Toby Mead and his team at Meadson Constructions are currently working on the Stella Apartments in Rose Bay, NSW. This project will produce 12 high-end finished, luxurious apartments but in the planning stage of the project, Mr Mead reached out to Aptella looking for a site set out solution.

“I engaged Aptella after reading up about the LN-100 3D site set out tool, basically because the project is built on two angles that are not square to each other and it I looked into it and the Topcon LN-100 3D set out tool would be the easiest way to actually do the project,” said Toby Mead, Owner, Meadson Constructions.

Why did Meadson Constructions choose the LN-100 3D set out tool?

Mr Mead did extensive research on the different set out solutions tools before choosing the Topcon LN-100 3D set out tool from Aptella.

“I selected the Topcon LN-100 for the easy to use side of things. From what I could read it was the easiest to use product available,” said Mr Mead.

“I’m a builder, I’m not a surveyor, and what I read about it, it was really easy to use. I picked it up in a couple of days with just a couple of days training and it made my job a lot easier.”

Benefits of implementing the Topcon LN-100 3D set out tool

Mr Mead has found that by using the Topcon LN-100 3D set out tool his team has been able to reduce mistakes and re-work on the project with everything from setting out formwork, setting out starter bars in the slab and the excavations of all the footings. Integrating the LN-100 into Meadson Constructions current workflow has allowed Mr Mead to only engage a surveyor for the initial site control, allowing him to use the instrument any time accurate points are needed for site set out. It has allowed Mr Mead, and his employees to take more control over their site on a day to day basis.

“The LN-100 has helped us considerably on site, we set the total station up in the morning, do our re-section and from there we can give every single measurement that any of the guys ask for, whether it be the formwork, set downs in the formwork or starter bars on site that’s just during our structure stage at the moment,” said Mr Mead.

“When we did the bulk excavation and detailed excavation we were able to provide all our pad footings without having to set up stringlines or profiles and in the next stage of the job we’ll move on to the internal set out of the walls and what not. Our joinery is coming from Italy which is all being made prior to the walls being framed hence the reason for a really accurate set out required.”

Prior to having the Topcon LN-100 3D set out tool from Aptella, Mr Mead and his team would have had to set profiles up on the job, engage a surveyor on the job every day and have a lot more stringlines and chalk lines flicked on the ground. This would potentially have resulted in a lot less accuracy.

“Having the LN-100 on site, it hasn’t eliminated the need for a surveyor, we still need the surveyor to come on site and give us the grid intersections but what it has done for us, it means that every day we can set up the LN-100 and provide points for every trade or ourselves, whether it be plumbing and electrical point, formwork points, walls, everything,” said Mr Mead.

“Basically, we can have a total station set up every day without the reliance of a surveyor coming on site every single day.”

The integration of surveying software and equipment

Mr Mead has found the integration of surveying software, architectural drawings and equipment from Aptella seamless, with the MAGNET Field software especially easy to both learn and use.

“We chose the MAGNET software package due to usability. I’m not computer literate by any means, but the MAGNET Field? I can handle it as easy as an iPhone,” said Mr Mead.

“I just use it on the tablet of the LN-100 and I can basically do everything I need on the tablet. Within a couple of days, I could use it competently.”

The importance of service and support during purchasing and implementation

The service and support offered by Aptella played a large role in which solution Mr Mead decided to purchase, he doesn’t consider himself a ‘tech savvy’ customer and having the added support of the Aptella support team, field services team and account managers to offer assistance when needed was essential.

“Having Aptella local has really helped me in being able to operate the software,” said Mr Mead.

“As soon as David came out to site and showed me through the machine, I knew that I’d be able to purchase the machine and be taught how to use the machine quite quickly.”

Mr Mead and his team also use Tokara, Aptella’ remote support tool on site and have found it especially useful for uploading designs, and remotely tapping into the instrument to teach his team helpful tricks on the fly. It also allows Aptella to resolve any technical issues that they find, keeping Meadson Constructions productive onsite.

“Having the Tokara support from Aptella has been really beneficial” said Mr Mead.

“Since I’m not a surveyor, having that survey knowledge, where I can just call up and they can answer any queries that I’ve got or show me how to provide extra points on the tablet has been really beneficial for us and call them up and they’re straight on the phone.”

About Meadson Constructions

Meadson Constructions is an experienced, multi-disciplined building and construction firm headquartered in Gladesville, NSW. The firm specialises in new developments and building refurbishments involving residential, commercial, and industrial construction projects.

“At Meadson Constructions, our number one priority is delivering the job on time and to the client’s expectations. We hold expectations for ourselves and we like to push ourselves to perform them for the client,” said Mr Mead.