Before you drill, cut or core into a concrete slab or wall, you need to know what’s hiding inside it. Pulse Locating’s concrete scanning services use ground penetrating radar to locate steel reinforcement, post tension cables, electrical conduits and other embedded objects before work begins, so your crew can drill and cut with confidence.
At Pulse Locating, we are a Western Australian owned locating business with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 accredited quality and safety systems, working with builders, contractors and engineers across Perth and regional WA since 2009.
ISO 9001
ISO 45001
No ionising radiation
WA owned since 2009
Concrete scanning is a non destructive testing method for looking inside concrete structures before you start cutting, coring or drilling. A small hand-held GPR unit is passed over the surface of a slab or wall to build a picture of what’s embedded beneath, from reinforcement steel and post tension cables to electrical and plastic conduits.
Unlike guesswork or relying on old building plans, ground penetrating radar gives you a real time, accurate view of the structure you’re about to work on, so hidden structures don’t turn into costly mistakes.
Ground penetrating radar systems send radar waves into the concrete and read what reflects back. Different materials have different dielectric properties, so steel, plastic conduit, air voids and the surrounding concrete each return a distinct signal, which the operator interprets on screen as the unit moves across the surface.
That data is only as good as the person reading it, which is why an experienced operator matters more than the badge on the equipment. Where it helps to confirm exact positioning, we run cross-scans to build a 3D image of the area, giving greater accuracy before any cutting or drilling begins.
So you can plan cuts and anchor points around the reinforcement patterns rather than through them.
Where a strike is both dangerous and expensive.
Electrical conduits, plastic conduits, pipes and other embedded services.
Including delamination and anomalies within the slab.
Measured non-destructively, which engineers and contractors need when planning coring, anchoring or structural modifications.
Every scan is tailored to the specific area and depth you need checked, whether that’s a single core point or a wider section of floor, wall or deck ahead of a larger renovation.
Striking a live conduit, a post tension cable or structural reinforcement during cutting or drilling means project delays, costly repairs and unplanned costs that weren’t in the budget. Scanning first is a genuinely cost effective step: the scan costs a fraction of the rework, and it protects the structural integrity of what you’re working on.
It also increases safety for everyone on site. Safe drilling comes from confirmed information, not an assumption about what’s inside the concrete. For project managers and site supervisors on construction projects, that means fewer surprises, a more predictable programme, and a job that’s easier to sign off with confidence.
Our team uses a small, hand-held GPR unit designed specifically for scanning concrete structures and slabs, so we can work efficiently on site without disrupting other trades. The technician passes the unit systematically across the marked area, reading the radar data in real time and confirming the depth and position of anything relevant as they go.
The technician passes a hand-held GPR unit systematically across the marked area, reading the radar data in real time.
With your approval, we leave physical marks directly on the surface to guide drilling or cutting, so your team has a clear on-site reference rather than working from a report alone.
Clear on-site reporting documents the equipment used and the gain and dielectric settings applied, so the results can be verified, checked or repeated later.
That level of documentation matters for quality assurance on commercial and government work, where the record needs to stand up after the fact. An optional 3D image built from cross-scans is available for more complex areas.
Concrete scanning suits any structural element you're about to cut into: suspended and ground floor slabs, walls, columns, beams and decks. Typical jobs include coring for services through a commercial floor, setting out anchor points, cutting a penetration for a stair or lift shaft, and checking reinforcement before structural modifications on a renovation.
We work across residential, commercial and industrial sites, and alongside our concrete scanning we also provide underground utility and service locating, gas location and vacuum potholing, so a single team can cover both what's in the slab and what's beneath it.
Pulse Locating is a Western Australian owned business servicing the Perth metro area and regional WA. We work with builders, engineers, contractors and government clients bringing accredited safety and quality systems to every job regardless of scale.
Whether it's a single scan ahead of a small renovation or ongoing support across a larger construction project, we're set up to respond quickly and work around your programme.
It depends on the size of the area, the complexity of the structure and how quickly you need us on site. Because every project is different, the most accurate way to get a price is to contact our team with your job details for a clear, obligation-free quote.
Reinforcement steel and rebar spacing, post tension cables, electrical and plastic conduits, voids, and changes in slab thickness, giving you a clear picture of what’s embedded before any cutting or drilling begins.
Our technician passes a hand-held GPR unit systematically across the marked area, reading the radar data in real time. Once the embedded objects are identified and their depth and position confirmed, we mark the findings directly on the surface with your approval.
GPR is well suited to locating embedded objects, voids and delamination, and to measuring slab thickness. It isn’t a crack-mapping tool, so for fine surface cracking or detailed defect assessment you’d want a different method. We’ll tell you upfront if a scan isn’t the right approach for what you’re trying to find.
Yes, with your approval we leave physical marks on the surface to guide drilling or cutting, so your team has an on-site reference.
Yes. GPR is non-destructive and emits no ionising radiation, unlike concrete x-ray, so there’s no need to clear the area or shut down surrounding work while we scan.
If you’ve got a project coming up that involves cutting, coring or drilling into concrete, get in touch before work starts.
Builders and contractors across Perth choose Pulse Locating because good information prevents problems, not because we sell scare stories about what might go wrong. Our accredited systems mean you’re working with a team that treats compliance and precision as standard, so you can plan your programme with confidence.