Regulations, qualifications, no fly zones, insurance... hopefully we've managed to cover most of the questions you might have, but please get in touch if you can't find the answer to your question, or if you just want to chat through your project. :)
Drone photography is safe, yes. Like driving a car, though, there are plenty of rules, regulations and guidelines that have to be adhered to in order to make it as safe as possible. The regulations for flying drones are fundamentally based on the likelihood of putting people at risk. A combination of pre flight planning, risk assessments and selecting an appropriate drone for the job help to mitigate a lot of potential dangers. In addition, many drones incorporate built in safety features such as 'Return To Home', and collision avoidance sensors.
We hold a PFCO (Permission for Commercial Operations) which is issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. This translates to an 'Operational Authorisation' post 1st Jan 2021. Fundamentally it means that i have permission to fly commercially and to within 50m of uninvolved people.
Yes. We are insured with coverdrone with a policy that meets Civil Avialtion Authority requirements.
You will find example pricing on the services pages of this website, but the final price will depend on what is required. Prices start at £95 + vat for a simple roof inspection on a small property.
Roof inspections for residential properties start at £95 + vat, but the price will depend on the size of your property. Some example pricing is provided on this website. Please complete the project information form to request a quote. We will need to know the address and postcode of the property to be inspected.
Commercial roof inspections start at £450 +vat. Some example pricing is provided on this website. Please complete the project information form to request a quote. We will need to know the address and postcode of the property to be inspected.
In most cases yes, however we may need to apply for permission from the local Air Traffic Control, if your property is inside a 'Flight Restriction Zone'. There will be an additional cost of £25 +vat in order to make this application. Unfortunately we can't guarantee that we will get permission, so please provide as much detail as possible regarding the location of the building.
We use DJI drones. Exactly which depends on the location of the building and the requirements of the job. A lightweight drone has less health and safety restrictions, and can be used in built up areas. If your property is not in a built up area, a heavier drone can be used, which will provide better stability in the wind, more speed, and a slightly better image quality. If the lightweight drone is the only option we have, the image quality and resolution is still high resolution and excellent quality. Much of the footage you can see on this website is shot with the lightweight drone.
It's important to note that we are not a roofer or a builder. We will provide you with high resolution images and video of the roof. It is not guaranteed that some projects will not require further manual imspection. However, your roofer should have enough information to assess the condition of your roof or building and provide costs for remediation.
If you are in a rush for the images / footage, we can provide these on the day on a memory stick. However in order to produce a report we will require some additional time. Most reports can be delivered within 48 hours.