At present, the way that office buildings are measured varies dramatically across the globe, but come 1 January, 2016 the International Property Measurement Standards Coalition (IPMSC) will introduce a universal system to help create smarter surveying practice.

The current system can create significant inconsistencies, with research suggesting that measurements can deviate by up to 24 per cent depending on what approach is used. The new standardisation, along with exciting new technology, means that these kind of discrepancies can now be avoided.

Back in the good old days, surveyors themselves were the recorders of measurement points, setting up their tripods and noting down distances and angles. Today, however, high-tech equipment such as a hand-held point cloud data capturer, which acquires 43,200 measurement points per second, is there to do most of the hard work for them.

The use of this point cloud data capturer will mean that design teams will have access to highly accurate and good quality data that conforms to international standards. Cutting out the inefficient methods of old will enable people to make more informed decisions at a far earlier point in time.

Now that every office valuation will be required to conform to the IPMSC system of property measurement and this kind of technology is widely available there is very little room for error. Measuring is now in the mainstream, requiring minimal training to achieve reasonable accuracy, making this once massive task practical for all.