The questions below cover how we work, what a drone survey can and cannot tell you, what it costs and what happens to your data afterwards. If your question is not answered here, or you would like to talk through a specific site, please get in touch.
We are based at Grateley, near Andover in Hampshire, and work with clients across the UK. Most of our work sits in the south of England, where we can reach a site and back within a day, but we regularly travel further for survey, inspection and programme work. We can also support suitable projects in parts of the EU, subject to location, permissions and the requirements of the project.
Published starting prices, all plus VAT: drone inspection short visit £295, half day operations £625, full day operations £995, roof inspection imagery £295, roof inspection with summary report £425, construction progress monitoring £325 per visit, mapping and orthomosaic package £695, point cloud and 3D data package £995, and stockpile and volume measurement £395. Recurring monitoring programmes are priced on application.
Final cost depends on where the site is, how big and complex it is, whether airspace permissions are needed, how long we need on site, how much processing the outputs require and what you need delivered at the end. Published figures are a guide rather than a quotation, and the Drone Service Pricing page is where they are maintained. A quote request gives you a fixed price for your actual site.
There is no mileage charge within 30 miles of our Grateley base. Beyond that we charge 55p per mile on the additional distance only, calculated on the return journey by road. Where a project requires an overnight stay, we may charge reasonable accommodation and subsistence of up to £150 per night. Travel is always shown separately on the quotation, so you can see exactly what you are paying for, and the full position is set out in our Terms and Conditions.
That depends on the weather window, the airspace, site access and how much planning the job needs. Straightforward imagery work can often be arranged within a few days. Mapping, modelling, thermal inspection, restricted airspace operations and anything requiring detailed processing need longer, sometimes several weeks where a third party permission is involved.
We will not confirm a firm flight date until weather, airspace, permissions and site checks are complete, because a date we cannot keep is worse than an honest timescale. If your project is time critical, tell us at quotation stage and we will build contingency dates into the plan.
Yes. Roof inspections, chimney checks, storm damage imagery, aerial property photography, land imagery and visual records for planning or maintenance are all common domestic requests.
Domestic work gets the same treatment as a commercial site. The same airspace checks, the same risk assessment, the same insurance, the same privacy considerations. The site is usually smaller, the standards are not.
Yes. We capture aerial photography, video and wider site context for property marketing, development land, rural property, commercial premises and larger residential homes.
Aerial imagery is particularly useful where the ground level view does not tell the story. Plot boundaries, access arrangements, outbuildings, land holdings and the setting of a property in its surroundings are all far clearer from above.
Property, construction, civil engineering, agriculture and estate management, infrastructure, surveying, environmental monitoring, insurance, facilities management, renewables, and film and promotional production.
The output varies far more than the sector does. Some clients need a single set of images. Others need a measurable, georeferenced dataset that feeds into their own design or reporting workflow. We scope the flight around the output, not the industry.
Four things, ideally at quotation stage:
We carry out our own risk assessment on site regardless, but that assessment builds on what you tell us.
Yes, for take-off and landing. We need the permission of whoever controls the land we operate from, and you confirm when instructing us that our attendance will not put you in breach of any obligation to a landowner, occupier, tenant or neighbour.
Overflight is a separate question. There is no general right to stop a lawfully operated aircraft passing overhead, but we plan flights to keep uninvolved people and neighbouring property out of the operation as far as practicable, and we will discuss the approach with you where a site is tightly overlooked.
We postpone and rebook, at no charge. Wind, rain, poor visibility, low cloud, extreme temperature, low light and unsuitable thermal conditions all affect either the safety of the flight or the quality of the data, and often both.
Weather affects different work differently. A building heat loss survey needs cold, dry conditions after sundown. Solar PV inspection needs sufficient irradiance. Photogrammetry prefers flat, even light, because hard shadows cost you detail in exactly the places you want it. So a day that is fine for one job can be useless for another.
Our Remote Pilot holds final authority on whether a flight goes ahead. Where we postpone for weather, airspace or safety reasons there is no charge. Where a flight is cancelled for weather or airspace conditions and cannot reasonably be rescheduled, any deposit is refunded less any planning, permission or administration costs already incurred.
We try to make productive use of the visit first. If we genuinely cannot carry out the agreed work because access, inductions, permits or the agreed point of contact are not in place, we may charge 50% of the fee plus travel costs incurred. We will always discuss it with you before invoicing.
The first 30 minutes of waiting time on site is included. Beyond that, waiting time may be charged at £125 per hour in 30 minute increments. In practice this rarely comes up, and a five minute phone call the day before usually prevents it.
Yes. More than five working days before the visit there is no charge, and any deposit is held against the rescheduled date. Between two and five working days, 50% of the agreed fee applies. Less than 48 hours before the visit, or on the day, the full fee applies plus any non-recoverable expenses, because at that point the planning, permissions and travel are already committed.
A postponement we make for weather, airspace or safety reasons never attracts a charge. Where a deposit has been taken it is applied against the final invoice, and because it covers planning time already committed it is not refundable where you cancel after planning has begun. The full position is set out in our Terms and Conditions.
Straightforward imagery and video are usually with you within two to three working days. Processed survey outputs, orthomosaics, models, point clouds and written inspection reports typically take three to ten working days depending on the size of the site, the density of the capture and the number of deliverables.
Large or multi-flight datasets take longer, and we will give you a realistic date when we quote. Where a project is time sensitive, say so early and we will plan the processing schedule around it rather than around our queue.
One round of revisions is included, provided the request is within the agreed scope. You have ten working days from delivery to review the outputs and come back to us. Beyond that, or where the request changes the scope, we will quote for the additional work before doing it.
What "survey-grade" actually means. There is no single legal definition of "survey-grade", which is why the term gets used loosely. In practice it means the survey is tied to a known coordinate system, in Great Britain usually OSGB36 with OSTN15 and ODN heights, and that the accuracy achieved has been proven against independent check points rather than assumed. A survey-grade dataset is therefore repeatable, traceable and defensible: another surveyor can occupy the same points and get the same answer within a stated tolerance. Most UK clients treat that as absolute accuracy in the region of 25 to 50 mm or better, verified rather than claimed. Anything without independent checks is a measurement, not a survey.
Without RTK or PPK. Flying on the drone's standalone GNSS with no corrections and no ground control gives good relative accuracy but poor absolute position. The model is internally consistent to roughly 20 to 50 mm, so shapes and short distances across it are usable, but the whole dataset can sit 1 to 3 m out in XY and 2 to 10 m out in Z against true coordinates. That is fine for visual inspection, marketing imagery and site context. It is not suitable for design, setting out, boundary work or anything that has to tie into existing survey data.
With RTK or PPK. With corrections applied, every image is positioned to centimetre level at the point of capture. Typical results are around 20 to 40 mm in XY and 40 to 80 mm in Z, giving an average XYZ accuracy of roughly 30 to 60 mm. Vertical is always the weaker axis in photogrammetry.
With RTK or PPK and ground control points. Adding GCPs and independent check points is what tightens the result and, more importantly, proves it. Typical figures are 10 to 25 mm in XY, 20 to 40 mm in Z, and an average XYZ accuracy of around 20 to 35 mm. On the model itself we would expect ±10 to 30 mm on clear, well defined features and ±30 to 50 mm on less distinct, shadowed or vertical features such as faces, soffits and elevations.
The trade off is time on the ground. GCPs have to be physically laid out, safely accessed and observed individually. A small compact site might add 45 minutes to an hour. A large, linear or awkward site can add half a day or more before the drone leaves the case. That ground time is usually the single biggest cost difference between a mapping flight and a fully controlled survey, so we scale the number of control points to what the deliverable actually requires rather than laying out points for the sake of it.
What can reduce accuracy. These are typical outcomes, not guarantees. Accuracy can be affected by:
This is why we fly independent check points and report the accuracy actually achieved alongside the deliverables, rather than quoting a headline figure and leaving it there.
For well defined stockpiles and excavations captured with RTK or PPK and ground control, volumes are typically within 1 to 3% of the true figure. On a 5,000 m³ stockpile that is roughly ±50 to 150 m³. On a 20,000 m³ stockpile, roughly ±200 to 600 m³. These are typical outcomes rather than a guaranteed tolerance, and the achievable accuracy for your site is stated in the quotation.
In most cases the limiting factor is not the drone. It is the base surface. Where the toe of a pile is obscured, where material sits on an uneven or unknown floor, or where original ground level has to be assumed rather than surveyed, the base surface assumption introduces more error than the survey does. Where a pre-strip or as-dug surface already exists, or the material sits on a hard standing we can survey directly, we would expect to be at the tighter end of that range.
We state the base surface method used in every volume report, along with the achieved survey accuracy, so the figure can be relied on or challenged on its merits. Bulk density, moisture content and swell factors are yours or your quantity surveyor's to apply. We measure volume, not tonnage.
They answer different questions, and the honest answer is that they are often complementary rather than competing.
A drone survey gives you dense, complete coverage of everything visible from above, quickly and without putting anyone on the ground in a live area. Millions of points, full colour, a permanent visual record, and repeatability that makes month on month comparison straightforward. What it cannot do is see through vegetation, see under a canopy or a soffit, capture an invert level in a chamber, or identify what a feature actually is.
A land surveyor with a total station or GNSS rover gives you far fewer points, but each one is deliberately chosen, correctly identified and measured to a tighter tolerance. Kerb lines, drainage inverts, service covers, levels under trees.
For open ground, stockpiles, earthworks, roofs, elevations and progress monitoring, drone capture is usually faster, safer and better value. For detailed topographic surveys with underground drainage, heavily vegetated ground or where a Chartered Surveyor's certification is required, you need a land surveyor, and often the best result is a drone survey with a surveyor picking up what the drone cannot see.
We are a drone service provider, not Chartered Surveyors. Our deliverables are material for your own professionals to work from, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs someone else.
Yes. We support construction and development projects with aerial mapping, progress photography, orthomosaics, 3D models, point clouds, stockpile measurement, cut and fill information and general site documentation.
The value tends to show up in three places: an objective record of what the site looked like on a given date, measurable quantities without sending anyone into a live area, and a shared visual reference that a project team, a client and a subcontractor can all look at and agree on.
Our pilots hold CSCS cards and First Aid qualifications, so site access and induction are usually straightforward.
Yes, and this is where drone capture earns its keep. A single flight gives you a snapshot. A monthly sequence flown to the same plan gives you a defensible record of progress, an audit trail for valuations and claims, and a set of comparable measurements over time.
Consistency is what makes a sequence useful, so for programme work we fix the flight plan, altitude, camera settings, overlap and control arrangement at the first visit and repeat them each time. That way any difference you see between two datasets is a change on the site rather than a change in how we flew it.
Progress monitoring is priced per visit, and recurring programmes are quoted on application, usually at a better rate than individual visits. Current figures are on the Drone Service Pricing page. Programme clients are also invoiced monthly rather than per visit.
Depending on the project: orthomosaic maps, 3D models, colourised point clouds, digital surface models, digital terrain models, contours, measured imagery, inspection photography, annotated reports, video, 360 degree imagery, and files for use in GIS, CAD, BIM or common design workflows.
Typical formats include GeoTIFF, LAS, LAZ, E57, OBJ, GLB, DXF, DWG, KMZ and CSV, and we will supply other formats where they are practical for your workflow. If you are unsure what your design team needs, ask them what they want to import it into and we will work back from there.
Yes. We supply colourised point clouds in formats suitable for common workflows, including Autodesk ReCap, Revit, Navisworks and other CAD or BIM environments.
Two honest caveats. Drone photogrammetry captures surfaces it can see, so interiors, undersides, deep re-entrants and anything under vegetation will be thin or absent, and a terrestrial laser scan may be the better tool for those. And point density is driven by flight height and camera resolution, so tell us the level of detail your model needs before we plan the flight rather than after we have flown it.
We fly professional platforms with RTK GNSS and high resolution cameras, and process in dedicated photogrammetry software rather than automated one-click tools.
In practice the controls that matter are: planning the flight height and overlap around the tolerance the job actually needs, using ground control and independent check points where accuracy has to be proven, checking the reprojection and control residuals during processing rather than accepting the first result, and reviewing outputs against the site before they go out. Where accuracy is a project requirement, we report what was achieved rather than what was hoped for.
Yes, and a good proportion of our work is exactly that. We provide the aerial capture and processed data, and your professional team interprets it within their own reporting, design, inspection or measurement workflow.
To be clear about the boundary: drone data does not replace a chartered survey, a structural inspection or an engineering assessment, and we do not offer geological, structural or condition interpretation. What we provide is accurate, well documented visual and spatial evidence for the appropriate professional to work from.
Yes, and it is one of the most practical uses of a drone. High resolution imagery from above and around a roof, without ladders, scaffolding or a MEWP, and usually within an hour on site.
It is well suited to missing or slipped tiles, ridge and hip condition, chimney and flashing defects, flat roof and membrane condition, gutters and valleys, leadwork, storm damage, solar panels and general access assessment. You can have the imagery alone, or a structured written inspection report alongside it. Current starting prices for both are on the Drone Service Pricing page.
What a drone inspection does not do is replace a hands-on inspection where one is needed. It tells you what the roof looks like and where the problems are, which is often enough to decide whether access is justified and where to put it.
Yes, for suitable projects, including Solar PV inspection, building heat loss assessment, roof moisture investigation and some infrastructure and land based applications.
Thermal work is far more condition dependent than standard photography. Building heat loss surveys are usually best carried out in cold, dry, still conditions after sundown with a meaningful temperature difference between inside and outside. Solar PV inspection needs sufficient irradiance and clear skies. Wet surfaces, recent sun on a roof, wind and cloud movement can all make a thermal dataset misleading rather than merely poor.
We will tell you honestly when conditions are not right for thermal work, even if it means moving the visit.
Yes. Aerial thermal imaging can help identify potential issues such as underperforming panels, string and bypass diode faults, hotspots, cell damage, soiling, shading effects and disconnected modules, across an array far faster than a ground based inspection.
Results depend on suitable irradiance, safe access and correct flight planning. We provide the imagery and findings in a format your asset manager, O&M contractor or installer can act on. We do not offer automated fault detection or electrical diagnosis, and anomalies identified from thermal imagery should be confirmed electrically before remedial work is specified.
We hold a CAA Operational Authorisation for Specific Category operations under PDRA01, which covers a wide range of professional work across the UK, including night operations where properly planned. Every job is checked against the terms of that authorisation before we fly.
Some locations still need additional permission or liaison first, typically near airports, airfields, heliports, prisons, military sites and other restricted areas. Other constraints are practical rather than regulatory: no safe take-off and landing area, no way of keeping uninvolved people at a safe distance, or a site so congested that the operation cannot be flown within the limits of our authorisation.
We identify all of this during planning and tell you early, including where the answer is no.
Often, but never automatically. Sites within a Flight Restriction Zone or other controlled or restricted airspace require permission from the relevant aerodrome or airspace authority before any flight takes place.
Where permission is needed we identify it at planning stage and, where agreed, apply on your behalf. Timescales sit with the authority rather than with us, and can run from a few days to several weeks. Permission can also be refused or withdrawn. So if your site is near an airport, airfield, heliport, military site or prison, contact us as early as you can, and please do not assume a date until the permission is in hand.
Yes. Our pilots hold A2 Certificate of Competency and General VLOS Certificate qualifications in accordance with UK Civil Aviation Authority requirements, and operate under the AirVantage Drones Operations Manual maintained as part of our CAA Operational Authorisation.
They also hold ground based qualifications relevant to the sites we work on, including First Aid and CSCS, which supports safe and straightforward access to construction and industrial environments.
Yes. We hold commercial drone insurance appropriate to professional UAS operations, currently £5,000,000 public liability cover for bodily injury and property damage, and £50,000 professional indemnity cover, written in line with Assimilated Regulation (EU) 785/2004.
Evidence of cover, our Operational Authorisation and supporting operational documentation are available on request for procurement, contractor approval or site access. What our cover does not do is insure your property, plant, works or business interests, so your own arrangements remain in place as normal.
Every flight follows the same documented sequence rather than a judgement call on the day.
Before travel we complete a desktop feasibility assessment and a pre-deployment check covering airspace, permissions, hazards, weather and access, with a recorded go or no-go decision. On arrival we complete an on-site survey covering crew fitness, current weather and wind, airspace and NOTAM status, line of sight, electromagnetic interference, public and off-site hazards, take-off and landing areas, operational and contingency volumes, emergency landing areas and cordons, ending in a final go or no-go.
Aircraft specific checklists cover pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight actions, and our Remote Pilot has final authority to stop or not start a flight on safety or regulatory grounds. That decision is not open to instruction by anyone on site, including the client, and a decision not to fly is not a failure to perform.
Not deliberately, and we plan flights to avoid it. Aerial capture inevitably includes some surrounding context, particularly on a tight urban site, but there is a clear difference between incidental background and pointing a camera at someone's garden.
Where a site is closely overlooked we will discuss the flight plan with you beforehand, choose camera angles that keep the focus on your property, and can crop or blur incidental detail in the deliverables where that is appropriate. If a neighbour raises a concern on the day, our pilot will talk to them.
AirVantage Drones Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZB691124, and personal data captured incidentally during aerial work is handled in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
In practice that means capturing only what the job requires, storing project data securely with access limited to those who need it, not using identifiable imagery of people for marketing, and deleting data on schedule. Our GDPR obligations sit with our Accountable Manager rather than being treated as a paperwork exercise.
We retain ownership and intellectual property in the imagery and data we create, and grant you a non-exclusive licence to use it for the purpose agreed in your quotation. The licence takes effect once the invoice is paid in full.
Most clients need a Limited Licence, which covers using the content for the project it was captured for. Where you need broader rights, resale, sublicensing to third parties, or unrestricted commercial use, an Extended Licence is available and we will price it at quotation stage. If you are unsure which you need, tell us who will be using the material and what for, and we will tell you which licence covers it. The full position is set out in our Terms and Conditions.
We retain raw data and deliverables for 90 days from final delivery of the project, or for programme and recurring work, from final delivery of the most recent engagement. After that it is permanently deleted.
Please download and store your own copies within that window. If you would prefer us to delete your data sooner, ask us in writing at any point and we will do so.
We understand how distressing a missing pet is, but this is not a service we offer.
These requests are urgent by nature, while a safe and lawful flight still requires proper planning: assessing the location, airspace, nearby people, roads, buildings, livestock, privacy, weather, take-off points and the realistic chance of a useful result. Near an airfield, prison or military site, additional permission may be needed before we can fly at all. Thermal imaging is also far less effective for this than people expect. A small animal under a hedge, in daylight, on warm ground is often simply not visible.
We would rather say no than take money for a search that is unlikely to succeed. Local search groups, neighbours, social media, posters, vets, microchip databases and animal rescue organisations usually produce a faster result.
Where there is a wider land management, agricultural, estate, wildlife or livestock requirement, we are glad to discuss whether a drone survey is appropriate.
Our Blog covers drone operations, survey outputs and inspection use cases in more detail, the Drone Service Pricing page sets out our published bands, and our Terms and Conditions cover deposits, cancellation, licensing and data.
If you have a site in mind, the quickest route to a firm answer is a quote request or a phone call. Tell us where the site is, what you need to know from it and when you need it, and we will tell you what is achievable, what it will cost and what the honest limitations are.