Always wanting to stay ahead of the curve, we have invested in our very own Pexhurst Drone (a Phantom DJ4 for those who know their drones from their remote control helicopters).
We are currently trialling this new innovation in order to understand if we can streamline some of our services and get better value for clients on projects.
We have always wanted to be able to offer our clients certainty on costs wherever we can and we are hoping that having a drone will allow us to inspect high-level items without the need for hiring Mobile Elevating Work Platforms or erecting scaffolding, which comes at a high cost just to allow a survey and inspection to be undertaken.
Having quick and easy access can potentially help our site managers on the ground in their planning of projects and the drone will also allow us to reach areas that people and plant cannot possibly reach. This could especially be important at the estimating stage and could reduce costs for clients, especially pre-tender when they are instructing consultants to survey a building to scope out a project.
During our trial we plan to use the drone on a number of potential areas to allow easy inspection of high-level roof works, external window repairs, high-level facade works, high-level brickwork repairs, roof and ceiling voids and high-level external plant equipment. It will also enable the team to inspect areas that would otherwise be off-limits, such as inaccessible light wells.
The construction industry is always evolving, and technology like drones is another thing that could make us better and quicker at what we do. Anything that simplifies what we do should also help save on cost, which in the current market can make the difference between projects going ahead or not.
As a business, we are always keen to try new innovations and only time will tell if the drone is going to make a real difference to our business practices
