A High Level of Service: Drone and camera pole inspections

Some of the more significant defects that arise with properties can be located at high level. Unseen deterioration can develop to a degree where significant repair work can be required. Defective roof coverings, flashings, gutters and valleys can allow leakage leading to water penetration and associated risk of damage and decay.

High level repair work to these and other elements such as chimney stacks or parapet walls can be costly to repair due to the need for safe access arrangements.

A surveyor undertaking a standard Level 2 or Level 3 RICS Home Survey will use a 4m telescopic ladder for access onto a roof above ground floor level and inspect higher areas from ground level using binoculars, from windows or roof hatches. However,  there are often high level areas that cannot be seen during a standard survey inspection.

This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as high flat roof surfaces, views being obscured due to the height of a property on a narrow street or with a short rear garden, the close proximity of trees, flats on upper floors of a terrace property having no access to rear garden space.

Without access, this can mean the surveyor recommending further follow up inspection, meaning either the condition is taken on risk or that additional time and expense is taken to have the areas checked.

At Peter Barry, our surveyors are equipped to address these shortcomings, by using either a drone or a 10m telescopic camera pole and GoPro camera.

Both can open up the scope of inspection, allowing more elements to be assessed, with defects and their causes identified. This allows our client to have advice on appropriate remedial works from the surveyor, rather than relying on a roofing contractor to identify and accurately report on repairs needed.

This can be done alongside the standard scope of survey, eliminating the need for later further investigation by costly scaffold or hydraulic platform lift.

There are pro’s and cons to each.

We use lightweight drones with high resolution cameras and our surveyors have undergone the necessary training to become fully licenced under the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) procedures, with appropriate insurance cover.

Drones can be flown above properties enabling a wide variety of vantage points to enable clear close up photographs or videos from various angles.

Photograph of a roof and chimney taken via drone and 4K camera

There are still practical limitations, in that a drone must remain within the surveyor’s eyeline at all times, avoid obstructions such as trees or overhead cables, and cannot be flown during very wet and windy weather conditions.

There are also flight restriction zones to contend with, which are relatively large areas around airports and helipads, as well as sensitive locations such as Royal palaces and prisons. A surprisingly large area of London is covered by flight restriction zones, with some locations having the added complication of being within more than one zone.

These can be found via map data online:

https://nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/uas-restriction-zones/

It is illegal to fly any drone at any time within these restricted zones unless you have permission from air traffic control at the airport or, if air traffic control is not operational, from the airport itself.

If necessary, we can arrange the necessary permissions, but this can delay inspection.

A camera pole and Go Pro camera can take equivalent quality photographs or video images.

Photograph of a roof and chimney taken via camera pole and GoPro

They can overcome some of the drawbacks of a drone, in that it can and can be used in poor weather conditions and without the location restrictions enforced by Air Traffic Control.

The 10m height of the pole we use is sufficient to reach a level where a typical flat roof above a second floor dormer loft conversion can be seen, or a London form roof above a two or three storey building. Any taller and it becomes too difficult to handle safely for a single person.  The vantage points it creates becomes more limited for higher buildings, such as a flat roof above a four storey block of flats, unless there is a higher access point at which to raise it such as a walkway or balcony.

It also restricts the camera location to that from which the pole can be raised vertically. So, the rear elevation and roof slopes of an upper floor flat may not be visible if there is no access to stand in a rear garden demised to another flat owner.

By viewing the property online, we can consider which option is likely to be the more useful/successful.

These tools improve the service we can offer and help us to improve the level of survey service and allow you to make adequately informed decisions about potential repairs.

In a pre-purchase situation this helps you make an informed decision on any negotiations that may be needed, without the prospect of delay and enforced risk under pressure to exchange contracts.

For property owners, we can offer standalone inspections, enabling  the same benefits of safe, quick and economic access, with professional unbiased reporting to avoid the risk of hidden defects going unnoticed and presenting the potential to deteriorate and increase in severity and cost over time.

Not all surveying companies are equipped to undertake with camera pole survey or trained to offer the benefits of using a drone.

The drone or camera pole are great pieces of kit, and are ultimately another tool to help our surveyors continue to provide the best possible advice.

If you need a thorough and expertly prepared RICS Home Survey, or stand alone advice on a specific issues, please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss your requirements.