Technology is helping change the commercial construction industry, and one of the tools that is becoming popular with subcontractors, architectural design firms, and construction management companies is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones.
Here is a look at a variety of ways drones are being used in the commercial construction industry.
Preconstruction and Site Planning
Drones are becoming a popular replacement for traditional surveying methods because they reduce the labor and time involved with creating an accurate site survey. Drones provide a bird’s-eye view of a job site that can be compared to site plans to catch anything that may have been missed, thus keeping the project on track eliminating the need to make changes later on.
Tracking the Project’s Process
Flying a drone around a job site at regular intervals allows everyone working on the project to track the progress without visiting the job site, as well as catch any problems early, helping keep the project within budget and on track. By mapping the project weekly, a commercial contractor will have a ton of data about the project in addition to a visual progress timeline.
Improving Communication
Using a drone to collect data about a job site and the progress of a project allows a commercial construction company to share the visual data with everyone on the project team, keeping them in the loop and helping improve communication. It also gives something visual to show the client when discussing the progress of a project.
Drones can also enable a more around-the-clock view of construction project workflow. This can allow construction project management staff to survey the workspace remotely and embrace the benefits of constant contact.
Improving Worker Safety
A drone can be used to reach high-risk areas and tight locations that are hard or unsafe for a human to get to. Drones can also be used to frequently monitor a job site to find and resolve any safety issues before a problem arises.
Heightening Site Security
Drones can also be used for job site and yard surveillance and security to protect it from theft and/or vandalism. Indeed, according to The Balance Small Business, “Drones have the ability to be practically everywhere at the same time… they create an around-the-clock, real-time monitoring system that has already been adopted by a number of construction companies.” When a commercial construction company has literal eyes in the sky, potential criminals will think twice about targeting a particular site.
Allowing for Larger Projects
Drone power doesn’t just make quicker manageable projects, but allows construction project management to reach new heights in terms of project scope. There may be occasions, for example, wherein a site is so large that it’s not just inefficient to survey via manpower, but outright impossible. Without the use of drones, the opportunities for commercial construction management companies of all sizes would, quite frankly, shrink.
Helping to Manage the Construction Labor Shortage
As demand skyrockets yet fewer young people join the construction industry, the field as a whole must face the ugly truth: there is a significant shortage of potential employees, and it must adapt and change if it wants to keep up.
Luckily, drones play a huge role in creating a path forward. Thanks to their versatility, they can both increase the efficiency of a variety of tasks and take up jobs themselves that used to require manpower, like safety inspections, according to Construction Dive.
That’s not all that drones can do to help commercial contractors keep pace with its increasing demands; they also can serve as a draw to attract young talent to the industry—talent that has grown up with electronics at the tips of their fingers.
Contact Miller Architects & Builders for Thoroughly Modernized Commercial Construction
Miller Architects & Builders is an architectural design firm and construction management company. We’re dedicated to using the latest technology in every commercial construction project we are involved in.
Contact our Saint Cloud office now at 320-251-4109 to learn more about your opportunities with us.