Condition Inspection

Roof and structural condition, every defect rated.

Drone roof, structural and industrial inspection for Newcastle, the Hunter and regional NSW. Every defect is placed on the asset, given a condition rating and a priority, and tied to the repair it needs and when. Captured from the air, interpreted by an engineer, reported for the decision in front of you.

Oblique aerial view of a corrugated metal factory roof with rooftop ventilation units and two dark replacement panels in low sun

Overview

A rated condition, not a stack of images.

An asset owner, facilities manager, strata committee or builder needs to know the condition of a roof, a facade or a structure without scaffolding, a boom lift or anyone working at height. Seeing it is not the hard part. The hard part is knowing which of the many things visible from above matter, how urgent each one is and what the repair budget has to cover. Our condition inspection answers that question, defect by defect, with a rating, an action and a timeframe for each.

We capture the whole asset in a planned sequence so every visible sheet, parapet, gutter, fixing and member is covered, then return for close detail where something stands out. The imagery is interpreted, not just filed. Each defect is tagged to an asset ID and zone on an orthomosaic or model, rated by severity and likelihood, and written up with the evidence behind it. The report closes with a statement of what was not inspected and why.

Led by a reliability engineer and NSW-licensed investigator.

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Uses

What we inspect.

Commercial and industrial roofs

Metal, membrane and tiled roofs on warehouses, factories, sheds, schools and retail buildings. Sheeting, fixings, flashings, penetrations, box gutters and roof plant, rated section by section in a roof condition report for maintenance and capital planning.

Facades and building envelopes

Multi-storey cladding, render, parapets, balconies and glazing for strata committees, building managers and remedial builders, with each defect located by elevation and level.

Structural steel and concrete

Gantries, awnings, canopies, bridges, culvert headwalls, tanks, silos and towers, with corrosion, cracking, spalling, deflection and fixing loss rated for criticality.

Industrial plant and infrastructure

Conveyor structures, bins, stacks, pipe racks and plant roofs for asset and reliability managers, rated for criticality to feed shutdown and maintenance planning.

Post-repair verification

Completed roof and facade works recorded and measured against the scope, for builders closing out a contract or answering a claim.

Baseline and repeat inspection

The same asset inspected on a set cycle, with each defect tracked against its last rating so change over time is measured rather than remembered.

Deliverables

What the report contains.

The deliverable is an Engineering Condition & Evidence Report for the asset. For a condition inspection, the report carries the following in addition to the standard contents.

Annotated roof plan or elevation set, cut from the orthomosaic, with each defect numbered to the register
Defect register: each finding with its location, description, condition rating and criticality
Close detail imagery of each rated defect, referenced from the register
Prioritised works list grouping the rated defects into immediate, planned and monitor items for the maintenance and capital plan
Condition summary by zone or elevation for maintenance and capital planning
Measured areas and lengths of affected sections from the orthomosaic, to a stated accuracy, where repair quantities are needed
Baseline register with a stable reference for each defect, ready for repeat inspection and change tracking

The report

Reported as an Engineering Condition & Evidence Report.

Every engagement returns the same six parts, whatever the asset. The service-specific outputs above sit inside it.

01
Capture to a stated specification
Ground sample distance, overlap and accuracy are set before the flight and recorded.
02
Defects mapped to asset IDs and zones
Every finding is located on an orthomosaic or model, not left in a folder of photos.
03
Condition or criticality rating
Rated against a declared standard: severity by likelihood.
04
Recommended action and timeframe
What to do about each rated defect, and by when.
05
Evidence annex
Hashed originals, metadata, capture log and a chain-of-custody statement.
06
Areas not inspected and limitations
Stated plainly, so the report is read for what it covers.

Rating against a declared standardIllustrative

Process

How an inspection runs.

Brief

We confirm the asset, the question the report has to answer and who will read it: a maintenance planner, a strata committee, a builder or an engineer. Access, timing and the fixed quote follow, with a reply within one business day.

Capture to specification

The flight is planned around the site, the airspace and the weather. The asset is covered in a set sequence to a stated ground sample distance and overlap, with a return pass over each suspect area for close detail.

Interpret and rate

Each defect is located on the orthomosaic or model, tagged to an asset ID and zone, and rated for condition and criticality against the standard declared in the report. A recommended action and timeframe are set for each.

Report

The report is issued with the defect register, the annotated imagery behind each finding and the evidence annex, together with a statement of areas not inspected. The delivery date is set in the quote.

Limits

What the report is, and is not.

A condition inspection is a visual and measured assessment of what can be seen from the air on the day. Surfaces that were obscured, shaded, under cover or outside the flight plan are listed as not inspected. The ratings are an engineer's interpretation of the visible evidence; they are not a structural certification, and certification of the asset remains a matter for the client's engineer. Outputs are not a cadastral or registered survey.

Where a finding needs a hands-on check, a core sample or a moisture reading to be confirmed, the report says so and rates it on the visible evidence. Thermal inspection is not part of the current service; it is planned as capability expands with client demand.

Common questions

Condition Inspection, answered.

Does a drone roof inspection stand in for a roofer or a structural engineer?

No. The report is an engineer-led assessment of the visible condition of the asset, with each defect located and rated. A roofer, builder or structural engineer works from it to quote, repair or certify. Where a finding can only be confirmed by touch or test, the report says so.

How is each roof or structural defect given a condition rating?

Each defect is rated against a standard declared at the front of the report. Severity is scored first, then the likelihood that the defect progresses or fails before the next inspection; together they give the criticality. That criticality sets the recommended action and timeframe, so a long list of findings reads as a short list of priorities.

How much does a condition inspection cost?

A condition inspection is quoted as a fixed price for the report, never by the hour. The quote is driven by the size and complexity of the asset, the level of detail the ratings need, access arrangements at the site, and whether measurement from the orthomosaic is required. Repeat inspections of the same asset are quoted as a programme.

Can the same asset be inspected again later and compared?

Yes. Each defect is given a stable reference in the register and located on the orthomosaic, so the next inspection rates the same defect again and records the change. The repeat capture follows the same specification, so like is compared with like. The comparison appears in the report as a change in rating, not as two sets of images.