CAI-NJ May 2017

DRONES... from page 30.

an engineer from accessing certain areas, even with all of the aforementioned methods. Of course, there is now a better way. A drone can quickly fly up and around a building façade whether it is a townhome or high rise, capturing images of the façade in its entirety. The cost savings provided by this service are clearly incredible, but safety and data quality are also dramatically increased. Like roof inspections, façade drone inspections can be

specific area is in question or just a few roofs require inspection. This technique is particularly useful for roofs with complicated designs and otherwise hard to reach areas. Facades Façade inspections with drones offer similar value as with roof inspections; time, cost and safety benefits with- out the use of ladders. However, the value continues to increase based on the building height. At a certain point, often above three stories, a building gets tall enough that ground level inspections are no longer effective and lad- der inspections are too dangerous. In this case, scaffolds, lifts and harnesses must be used. The cost of scaffolding tall structures is immense, and the safety risks are off the charts. This leaves building owners hesitant to inspect their facades. In some cases, owners even wait for the windows to be cleaned to perform inspections. Additionally, there are situations where complex architecture physically limits

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Courtesy CAI-NJ.

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