Drones to play an increasing role in building inspections
Staff ReporterDecember 7, 2020
Using drones to inspect the exterior of tall buildings and legalities surrounding maintenance and pre-purchase due diligence reports will drive their use further into the real estate industry according to Archicentre, the building design and advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Archicentre has launched a new Drone Inspection Service which, Max Martin, commercial business development manager of Archicentre says provides a solution to assessing building and maintenance requirements for commercial premises and apartment buildings.
He said using drones in such a way has added a major safety factor to building inspections as well as eliminating traditional manual inspection processes such as hiring access equipment and scaffolds to gain access, which can cost thousands of dollars a day.
"Archicentre inspects thousands of properties a year around Australia in both the residential and commercial sector and the new Drone Inspection Service enables inspections of the most challenging roof and building through the UAV technology, without the architect inspector leaving the ground," he said.
"Whilst the Drone is up in the air, an Archicentre Architect will control and view the footage via an iPad device and take photos of the roof and the building. They will zoom in specifically on defects such as cracking, corrosion, storm damage, guttering and facades.
"Archicentre incorporate the photographs as part of the Maintenance Advice Inspection Report with a description of the defect, outlining the defect position on the building as well as recommendations on how to repair it from a qualified architect."