CAA-Approved Exterior Inspections

Drone Facade & Cladding Surveys.

Compare quotes from specialist UK drone operators for safe, high-resolution facade inspections of commercial, residential, and heritage buildings — with no scaffolding, no cherry pickers, and no disruption to your tenants.

“Every drone pilot on this network is personally vetted by me — insurance, qualifications, flight history.”

Peter Leslie · Founder & GVC Drone Pilot

Trusted by site managers & agencies across the UK

Need a facade inspected?

Post your details to compare quotes from facade-specialist drone pilots.

Scaffolding a facade to take a look is madness.

Property managers, surveyors, and facade engineers waste tens of thousands on access equipment before a single defect is found. Drones change the economics completely.

Scaffold & Access Costs

Scaffolding a six-storey commercial block can run £30k–£80k before the survey even starts. Cherry-picker hire and traffic management add days of disruption. A drone captures every square metre in a single shift.

Cladding & Compliance Risk

Building Safety Act and EWS1 obligations mean landlords must evidence the condition of external wall systems. Drone imagery creates a dated, documented record of every panel, joint, and sealant line.

Unsafe Rope & Ladder Access

Rope-access surveyors and MEWP drone operators put staff at height for hours at a time just to eyeball masonry. A drone removes humans from the exposure entirely while delivering images at closer range than a surveyor could safely get.

Facade work is close-proximity flying. It isn't for hobbyists.

By Peter Leslie, Founder & GVC Drone Pilot

Connect on LinkedIn

Facade surveys demand flying within a few metres of uninvolved people, glass, and congested urban airspace. That is exactly the environment where an uninsured drone pilot on a standard A2 CofC is out of their depth.

Every facade survey on this network is flown by drone operators holding a full CAA Operational Authorisation (PDRA01 or bespoke OA). They plan out exclusion zones, submit method statements to the building manager, and carry £5M public liability cover as standard.

The result is a survey that not only captures every defect, but also holds up under insurer, landlord, and Building Safety Regulator scrutiny.

Congested-Area Qualified

PDRA01 & £5M Public Liability

Reports your facade engineer can actually use.

Our network operators deliver survey-grade outputs ready for engineers, insurers, and Building Safety filings.

Orthographic Elevations

A perfectly flat, distortion-corrected image of each elevation — the drone equivalent of a scaled CAD drawing. Measure joint gaps, panel spacing, or movement between surveys straight from the file.

Annotated Defect Reports

Each defect is pinned, numbered, classified, and cross-referenced against the original imagery. Ready to hand to a facade engineer, loss adjuster, or the Building Safety Regulator.

Close-Range 3D Models

For heritage, listed, or complex geometry jobs, drone operators deliver a textured 3D model you can orbit, measure, and annotate in browser — perfect for sharing with specifiers, conservators, or insurance surveyors.

Book your facade survey in 3 steps.

We connect you with the specific building-exterior specialists you need, instantly.

Describe the Building

Tell us the address, the height, the facade type (brick, cladding, curtain wall, heritage), and what you need to find out. Takes under two minutes.

Compare Specialists

We route your brief to PDRA01-holding facade drone operators in your region. You receive competitive quotes with output formats and turnaround times.

Inspect & Report

Your drone pilot files the airspace permissions, flies the facades, and delivers a packaged report with orthographic elevations, defect logs, and raw imagery.

Start Your Project Brief

Saving clients six figures in access costs.

See how property managers, facade engineers, and heritage conservators rely on drone facade surveys through our network.

"We were quoted £62k for scaffolding just to complete a pre-purchase facade survey on a seven-storey block. The drone operator we found here finished the job in a single day for under £2k and handed us a fully annotated defect register."

James T.

Building Surveyor, London

"Post-Grenfell, every cladding decision has to be evidenced. The orthographic elevations we got back were good enough for our facade engineer to specify remediation without a second site visit. Genuinely time-saving."

Alison K.

Property Manager, Manchester

"We needed close-range imagery of a Grade II* spire for a conservation plan. Our drone pilot flew to within a metre of the stonework and captured every weathering crack. Historic Scotland accepted the report without question."

Ruth M.

Heritage Architect, Edinburgh

Facade Survey FAQ

Technical questions on cladding compliance, access, and deliverables.

Can drone imagery support an EWS1 / Building Safety Act submission?

Yes — drone imagery is widely accepted as supporting evidence alongside invasive sampling and a chartered facade engineer's report. The drone documents every panel, joint, and sealant at high resolution. It does not replace intrusive testing where required by PAS 9980, but it dramatically reduces the volume of costly access work.

How close can the drone fly to a building in a congested area?

Drone pilots holding a CAA Operational Authorisation (PDRA01) can legally operate within 50m of uninvolved people and structures, and bespoke OAs allow even closer proximity with the right risk controls. Every drone operator on this platform carries the authorisations needed for congested commercial and residential sites.

What weather conditions prevent a facade survey?

Commercial drones fly safely in winds up to roughly 24 mph and light drizzle, but heavy rain, low cloud below the roofline, or gusts above manufacturer limits will ground a flight. Our drone operators monitor METAR data and local observations, and will reschedule the flight at no cost if the weather window closes.

Do I get raw imagery as well as the report?

Yes. Every brief includes the annotated defect report plus the full raw image set (typically several hundred 50MP+ photos) and, where applicable, orthographic elevations and a browser-viewable 3D model. Files are delivered via secure cloud link within 2–5 working days depending on job size.