Gone are the days when commercial building inspections took weeks and relied on expensive scaffolding. Along with that, the need for safety harnesses and risky roof access is disappearing, thanks to the power of drones. Once seen as a novelty, drones have quickly established themselves as an absolutely essential tool in the commercial building inspection sector and beyond.
As the commercial market grows and regulation becomes more stringent, the need for inspection becomes more pressing. But drone technology offers a safer, more efficient, more timely and more accurate solution. Here’s more about how the evolution of the drone roof inspection has turned the industry on its head.
Enhanced Safety And Efficiency
One of the most significant advantages offered by a commercial drone survey is the enhanced safety of personnel. In the past, inspecting tall buildings or rooftops required specialist access equipment such as ropes or boom lifts, and very often a full scaffolding build. This was expensive, time-consuming and disruptive. But drones have changed everything. It is now possible to carry out a thorough inspection from the safety of the ground, with the drone easily being able to access and capture even the hardest-to-reach areas. A drone can carry out a full inspection in minutes or hours rather than days and weeks, and vastly improve worker safety at the same time.
Data Acquisition
Commercial inspections are about more than a glance at the roof line to ensure everything looks in order. The real value of an inspection lies in providing accurate and actionable data, and this is where drones come into their own. Rather than just relying on the human eye, drones can be outfitted with hi-res cameras, thermal sensors and even LiDAR technology to provide a detailed visual breakdown of any structure. This data can also be used to generate 3D models or compare with previous inspections. This can help businesses to spot and remedy issues before they become more serious and, crucially, more expensive.
Economic Impact
The inspection sector is behind a significant portion of growth in the drones market. That’s because drones have been able to deliver impressive cost savings in construction and housing. Reducing the need for scaffolding alone saves vast sums of money, then you add in a reduction in manpower, time and insurance costs and you are looking at major economic benefits.
Seeing The Unseen
With naked eye inspections in dangerous work environments, such as up scaffolding towers or on rooftops, it is not surprising that issues can be missed. Precision drones can hover close to surfaces and carry out detailed inspections with data provided in real time and recorded for further assessment. That means they are more likely to spot hard-to-see issues such as architectural anomalies, heat loss and even structural failure.
Streamlining Workflows
The old adage that time is money is almost always true in business. But with commercial surveying drones being able to cut inspection times to just minutes or hours there are advantages in many other areas of the business beyond the survey itself. There is less disruption and countless valuable working hours can be redeployed to other areas of the business.
Discover more about drone use for commercial purposes across various industries by getting in touch with our experienced team here at Drone Evolution – by clicking here.
