Should You Rent, Buy, or Hire a GPR Service?
GPR can prevent costly mistakes and keep projects on schedule. Should you rent GPR equipment, purchase your own system, or hire a professional service?
Ground Penetrating Radar carts, like the one shown above, can be rented or purchased, but require extensive training and experience to be effectively used.
Should You Rent, Buy, or Hire a GPR Service?
Ground penetrating radar, aka, GPR, is a powerful tool for locating utilities, detecting potential voids, and mapping subsurface conditions without excavation. It can also be used to detect post tension cables, conduit, and reinforcements in concrete. Whether you’re in construction, engineering, or environmental services, GPR can prevent costly mistakes and keep projects on schedule. Before you start scanning for underground utilities, though, you need to decide: Should you rent GPR equipment, purchase your own system, or hire a professional service?
While renting or buying may hold appeal, the reality is that both options require significant training and technical expertise. Misinterpreting GPR data can lead to expensive errors, safety hazards, and project delays. For most companies, hiring a professional utility locating service near you, like GPRS, is the most practical and cost-effective solution.
Renting GPR Equipment
Renting is often considered for short-term or occasional projects. It provides access to advanced technology without the upfront cost of ownership. Many suppliers offer flexible rental terms and may include basic instructions. The average cost to rent a GPR cart is approximately $250 per day, with more advanced systems running as high as $4,000 per month.
The Apparent Benefits of Renting GPR
- Lower initial cost compared to buying
- Access to the latest models without long-term commitment
- Suitable for one-time or rare projects
However, there are significant risks to renting equipment for a DIY approach. GPR is not a plug-and-play tool. Accurate scanning and interpretation require specialized training and experience. Without that expertise, the risk of misreading data is high, which can lead to costly mistakes or safety issues. Even with rental training, the learning curve is steep, and liability remains on your shoulders.
Should You Buy a GPR System?
Purchasing a GPR system is often considered by companies that anticipate frequent scanning and utility locating needs. Ownership does give you full control over scheduling and eliminates rental coordination. It does, however, still contain similar risks to renting.
The costs for purchasing a ground penetrating radar system can be as low as $14,000 (utilitarian quality/used), or as much as $350,000 for a highly technical, waterproof, and advanced system. It is important not to confuse the much lower-cost electromagnetic induction system (EM/EMI locators) with GPR. Although EM locators can detect subsurface utilities that contain a conductive metal, they cannot penetrate to the depth of GPR, nor provide as comprehensive a reading. That is why GPRS Project Managers utilize both as complementary technologies when locating underground utilities.
The Benefits of buying include:
- Unlimited access whenever needed
- Potential long-term savings for heavy users
- Ability to develop in-house scanning capabilities
As mentioned, these benefits are offset by major hurdles. The upfront investment is substantial, often exceeding $100,000, and the cost of training your team to achieve reliable results drives it even higher. Accurate GPR signal interpretation is complex, requiring ongoing education and practice. Without considerable experience, the risk of inaccurate data, and the consequences that follow, remains significant. For most organizations, these barriers make ownership impractical.
GPRS delivers geolocated, layered, and tagged digital utility maps and CAD overlays via its SiteMap platform, usually within minutes of job completion.
Hiring a Professional GPR Service
For accuracy, efficiency, and peace of mind, hiring a professional utility locating company like GPRS is the smartest choice. These experts bring not only the latest equipment but also the training and experience needed to interpret results correctly.
Director of Safety, Quality, and Training at GPRS, Mitch Streight, highlights the risk of the D-I-Y approach. “The value of expertise can’t be overstated. Misinterpreting data can, and often does, lead to costly mistakes. That’s why we require all GPRS Project Managers to be certified in Subsurface Investigation Methodology. SIM allows us to empower our Project Managers to be a consultative partner to our clients to provide them with practical solutions their construction planning needs. It’s a large part of how we have maintained a 99.8% accuracy rate in utility locating since 2017.”
Professional utility locating services deliver detailed reports, actionable insights, and compliance-ready documentation. They also carry liability insurance, reducing your risk exposure. In the case of GPRS, all utility locations and maps are geolocated, layered, tagged, and accessible digitally via our SiteMap® software application (patent pending), usually within minutes of job completion. All GPRS customers receive complimentary SiteMap Personal access so they can view, download, and securely share their data with subcontractors, stakeholders, and others to streamline communications and collaboration.
Hiring a professional is especially critical for complex projects, high-risk environments, or tight deadlines. While the per-project cost may seem higher than renting, the accuracy, speed, and reduced liability make it the most practical and cost-effective solution.
How to Decide
Your decision should consider three main factors:
- Frequency of use: Occasional projects favor hiring; frequent scanning still requires expertise
- Budget: Factor in not just equipment cost but also training, liability, and potential errors
- Expertise: Without certified professionals, both renting and buying carry significant risk
When you weigh these factors, often, the conclusion is that hiring a professional utility locating company near you, like GPRS, is the most practical and reliable solution. It ensures accurate results, minimizes risk, and keeps your projects on time, on budget, and most importantly, safe.
Renting and buying GPR equipment may appear cost-effective at first glance, but the training and expertise required make these options impractical for most organizations. Hiring professionals like GPRS provides the accuracy, efficiency, and accountability your projects demand. When safety and precision matter, it pays to trust the experts.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How Does GPR Work?
Ground penetrating radar sends radar signals through a surface like soil, concrete, or asphalt. When GPR signals encounter an object, they reflect back to the surface and can be captured and “read” by a qualified professional. A GPRS Project Manager can interpret these reflections to determine what’s below and where it’s located. GPR is a fast, safe, and highly accurate method for detecting subsurface features without the need for digging or drilling. Read Ground Penetrating Radar, Explained.
How Accurate is GPR?
GPR achieves a high level of accuracy, though results can vary depending on the type of material and the conditions of the ground. That’s why GPRS Project Managers utilize complementary technologies like EM locators, to make sure they provide the most comprehensive picture of what’s happening beneath the surface.
GPRS has strict standards for scanning. For utility locating, GPR accuracy is generally within ±6 inches to the center and ±10% of the depth. Utility antennas can help to scan deeper with slightly lower resolution. Understanding the strengths and limitations of each system helps ensure the right tool is chosen for your project.
How Fast is GPR Data Collected?
GPR data collection can be completed quickly, often requiring just a few minutes for small areas. Performing utility locating services for parking lots or construction sites may take a few hours, depending on size and complexity. Speed of completion can be influenced by the surface type (soil, concrete, asphalt), the level of detail required, and any obstructions or access limitations.