Home / Drone roof inspections
Inspect the roof without putting anyone on it.
High-resolution aerial inspection of roofs, elevations and hard-to-reach structures. Aerial capture can reduce the need for access equipment and working at height, while helping minimise disruption below.
Roofs get inspected late, or not at all.
Getting eyes on a commercial roof traditionally means access equipment, a permit, a trained operative and a working-at-height risk assessment. On a large warehouse or a multi-let estate that is expensive enough that inspections get deferred until something leaks.
By then the question is no longer "what needs maintaining" but "how much of the stock underneath is damaged, and who pays". A drone inspection can reduce the cost for access equipment at the first stage of assessment., which is what makes regular inspection realistic rather than aspirational.
What an inspection can give you
High-resolution imagery
Detailed stills of the full roof area to help you evaluate coverings, flashings, upstands, rooflights, gutters and penetrations at a resolution that shows the actual condition.
Prioritised observation schedule
Visible observations are clearly referenced, helping you decide what needs prompt attention and what can be reviewed as part of planned maintenance.
Annotated condition log
Everything we observe is photographed and referenced to its elevation and roof area, so your contractor or surveyor can price and assess the work without a separate visit.
Elevations and facades
The same capture covers cladding, brickwork, gutters and rainwater goods where access from the ground is limited or unsafe.
Dated condition record
A timestamped record for insurance, dilapidations, planned maintenance and pre- or post-incident comparison.
Video walkaround
A continuous aerial pass of the building, useful for briefing contractors and for stakeholders who want context rather than detail.
Typical reasons for an inspection
- Planned maintenance: building a realistic roof budget instead of reacting to leaks
- Insurance and claims: evidencing storm damage with dated, located imagery
- Acquisition and disposal: checking roof condition before committing to a building
- Dilapidations: recording condition at lease start and lease end
- Post-storm checks: a fast look over a large roof area after severe weather
- Solar feasibility: initial visual assessment of usable roof area, orientation and obstructions
- Leak investigation: narrowing down where water is actually getting in
No working at height
The single biggest reason clients move to aerial inspection. The capture is operated from the ground. Site-specific access controls, permits and safety arrangements are agreed before the visit.
Minimal disruption
Many inspections can be completed in one visit with limited disruption. We agree any required controls for yards, loading bays and car parks in advance.
Properly covered
Flights are operated under CAA legislation, with Operator ID and Flyer ID held by the company and by every pilot. Commercial drone insurance is in place, with documentation available on request and in advance where required.
What we provide, and what we don't
We capture and document. We do not offer a professional surveying opinion, and we are clear with clients about where the line sits.
Point Eleven is not a firm of chartered surveyors. We do not produce structural assessments, specifications, valuations or professional certification, and nothing we supply should be relied on as those things.
What you get is accurate, dated, located imagery of a roof or elevation that nobody can otherwise see without access equipment, recorded to a standard your own surveyor, roofing contractor or insurer can work from. We are happy to attend alongside them, or to capture to a brief they set.
Pair it with an interior digital twin
Most clients who scan a building also need to understand its envelope. Captured together, you get a single record set of the whole asset: the inside walked in 3D, the roof and elevations inspected from above, delivered at the same time.
That matters most at the two points where buildings change hands: acquisition, where you want to know what you are buying inside and out, and lease events, where condition disputes are expensive and evidence is everything.
Before you book
Is there anything that stops a roof inspection going ahead?
Weather is the main one; high wind or heavy rain will move a flight. Some locations also sit in controlled airspace or near sensitive sites, which affects what permissions are needed and how far ahead we need to plan. We check all of that before quoting, so you know at the outset.
How much of the roof can you actually see?
Nearly all of it, in most cases. What we cannot see we say so. Anything obscured by plant, standing water or an adjacent structure is noted in the record rather than quietly left out.
Do you need anything from us on the day?
Somewhere safe to take off and land, and a point of contact who knows the site. If the building sits near an airport, a prison, or other sensitive locations, tell us early, because it changes the permissions and the lead time.
Inspect the roof before it tells you it needs inspecting.
Send the site address and roof area and we will quote for an inspection, with or without an interior twin.