Industries that do roof inspections
At first, you might think there’s only one industry that does roof drone inspections. It’s home inspections, right?
And it’s true that home inspectors are one of the main groups of professionals that use drones to inspect roofs. But there are also several others.
Here they are.
1. Home Inspections
Home inspectors now commonly use drones for roof inspections.
No good home inspection is complete without an inspection of the roof. Roofs are notoriously expensive to fix, and no home buyer wants to purchase a new home only to discover that the roof needs to be replaced.
Both home buyers and home sellers have been turning to roof drone inspections performed by home inspection providers to get a complete understanding of the condition of a property’s roof, without having to climb onto it and walk around.
In addition to home inspections during a potential sale, home owners also hire home inspectors to do roof inspections by drone when they suspect something may be wrong with their roof, so they can identify the problem and fix it before it gets worse.
2. The Insurance Industry
After a major weather event like a hurricane or tropical storm insurance companies expect a flurry of claims. And one of the most common claims is for damage to a home’s roof.
Insurance companies often send out drone pilots to collect aerial data throughout a neighborhood right after a major weather event, quickly collecting data on all the homes impacted in the area where claims have been made, which can then be processed by insurance adjusters.
And the adjustors don’t have to be on site for their review.
They can wait safely in an office, or at home, and evaluate the drone data when it arrives. This approach helps insurance companies keep their adjusters out of potentially dangerous, unstable areas while speeding up their process times for claims, saving them money on the entire workflow.
3. Commercial Real Estate
It’s not just home inspections that can benefit from roof inspections. Commercial real estate inspections can too.
Before a company or a potential investor buys a piece of commercial real estate, a drone inspection can help quickly evaluate the condition of the roof, surfacing any potential issues so they can be part of the purchase negotiation instead of making for an expensive discovery after the sale.
4. Solar Energy
To know whether a roof is suitable for a solar panel installation, you have to inspect it.
A drone can quickly get all the details needed to make a decision about whether a roof is a good candidate for solar panels, including its angle, structure, and how it’s oriented toward the sun. All of this information is crucial for determining whether a given roof can be used for collecting solar energy, as well identifying the best spot on the roof to place a panel, or multiple panels.
5. Construction
How do you know if your construction project is on track?
You can do a manual inspection, walking and climbing the entire site and collecting data. Or you can send a drone into the air and quickly get a lot more data than the manual process allows, including visual or LiDAR data that can be used to make a 3D model of the site.
Although the roof is only one part of a construction project, it’s an important part. And drones can collect data reflecting the current condition of the roof on a building that’s under construction, whether it’s a big capital effort, like a hospital, or a single-family residential home.
6. Infrastructure Maintenance
Industrial facilities must be periodically inspected to ensure they stay in good working order.
These inspections are generally referred to as infrastructure inspections—this could be the inspection of a warehouse or factory, or it could be the inspection of an industrial asset, like a boiler, pressure vessel, or even a massive grain silo.
For all of these efforts, inspecting the roof is a key part of the infrastructure maintenance work. And in some cases, such as after major weather events or incidents such as felled trees, the roof may be the only area that needs to be inspected.