Drone Inspection Services
Pre works and handover records
A dated photographic record of a building at a fixed point in time, made because somebody is going to argue about its condition later.
Condition arguments are almost always about a date. What state was that roof in before the scaffold went up. What did the elevation look like at practical completion. What had already failed when the lease began, and what happened during the term.
A dated set of photographs settles most of that in a paragraph. This service exists to produce one: the whole external envelope recorded on a known day, in enough detail to be zoomed into two years later, and written up so the file makes sense to somebody who was not there.
It is supplied as evidence for somebody else's schedule, not as a schedule of its own. A dilapidations position is prepared by a surveyor; a defects list is agreed with a contractor. This is the photographic layer underneath both, and it is deliberately described that way so nobody mistakes it for professional advice it is not.
What is included
- Full external record of the building or buildings agreed
- Every roof plane and every elevation covered systematically
- Detail photographs of anything already damaged or defective
- The date of capture on the record and in the file
- A written report within 48 hours, indexed so a photograph can be found again
- Original full resolution images supplied alongside the report
- Method statement and risk assessment supplied before the visit
Why full resolution originals come as standard
A report is a document and a document gets compressed. If the argument two years from now turns on whether a crack was already there, a compressed image in a PDF is not going to answer it, and the person holding the original file wins.
So the originals are supplied with the report every time, not on request and not for extra. A 100 megapixel frame of an elevation holds far more than the report shows, and the point of making a record is that somebody can go back into it.
What this record does not do
It records what is visible from the air on the day. It does not open anything up, does not measure moisture in a build up, and carries no opinion on cause, liability or cost.
It is also not a replacement for a schedule of condition drawn up by a surveyor. Where a lease is being entered into, take proper advice on the schedule itself and use this as the photographic evidence that sits behind it.
On the day
How a records and evidence runs
- Step 1
Fix the date and the scope
Which buildings, which elevations, and the day it has to be recorded by. Where the record is tied to a handover or a works start, it is booked with a margin either side for weather.
- Step 2
Record systematically
Every roof plane and every elevation in a set order, wide shots first so anything can be located, then detail on whatever is already wrong.
- Step 3
Index and issue
The report within 48 hours, with the images numbered and located, plus the full resolution originals so somebody can zoom in later without asking us for them.
- Step 4
Keep it findable
A copy is retained so a later dispute can be answered from the original file rather than from memory, and it can be deleted on request.
Behind the work
Kit, cover and qualifications
CAA registered
A registered operator with an Operator ID and a Flyer ID held, which is the baseline any commercial client should be asking for and the first thing to check on a quote.
A2 Certificate of Competency
The A2 CofC, not a GVC. That decides how close the aircraft may legally be flown to people and property, so it decides what can be inspected and how, and it is set out plainly rather than buried.
Insured with Coverdrone
Commercial cover through Coverdrone. A certificate can be sent across for a site file or a contractor approval pack before the visit is booked.
Report within 48 hours
Photographs and a written report per asset within 48 hours of the flight, so the file is closed while the visit is still fresh in everyone's mind.
Records and evidence
Pre works and handover records questions
- How quickly can a record be made before works start?
- The limit is usually weather rather than availability. Book with a few days of margin either side of the date and there is normally a suitable window inside it.
- Can you record a building we are handing back at lease end?
- Yes, and that is one of the more common reasons for this service. It is worth doing before anything is stripped out, because the record is only useful if it shows the state the building was actually in.
- Will the photographs stand up if there is a dispute?
- They are dated, they are unedited beyond exposure, and the full resolution originals are supplied to you. What weight anyone gives them is a matter for the people arguing and their advisers, and this site does not claim otherwise.
Where
Pre works and handover records across the South West
Also on this site
See how a visit runs
Request a site quote with Drone Inspection Services
Tell us the site and the assets you need covered. Sam Hembury will come back with a fixed price, a method statement and a date.