Commercial roofs · façades · property portfolios
Commercial drone roof surveys
Capture every accessible roof detail without a team on the roof: organised, high-resolution imagery you can review and share.
Facts panel
- Best for
- Commercial buildings, public estates, managed portfolios and hard-to-access roofs.
- Typical outputs
- High-resolution stills, overview images, video where useful, mapped/organised image sets and annotations when scoped.
- Coverage
- England, Wales and Scotland.
- Alternatives
- A vehicle-mounted elevated mast can cover some no-fly locations.
Roofs are one part of DTA's inspection service. Wind turbines, industrial structures, confined spaces and culverts are covered by the same team.
Explore all drone inspectionsSee the roof clearly, without routine work at height
Ground-level photographs rarely show enough. A planned drone survey can record roof coverings, ridges, valleys, parapets, flashings, rooflights, chimneys, gutters, rainwater goods and upper elevations from useful angles and in consistent detail. The result is a dated visual record for maintenance planning, defect review, tender preparation or portfolio comparison. Drone imagery supplies evidence; it does not replace the judgement of a suitably qualified building or structural professional.
- Supports maintenance planning
- Supports defect review
- Supports tender preparation
- Supports portfolio comparison and professional assessment
What DTA records
The capture plan is built around the brief rather than a generic orbit of the building. Depending on access, airspace, weather and the inspection purpose, the image set can include the following.
Overviews
- Complete roof overviews and context images
- Pitched and flat roof coverings
Roof detail
- Ridges, hips, valleys, abutments and penetrations
- Flashings, membranes, rooflights and plant
- Chimneys, parapets, gutters and rainwater goods
Elevations and condition
- Upper façades, cladding and difficult junctions
- Close-up evidence of visible condition for professional review
We agree the required level of detail before flight so the capture supports the decision you need to make.
Organised on DTA Inspect
Thousands of unlabelled files create another job for the surveyor. Where included in the scope, DTA publishes inspection imagery through DTA Inspect, its browser-based platform. Images can be organised by element or section, located against the site, viewed at full resolution, annotated and shared securely with the project team.
Cardiff Arms Park inspection (2026), published on the current site:
- 4,989 images
- 106 registered elements
- 45.7 GB of reviewable data
Built for one roof or a multi-site programme
DTA has delivered inspection work at both single-building and portfolio scale. A Central London campaign covered 144 roofs and façades in two months, including restricted-airspace planning. A separate Swindon project recorded the internal and external condition of a 13,000 m² warehouse and combined the inspection with a topographical survey and 3D model.
For repeat work, agree the same building divisions and capture pattern at the start. Later inspections can then be compared on a consistent basis rather than as unrelated folders of photographs.
Where visible evidence alone isn't enough, DTA can add thermal drone surveys to the same brief, capturing radiometric evidence alongside the visual roof record.
From brief to evidence
- 01 Define the decision. Send the address, roof drawings if available, areas of concern and the output your team needs.
- 02 Plan the operation. DTA reviews access, people, adjacent property, airspace, weather and any permissions.
- 03 Capture systematically. The pilot records overviews and detail against the agreed element list.
- 04 Quality-check and organise. Imagery is checked, structured and delivered in the agreed format or through DTA Inspect.
- 05 Professional review. Your building surveyor, engineer or property team uses the evidence to assess condition and plan next steps.
DTA supports property, estates and facilities management teams with roof and elevation evidence across managed portfolios.
Send us these six things
-
01
Site location / boundary
-
02
Required output
-
03
Intended use
-
04
Preferred timescale
-
05
Access / airspace constraints
-
06
Any existing drawings
Common questions
Can a drone roof survey identify the cause of a leak?
It can provide detailed visual and, when separately scoped, thermal evidence of the roof. The cause and remedy should be determined by the appropriate building professional using that evidence and any other necessary investigation.
Can you work in Central London or controlled airspace?
DTA assesses each location individually and has experience coordinating flights in restricted and controlled environments. Permission is never assumed; airspace, ground risk and the site brief determine what is possible.
What happens where a drone cannot fly?
Some sites can be covered with DTA's vehicle-mounted elevated mast. Other constraints may require a revised viewpoint or an alternative access method. DTA will explain the viable options during scoping.
Do you provide a building condition report?
DTA can provide organised aerial evidence and annotations within the agreed scope. On the building-condition service, the instructing building surveyor retains the client relationship, professional judgement and report.
See it in practice
7 September 2024
144 Drone Property Roof & Façade Inspections in Central London in 2 Months
In July and August 2024 DTA completed 144 drone roof and façade inspections across Central London, one of the busiest periods yet for this service in the capital.
9 April 2019
13,000 m2 Warehouse Drone Inspection, Swindon
A full internal and external drone inspection of a 13,000 m2 Swindon warehouse, combining upward-facing camera roof-space inspection with an external topographical survey and 3D model.
Get a clear scope and quotation
Send the building address, the roof or elevations to be covered, the purpose of the survey, any known airspace/access constraints and the format your team needs.
Request a QuoteTell us about your site.
Send the location and what you need. We'll come back with a clear scope and price.
Or we call you