There are many reasons to have aerial photography on construction projects. Getting aerial photos allow you to document the progress on roads, retail centers, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, hotels and resorts, parking garages and more. Not only can the photos show the progress for the customers and lenders, it may help save you with fines, lawsuits, safety violations to name a few.
Photographs taken often of a project should show progress of the structure from all angles at different heights. These photos could provide valuable information should an OSHA fine and/or lawsuit be looming. For instance, a construction worker has a fall from a structure your company is working on and they try to sue you for safety violations, these time stamped photos could prove that you had all of the necessary safety barriers in place. Obviously this not only saves you from frivolous lawsuits and legal fees but also OSHA fines.
Another reason to get progress construction photos (monthly or even more often) would be to help contractors stay up to date on any environmental issues that might arise. If a construction site has a lot of rain, they can monitor the situation and have photographic proof from a third party showing that barriers were in the proper place in order to prevent run off into water ways.
It can be very dangerous for a site manager to monitor a busy construction site. A drone can get zoom in or hard to inspect or high risk areas for you. Why use scaffolding and ladders to inspect your buildings when a drone pilot can safely and quickly access the progress saving money and time.
Why not just buy one for your company and save the money?? In order to legally operate a drone commercially, you must have a FAA certified drone pilot to operate the drone. Since drones have become so popular, many people don’t realize that there is a difference between flying for a hobby and flying commercially. If you obtain photos and/or video for a company even if its your own company, you must have a Part 107 license. If a pilot is unlicensed and the imagery is used for commercial purposes (business), the unlicensed pilot will be fined $1,100 per occurrence/flight. An even more shocking thing to most companies is that they will be fined $11,000 per instance for hiring the unlicensed pilot. If you have the drone and operate it illegally for commercial purposes for your business, you will be responsible for both fines.
Most companies don’t have the man power or time to deal with the FAA regulations, rules and testing required to get licensed. Using FAA Part 107 certified pilots, such as those employed by Professional Drone Services, allows you to get the aerial imagery you need for you construction sites without having to worry about hefty FAA fines.