The technological advancement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as drones, has given rise to a new wayof conducting building/property inspections. Rather than risk the safety of personnel, drones can take their place. For this and many other reasons, more and more construction/industrial firms prefer using drones for inspection.

Here is why you too should consider the including drones in the inspection process.

• Drone use reduces health and safety checks. When it comes to the structural examination of buildings, there are safety regulations and health checks businesses must abide by before a human inspector can explore and inspect potentially risky environments. When drones are used to do part of the job or even the entire job, the number of checks is minimized.
• Construction and industrial firms can use drones to collect in-depth data without risking the safety of personnel. Most industrial and constructional inspections come with an amount of unavoidable risks. These risks can be as a result of the height of structures, or the danger electrical and mechanical equipment pose, or the likelihoodof structures not being structurally sound. Whatever the risk, drones allows business to replace personnel with UAV when it comes to the collection of in-depth data.
• UAV allows for the exploration of a new and potentially risky environment. In the past, firms had a single option when it came to exploring new environments such as a building site or a rundown building. Businesses had to not only conduct extensive risk calculations, but also, they had to plan extensively before a human inspector can go there. With drones, you can explore these environments without conducting risk assessment calculations.
• Drones allow you to get the job done in less time. A human personnel has to be extra careful and diligent when inspecting a structure. This is to ensure the inspectortreads safely and gather as much information in the first sweep of the environment. Since drones do need to be overly concerned about safety and have high tech tools, inspection can be faster.In addition, on-ground personnel can thoroughly scrutinize the information the drone provides.
• Drones enable you to carry out multiple inspections a day. While a human inspector may not be able to carry out multiple inspections of multiple locations(for instance, inspection of a row of homes) in a single day, a drone can.
• Drones reduce equipment downtime. Depending on the nature of the inspection, equipment that are part of the structure being inspected(for example, wind turbines) may need to be shut down to avoid injuries. When drones are used, you will not need to switch off such equipment. When drones are included in the inspection process, downtime of such equipment is reduced.
• UAV allows for expert before and after inspections. Drones enable you to easily take expert footage and photographs before and after human inspections. This allows you to better assess the site. With drones, you can take footages at heights and positions a human inspector cannot. GPS location tracker, which is a standard feature of modern drones, allows you to determine the exact positions of the inspections.
• Drones are better for the environment. Some inspections require the use of equipment that needs the use large volumes of fossil fuel. For instance, an electric lines inspection usually requires a helicopter. Helicoptersuse fuel that increases carbon emission. Drones are small in size and use an extremely tiny percentage of power that a helicopter will use.
• Drones are economically sound. Using drones for inspection can save a business money. For example, a drone can quickly discover a leaking roof without the need of scheduling a human inspection.
• Drones lower insurance expenses. The more dangerous situationspersonnel are put in, the higher insurance premiums will be. When you replace human inspections with UAV inspections, you will cut down the risk of human injuries, and in turn cut down the requirement to cover inspectors and engineers insurance covers.

Are drone inspections the way to go? Factors such as lack of trained drone service providers can hinder the use of UAVs for inspections. However, if you have access to experienced drone pilots, including drones in the inspection process will save you money and shorten the inspection time.