Working at a substantial height to inspect buildings, roofs, wind turbines, chimneys etc. can be, at times, both difficult and time consuming when using conventional surveying methods. According to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Hierarchy of Control Measures, the use of UAVs (drones) avoids working at height and is the safest method of delivering high-level roof and building surveys.

An additional advantage of using UAVs is that they dramatically reduce the time required to complete the survey. An experienced, qualified pilot can capture thousands of images in just a few hours. This not only allows for sites to remain open with minimal disturbance to working operations or public use, it significantly reduces the costs of performing the survey.

As can be seen from the images on this page a drone can capture a full roof structure taking note of the pitches and flat roof details. Using these details the drone will follow a flight path taking HD images of the whole roof, including the central area (where cherry pickers are unable to reach). The images produced are detailed enough to see individual bolt heads, the smallest amount of corrosion on the roofing panels or blockages in gutters.

Whilst in flight the remote pilot is able to ‘see what the drone sees’ on a high resolution screen and can capture additional images of suspect areas of the roof structure for a more detailed analysis.

3-D images of the roof structure can be rendered from images and detailed measurements of roof size and pitch can be taken using 3-D modelling software.

A sample high resolution of roof detail can be seen here.