Raising the Roof on Safer Roof Inspections
Here at Safety Fabrications we take pride in always having a finger on the pulse so that we are up to date with all the changes and developments in the construction industry, both here in the UK and overseas. A few years ago, we spotted a new trend that we believe will change the face of our sector and make construction a safer career for everybody. We began to see reports on drones and the potential they have for reducing the need for work at height, particularly when it comes to rooftop inspections. We’ve already written about this trend several times:
- Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
- Droning On
- Future(p)Roofing for the Construction Industry
- Drones – Bringing Cool Careers into the Construction Industry
- Attack of the Wedge-tailed Eagles
It seems as if The Times has finally caught up with us! In a recent article, the venerable publication described the problems of some homeowners whose roof on their semi-detached home had begun to leak and were planning to split the bill with their neighbours. However, when it came to getting a quote for the job, they called in three different roofing contractors.
The first roofer took a good look at the roof through some binoculars and quoted (sucking through his teeth, as you do) £28,000. A second roofing contractor inspected the roof from the attic, determined there was some missing felt and quoted £15,500. The third couldn’t even give a quote without putting up scaffolding at a cost of £2,000. Obviously, the third roofing contractor has the right idea – to get a close look at the roof and the problems, a safe means of access would be necessary. However, spending £2,000 in order to get a quote whilst deciding who to hire to do the job is a pretty tall price to pay.
Finally, the homeowners collaborated with their neighbours to hire an independent scaffolder at a cost of nearly £800 and asked the roofing contractors to return to give another quote. Two of the contractors determined that only the front part of the roof needed work, which halved the original quoted cost. The final bill for the work was less than £5,000, much less than the original estimates.
However, had the homeowners realised that a roof survey could have been carried out using a drone, the roof inspection could have been carried out a lot quicker and a lot cheaper too. Drone surveys are the very latest way of carrying out rooftop inspections for all sorts of reasons. It is a cost-effective and safe way of viewing the whole roof close-up.
This news represents a great opportunity for roofing contractors – adding a drone to your equipment will make your work easier and safer, or at least the roof inspection part of your work. You would be able to rock up to a property and carry out the inspection in less than half a day and provide the homeowner with a complete and realistic list of work that needs doing, with a quote for the work.
This is also an impressive idea for budding entrepreneurs – launching a company that provides drone roof surveys for homeowners or roofing contractors. What a cool career option that would be – a roof inspection pilot. Don’t delay, why not look into this today – you could either launch a whole new career or add a new service to your current roofing company. If you’re not convinced yet, just take a look at the video below from America where they’re already ahead of the curve on this matter.