Questions, answered plainly

It is a survey of a building’s exterior carried out by an unmanned aircraft instead of access equipment. The aircraft photographs every elevation at a fixed standoff and overlap; the imagery is then stitched, defects are mapped against an elevation grid, and a Professional Engineer reviews and endorses the findings.

Every 7 years, for buildings taller than 13 metres and more than 20 years old. Landed houses and temporary buildings are exempt. The regime has been in force since 1 January 2022 and the owner is notified when an inspection falls due.

No. The drone stage produces a complete photographic record of the envelope and locates defects for the engineer to assess. Where the engineer needs to sound, probe or touch a defect (delamination, spalling under render, sealant condition) physical verification by rope access or gondola is still required.

Any condition, provided we can fly. What stops a survey is access and airspace rather than the building: overhanging trees and covered linkways, neighbouring structures closer than the safe standoff, sustained wind or rain, and restricted airspace without clearance. We check all of it at the scoping visit.

Yes, 3 things for commercial work. The company must hold a CAAS Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (ours is CAAS/UOP/2026/0438), the pilot must hold a CAAS Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Licence, and each operation needs an activity permit matched to the site, airspace and flight profile.

Allow 5–10 working days for a standard site, and 2–4 weeks where the site sits in restricted or aerodrome airspace and needs additional clearance.

Sometimes, with clearance and a constrained flight profile: lower ceiling, shorter window, tighter exclusion zone. We check the site against airspace at enquiry and tell you honestly if it is unlikely to be approved, rather than taking the job and discovering it later.

$900–2,000 for the drone survey stage of a typical residential block, against $6,000 and above for gondola or scaffold access. Professional Engineer review and endorsement is quoted on top. Height, footprint, number of elevations, airspace constraints, access and reporting depth move the figure.

3 to 4 weeks: 1–2 days to scope and quote, 5–10 working days for permits, half a day to a day on site, 3–5 working days to process and map defects, 3–5 working days for engineering review, 2 working days to package and hand over.

Building height, footprint, number of elevations, airspace and permit class, ground access and exclusion-zone constraints, and how deep the reporting has to go.

Yes. Public liability cover of S$1 million, certificate provided before mobilisation and available on request at quotation stage.

No. The camera is pointed at the building envelope, not into it. Flight lines are set to capture the facade surface; where an opening is unavoidably in frame, the image is reviewed and excluded from the deliverable. Imagery is released only to the client, and we provide a resident notice saying exactly this before the flight.

The flight stops. Abort criteria are agreed in the pre-flight briefing (wind above the aircraft limit, rain, or loss of visual line of sight) and the flight is closed in FlyItSafe. We reschedule the remaining elevations at no additional charge within the same mobilisation window.

Survey and mapping, progress documentation, aerial film and photography, FPV cinematography, and event coverage.

Yes, heavy-lift and specialist payload work outside our fleet, and sites we do not expect to get cleared. We say so at enquiry rather than at mobilisation.