Under Construction: How Drones Pilots Improve Efficiency

As a professional drone pilot in Grand Rapids, MI, I have noticed that when it comes to construction companies, safety, time, quality and cost reign supreme. Those four components are paramount to every job. So if you have a way to help construction companies save time, improve quality, reduce cost AND improve safety, you have a necessary product. So let me take a second to share how drones provide construction companies the time, quality and cost savings that goes beyond paying for itself through data.

Anybody have a Drone Map?

Construction mapping is key to this medium the drone is highly efficient at traversing an area, collecting data through pictures and control points quickly, saving the company time. This allows systems like Drone Deploy and Pix4D to recreate the construction site using 3d modeling which improves quality. This type of modeling allows site managers to know the layout of the site, progress as the site takes form and even working models to share with stakeholders which helps you show how your tracking and improvements are reducing costs.

Safety Drone Dance

One of my favorite byproducts of flying at construction sites is providing data that helps keep the workforce safe AND saves money for the company. Drone photographs can show you the high-traffic areas with equipment that can be potentially dangerous to workers. Aerial photographs of the site can also can create maps for the safety coordinator or the project site manager which allows them to develop proper workflow throughout the work site. Moving objects is responsible for approximately 12% of incidents on-site, drones give you the ability to map out and monitor traffic flow. It also provides you with quick data that allows you to adapt as construction sites are always in flux and changing. This keeps your team safe, provides a cost-benefit in less incidents, improves quality of work, and keeps us on schedule.

Drones Put the Pro in Progress

Speaking of on-schedule, clients need to be updated periodically on the progress taking place. It's one thing to tell a stakeholder about the progress, it's another thing to show them. A picture is worth a thousand words, that was said about standard photographs, aerial photographs bring even more value, and drone video can be priceless. Most experienced drone pilots can track data points and provide you with key performance indicators that help you create quick accurate assessments of the progress made during a specific interval. This saves the project manager time and money spent creating reporting material, giving them more time to focus on more important aspects of their job.

Evidence Matters

Let's face it, claims will happen. Isn't it nice to have photographic evidence to back up your side of the claim? Drone services will pay for themselves with one lawsuit. If there is a claim and you have consistent drone imaging over time, it helps you provide evidence to back your side. We hope we never have to do such a thing, but this happens, and having those photos and videos help you show your side of the story.

But Drones Do More

As I stated at the beginning of this post, safety, quality, costs, and time reign supreme in construction. Find a drone pilot to help you meet all 4 of these requirements. If you are interested in learning more, or, even better, take a flight together let's get together.