Over the last 10 years, drones have been increasingly adopted for a variety of purposes within the construction industry. Although their use is far from standard, there are significant examples of where benefits have been gained, particularly for large and complex projects.
Drone footage can be utilised in a number of ways during the construction phase of a project. From understanding the layout of a site and what earthworks are needed, to monitoring progress and site activity through the construction programme and onwards to identifying problems and improving safety briefings.
This is particularly true for large projects such as highways, flood works, power plants, solar arrays, data and logistic centres etc. where the footprint of the site is large, but the structures may not be particularly tall.
How can Drones be of use beyond the construction phase to building surveyors?
For the building surveyor, there are obviously tremendous advantages in utilising drones to access hard to reach areas and gather information where other methods are either expensive or create additional risk or safety issues. Where previously scaffolding, mobile elevated platforms or other specialist rope access inspections may be required for roofs, building façade or cladding, a drone is obviously going to be more time efficient and gather detailed information for thorough review in a systematic way. Schedules of condition (SOC), planned preventative maintenance (PPM), defect investigation etc. may all have issues with fully accessing parts of the building and a drone can provide a suitable solution to ensure all aspects are fully considered on behalf of the client.
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