How Drones Are Being Utilized In Property Management

Common Uses

Residential and commercial property managers need to keep their buildings within regulation by routinely checking that their facilities are up-to-code. Common problem areas can include the roof, pavement, HVAC systems, landscaping, and building exteriors. Rather than relying on different teams of subcontractors to pinpoint these areas of concern, property managers can use drone imagery to gather high-resolution images of their properties and gain real-time insights into these areas.

For example, flying a drone over your roof or parking lot can identify cracks or other defects. It can also provide detailed measurements of those surface areas. These measurements can then be used in conjunction with your Roof Report, a tool on DroneDeploy’s App Market, which turns your maps into a complete roof plan within 48 hours. This is perfect when sourcing information for roof repairs and insurance estimates.

The most common way drones are used in property management is to simply map each estate. Having a detailed map of each property is beneficial for future planning as these maps can aid in design plans (maps display building exteriors, landscaping, and HVAC systems in addition to interior support). This is especially valuable for residential solar companies when creating solar design plans, as well as insurance companies when evaluating roof weather damage. 

In-App Features

Additionally, property managers can use in-app features like Annotations or the Inspection Workflow to effectively and efficiently communicate across teams. Here, users can tag and assign issues on the map to the appropriate parties. In response, workers can comment back in real-time or close-out the issue.

For those solely interested in reporting, Professional Services can assist in the pavement, roofing, and portfolio management solutions. In a custom pavement report, DroneDeploy will provide your area with a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Score and flag a variety of pavement defects, including depressions, potholes, raveling, block cracking, and asphalt curb or patching. This is useful when determining where to allocate your pavement repair budget.

If the Thermal Live Map feature isn’t specific enough for your issue, Professional Services can create a thermal defect report for roof inspections. With detailed thermal data of your roof, property management and insurance companies can triage their roof portfolio for repairs. Not only does this save time, but it also saves money by allowing the contractor to perform targeted repairs.