Low cost LIDAR system?

Low cost lidar systems usually have a point accuracy of 2-3 cm. If this is sufficient for your needs then I would buy it. But for most part, this would not be appropriate for as-built data point acquisition. I saw a point cloud from an old velodyne puck of a building wall and if you look at it in 3D autocad, the wall was not smooth. You could, of course, thin the points and create the wall using best judgement approach but this would add up to an uncertainty factor in your work. The 2-3 cm point cloud accuracy is not noticeable for raw land topography survey. You could even get by for the roads surrounding the raw land.

I would go so far as to say - there is no such thing as low cost LiDAR system. There is junk out there though. You would be better off looking for a used unit like a Leica C-10

@stlsurveyor I totally agree. The LIDAR system can't be cheap. If I'm not mistaken even a used Leica C10 is worth $12,000, a new FARO S120 is something around $20k, Leica P30 is $40k, Artec Ray is $60k. 

@jt50 The sizzle reel for their puck on their website doesn't even look good - unless that building was made out of chenille.

@merle-v-wolfe Yes. I work with LiDAR data daily, and you get what you pay for, period.