Drones in Construction: 4 Key Benefits

Drones may have started out as merely a toy for hobbyists and photographers, however, they are now becoming a key tool in a number of industries as drone technology continues to advance. Over the past 18 months, COPTRZ has seen an enormous increase in the number of businesses using drones in construction, many of whom we have helped to enable their drone strategy.

Construction processes are complicated and involve numerous stakeholders from initial site survey through to progress updates and marketing. At each stage of the process, drones provide a unique opportunity to increase efficiency and subsequently reduce costs. Companies that already use drones as part of their everyday kit are seeing immense benefits to their construction processes.

Edit: COPTRZ understand the challenges ahead when integrating drones into your workflow. For this reason, we are offering you a FREE 30-minute drone strategy consultation. This gives you the opportunity to get 1-on-1 with a UAV expert and cover hardware, training, industry-specific applications and best practice methods in integrating drones into your current workflows.

Surveying Speed

Drones in construction have made the task of surveying land much easier and more cost-effective. Equipped with a surveying specific drone, the surveyor can fly the drone over the stretch of land, collect images and use photogrammetry software such as Pix4D to generate 2D/3D structural models, volumetric measurements and topographical maps. Ultimately, surveyors will be able to focus more on analysing the data rather than spending time trying to acquire it using traditional surveying methods.

Improved Progress Updates

An important part of any construction project is providing progress updates to senior staff and clients. Images recorded from a drone can be merged together to provide a short time-lapse video highlighting the progress being made on site. As a result, Project Directors and clients will be better informed of what’s being achieved and can ultimately make more educated decisions without needing to physically attend the site. Software within the drone enables it to follow a pre-defined flight path every time in order to maintain consistency of progress reports.

Improve Safety

Most importantly, drones increase safety on construction sites which are known to be one of the most dangerous working environments. Drones can now fly and inspect potentially hazardous areas where it was previously only possible on foot. Gone are the days of sending workers up scaffolding to inspect high structures whilst risking serious injury. Deploy a drone and the job can be done safer and more efficiently, whilst providing real-time video footage to the site office.

Identify Mistakes

Mistakes are inevitable on all construction projects, however, it’s the speed at which they are identified that determines the implications it has on the project. Regular drone inspections of a site can unearth mistakes much quicker, therefore enabling swift action. With an aerial view, drones can identify errors that are less visible to the human eye from a lower level.

Drones in Construction: Where to Start

There’s a lot to take in when looking to put together a drone strategy, and choosing the right drone is a headache for even the most tech-savvy people. It’s recommended that you receive consultancy as to what equipment best suits your business needs and what you want to achieve from your drone strategy. COPTRZ are experts in enabling the use of drones and regularly guide construction companies through this process. Contact us today to find out how we can help you improve efficiencies and reduce costs on your next project.