measurement devices: what is current state of the art for CRE?
I'm an engineer developing 2D/3D measurement devices. Don't know much about CRE, but trying to get a better understanding of the types of measurements that are important in this domain and the current state of the art. What types of tools (measurement devices, software, etc) do you all use for measuring square footage? What about for drawing up floor plans? Is it mostly just tape measures and pencil/paper, or laser range sensors and CAD, or laser scanners, or...?  Thanks!
[{"id": "glnpjac", "text": "Haven\u2019t seen a tape measure used in at least 5 years. Appraisers, inspectors, architects, developers use either the handheld laser tool  (not sure what it is called) or an app on their phone.", "replies": [{"id": "glnr8e6", "text": "Thanks for the info! Do you mean one of the apps where you take photos of the space and it builds up a 3D model? Is that accurate enough for measuring sq. footage or drawing floorplan?\n\nIf using a handheld laser rangefinder, are you then writing down those measurements by hand or entering them into a cad program?", "replies": [{"id": "glnucbz", "text": "We just need to confirm the square footage, not create a 3-D model. Pretty sure the phone app saves the measurements as they go", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "glon23f", "text": "For property mangers, square footage is for the lessee to confirm.\n\n&amp;#x200B;\n\nIf it's 1099 or 1101 square feet, does not really matter (once it's built).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "glqfms0", "text": "I use the following.\n\nWheels for measuring property lines, lazers for measuring the improvement, tape measure as a backup for when the lazer is hard to see or just not working.\n\nSome people use apps or technology but I prefer graph paper and a pencil.\n\nYour 3D device might be more useful with industrial buildings where cubic feet is far more important than gross building area.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]