#1. What GPR actually detects
GPR sends a radar pulse into the slab and reads the reflections from anything with a different dielectric constant. In practice that means reinforcement bars, post-tension tendons and their ducts, embedded conduits, voids, and the slab's real thickness.
It does not tell you bar diameter reliably, it struggles below very dense top-mat reinforcement, and it cannot see through a slab that has a metal deck soffit. On those elements a scan is combined with drawings review and, where the risk is high, a small inspection opening.
#2. Indicative scanning rates in Dubai (2026)
Scanning is priced by mobilisation plus area or number of penetration locations.
- Call-out / minimum charge: AED 900–1,600 per visit
- Per marked penetration location: AED 120–250
- Area scanning with mark-up: AED 18–35 per square metre
- Full-day technician with GPR unit: AED 2,800–4,500
- Out-of-hours or night-shift premium in occupied buildings: +25–40%
#3. When scanning becomes mandatory
You should assume scanning is required, and most Dubai consultants will insist on it, in these cases:
- Any penetration through a post-tensioned slab
- Coring or cutting in a tower podium, basement, or transfer slab
- Any opening in a shear wall or core wall
- MEP penetrations in an occupied building where as-built drawings are missing or unreliable
- Openings near column heads, beam junctions, or slab edges
#4. What a proper scan report contains
A scan is only useful if it leaves a record. Insist on physical mark-up on the slab with colour-coded lines for rebar, tendons and conduits, photographs of the marked area with reference dimensions to a fixed datum, a PDF report identifying the element and scan depth, and a clear statement of the safe drilling zones.
That report is what protects you if a strike happens later. Without it, liability defaults to whoever held the drill.
#5. Scanning and the coring sequence
The correct sequence on a Dubai site is: drawings review, GPR scan and mark-up, consultant approval of the penetration locations, permit to work, then coring with water management and slurry containment. Reversing any two of those steps is what turns a routine job into an incident report.