture on what moves radar survey pricing, see our GPR survey cost guide.
Assurance
What we do before signing off a cut
Scanning is performed by the operator who marks the surface, so nothing is lost in translation between a data file and a paint line. Every proposed opening is gridded in both directions and the scan extended past its boundary, because a tendon that curves into the zone from outside is the one that gets hit. Where the response is ambiguous — congested top steel, wet slab, a suspected duct that could be conduit or tendon — the area is marked as uncertain and the client is told plainly rather than being given a clean box that was not earned. Findings are photographed against a fixed datum so a mark can be reconstructed if it is scrubbed off before the driller arrives. Where the structure is post-tensioned, we recommend the opening be reviewed by the client's structural engineer before cutting, and we say so in writing.
What our crews have delivered, and on whose equipment
FAQ
Concrete scanning — common questions
No. The antenna is simply moved across the surface — nothing is drilled, cut or attached. The only mark left behind is removable paint or chalk showing where it is safe to cut.
Usually yes — tendons sit in sheathing, follow a draped profile rather than a straight grid, and give a distinct signature. Where the response is genuinely ambiguous we say so and recommend structural review before cutting, instead of guessing.
Commonly up to around 300 to 450 mm from one face in sound concrete. Wet slabs, very dense mixes and heavy top-layer mesh all reduce that. If your member is thicker, two-sided access improves what we can tell you.
Both are available. Site marking is included as standard so the driller can work immediately. A written report with annotated photographs and dimensioned sketches is a separate deliverable, quoted alongside.
Yes — the process is quiet, dust-free and needs only the surface itself. Many clients still prefer out-of-hours scanning purely for access, and we work to whatever window suits the building.
Same physics, very different application. Concrete scanning uses much higher antenna frequencies for centimetre resolution over shallow depth, while underground utility survey uses lower frequencies to reach metres into soil.
Where the corridor is open and shifts run around the clock, output has reached 100 km a day on our own machines. A single 30-day programme has delivered 700 KM, which remains our record. Overall we have surveyed in excess of 1.5 lakh km by radar. Realistic pace for a specific route is set by congestion, working windows and the deliverable agreed.
Cutting into a slab this week?
Tell us the building, the number of openings and whether the structure is post-tensioned — we will schedule a scan before your driller mobilises.
Book a Concrete ScanConcrete scanning — method, output and detailed questions
Mezux Touch scans structural concrete before coring, cutting or anchoring, which is a different discipline from ground survey even though both use radar. Here the material is known and uniform, the targets are shallow, and the tolerance is measured in centimetres rather than metres. A slab scan typically resolves reinforcement, post-tension tendons, conduits and voids within the top 300 to 450 mm. The consequence of getting it wrong is not a wet trench: cutting a post-tension tendon is a structural event, and cutting a live conduit inside a slab is both an outage and a safety incident.
How the work is run
Work is done with high-frequency antennas that would be useless on soil, because resolution rather than depth is what matters. A grid is marked on the surface and scanned in both directions, since a single-direction pass cannot distinguish a bar running with the scan from one running across it. Findings are marked directly on the concrete in the client's agreed colour convention, because a drawing does not help the person holding the core drill. Where a slab is congested enough that no clear opening exists, we say so rather than nominating the least-bad position.
What you receive
Direct marking on the structure in an agreed colour convention, distinguishing reinforcement, tendons, conduits and voids. A scan record with photographs of the marked area, sized and referenced so the work can be verified later. Where multiple openings are involved, a marked-up structural drawing showing each cleared position. On post-tension work we state explicitly whether a tendon was detected in the scan zone, because that is the finding a structural engineer needs in writing before authorising a core. Pricing is per opening or per area, never per kilometre, because that is how the work is actually performed.
Beyond the basics
How deep does concrete scanning reach? Typically 300 to 450 mm on a slab, which is usually the full thickness. Depth is limited by antenna frequency, and the frequency is chosen for resolution rather than reach.
Can you tell a tendon from a rebar? Usually, from depth, spacing, diameter and the profile of the return. Where the distinction cannot be made confidently we say so, because that decision belongs to the structural engineer.
Do you mark the concrete or issue a drawing? Both, but the marking matters more. A drawing does not help the operator holding the core drill at the point of cutting.
What if there is no clear position to core? We report that. Nominating the least-bad position on a congested slab is how a tendon gets cut, and it is not a decision a survey should make.
Can you scan a wall or a soffit? Yes, with the same equipment and method. Overhead scanning is slower and priced accordingly, but the technique is unchanged.
Terms used on this page
Post-tension tendon — a high-tension steel strand within a slab, cutting which is a structural failure rather than a repair. Rebar mesh — the reinforcement grid inside concrete, whose spacing and cover the scan establishes. Cover — the depth of concrete over reinforcement, which governs both durability and where a core can safely go. Two-directional scan — passes run at right angles, needed because a single direction cannot resolve bars running parallel to it. Congested slab — a structure with so much embedded material that no clear coring position exists.
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