TIPS FOR DRONE PILOTS ON GETTING CONSTRUCTION WORK

When trying to make a name for themselves as a drone pilot, many business owners seek to offer their services to the construction industry.  It is no secret, after all, that the world of buildings and properties has many uses for drones, maps and aerial photography.  The need for drones has become so great that many construction companies have started hiring in-house, salaried drone pilots  to handle all of their aerial mapping and cinematography services (shoutout to Drone U Member Joel Frazier who works full time at Bradbury Stamm!). 

However, we often get questions from pilots asking about drones in the construction industry.  They want to know what services they should offer their clients and how they should go about marketing their drone business.

As with any industry, there are no limits to what you can offer a company.  Every construction company has different needs and the more creative you can be, the more likely you are to get business.  However, we’ve outlined a few common drone jobs in the construction industry to help get you started.

PROPERTY SURVEYS

Most large scale construction jobs require the contractor to map or “survey” the building or property before they work.  Essentially, this process involves the contractor taking a look around the job site before they give their potential client an estimate on how much the job will cost.  In the past, companies have had to spend huge amounts of money hiring professional land surveyors to map the properties they were looking to buy.  However, many construction companies have realized in recent years that drones have the ability to revolutionize the process of land surveillance. 

While surveyors are still necessary in many cases (don’t worry about putting them out of a job, they’re doing just fine!), drones offer a much less expensive way to map land.  Because drones can move so easily above an area of land, it takes us way less time to map a space than it does a traditional surveyor.  There’s no longer the need for large crews and bulky equipment to provide contractors with high-quality images of their property. 

PROGRESSION MAPS

Many contractors have expressed that their investors, while generous with money, can be a pain in the butt on a job site.  These investors, eager to see how their money is being spend, want to tour the construction site and see how things are going.  Instead of slapping a hard-hat  on their head and walking them around the job site like they would have in the past, construction companies have been using drones to keep their clients happy from a distance.  While the investor will inevitably have to be present on the property, drone footage can be a way for clients to see the construction job’s progress without having to get in the way of the workers. 

Progression maps often take the form of a series of photographs, shot specifically to update investors on the progress of a job.  However, high-end progression mapping sometimes involves volumetric measurements that can give the investor an idea of the amount of physical material that has been used during the process of construction.  The more drone training you have, the more you’ll be able to offer these companies when you approach them.

MARKETING AND ADVERTISEMENT

Like every other business, construction companies have to advertise themselves in order to get clients.  Drones offer a service particularly relevant to construction companies, in the sense that they are capable of capturing gorgeous aerial photographs from a distance.  Because construction companies deal with large-scale structures, there is no better way to capture their work than with a drone.  For this reason, construction companies tend to love drone footage simply because it helps them market to investors and attract new clients.  Show a construction company that you can make their product look better than ever and you’ll have a job with them in no time. 

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