Property Management

Utilizing On-the-Ground and Aerial Imagery in Facilities and Property Management

March 3, 2021

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the facilities industry, the discipline remains in-demand. Coordinating the upkeep of buildings, designing workspaces, and optimizing inspection processes are essential to critical business functions, considering the global facility management market size is $1.24 trillion. As facility and property managers pivot to reimagine their roles post-COVID-19, they’re increasingly realizing the benefits of drone insights to drive automation and accuracy. Discover how drone technology can revolutionize manual surveys, reduce human error, and prevent large-scale repairs below.

A thermal map of a property.

Create Efficient, Streamlined Inspections

Traditional methods of building inspection are time-consuming, costly, and highly prone to human error. The vast amount of manual labor required to survey each section of a building, test fire alarms, and verify code compliance are inherently long and hazardous processes. They are also entirely reliant on the individual inspector. Since multiple inspectors might not see the same things, it’s challenging to get the same photo twice, further prolonging the operation.

Drone technology simplifies this process by illuminating the risks and hazards in your building, otherwise invisible to the naked eye. Instead of relying on teams to discover superficial repairs that could lead to serious issues, facilities managers can utilize drone software to inspect and verify their assets thoroughly. Drones equipped with infrared cameras can detect water leaks without taking apart a roof, discover rotting sidewall without demolishing a wall, and identify poor concrete settlement without ripping apart a parking lot. Imagine having every inch of your building documented – down to the window caulking, steam vents, and roof drains. This type of precision can only be achieved with drone insights, which promote structural health, integrity, and reliability of your assets.

A sample of DroneDeploy's Annotations Reports.

Digitize Assets for Centralized, Easy Document Sharing

With a centralized data platform, teams have a referenceable baseline of detailed imagery and building documentation at their disposal. When an inspection has finished, maintenance teams can immediately review the data and formulate next steps - plus determine if a more formal walkthrough is necessary. Aerial drone imagery combined with on-the-ground manual inspections nearly guarantees hazards are caught early, avoiding large-scale replacements and costly repairs.

Since this data is automatically stored for future use, property managers can create or maintain a consistent standard of inspections with automated drone surveys. The historical record-keeping and digital logging the DroneDeploy platform provides also serves as excellent risk control and abatement tool.

48% of Senior Corporate Real Estate Executives are already utilizing new technology to capture more accurate data to support their business objectives. This number will only increase as the market expands. Leveraging drone data to automate inspections, prioritize safe surveys, and reduce the costs associated with the lifetime management of a building promotes efficiency organization-wide.

If you’re interested in learning more about how drones can assist your organization’s facilities teams, watch our free webinar on evaluating facility portfolios or download our eBook on property management inspections.


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