In recent years, the use of terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) has spread rapidly throughout the world, undoubtedly due to their survey speed and automation, but probably also for their novelty value. The technology has certainly influenced the improvement of previous well-known techniques (for instance, close-range photogrammetry), with the development of issues such as dense point-cloud generation, process automation and large technique synergy. But, what specifications should currently be under consideration for terrestrial scanning works? With these points in mind, this article analyses the basic themes connected with this technology and presents them as a specification synthesis, with examples.