By Colin Snow, CEO and Founder, Skylogic Research
This is the first in a new series of Skylogic Research white
papers, intended to provide an introduction to drone use
in specific industries. Our goal is to help drone-based
service providers and business users maximize the value
that drones can bring to operational groups. This year,
we are building on the analysis we did for the 2017 Five
Valuable Business Lessons Learned papers by providing
guidance and industry-specific resources that will help
you kick-start your practice.
1 © Skylogic Research, LLC
Introduction
Drones are now one of several new technologies
that are transforming all stages of the engineering
and construction process. As we’ve detailed in The
Truth about Drones in Construction, hundreds of
firms across the globe have put in place projects for
drones across the entire building lifecycle, from de-
sign and construction to operation and demolition.
There is no longer any question that drones save
time and reduce costs compared with traditional
ground and aerial techniques: drones can provide
accurate site surveys in a fraction of the time, as well
as fast aerial data capture, photos, videos, thermal
signatures, gas detection, and other useful informa-
tion.
The simple truth is small drones—multirotors, in
particular—can fly lower and closer than traditional
aircraft and can capture more detailed information.
As a result, aerial surveys of projects that were too
small for manned aircraft operations are now com-
monplace.
That said, what we are hearing from AEC firms
about the value of their drone programs is not about
the drones themselves. While they are happy about
the advancements in drone technology and sensors,
their excitement has been about the contextual
value of the information they glean from the data
their drones collect. That contextual information
includes:
• Collaborative maps
• Quick and accurate measurements
• Interactive 3D models of projects
• Integration of aerial data into everyday tools
The Drone Market and
Major Solution Providers
Construction Drone Market
There is a diversity of opinion among research and
analyst firms about the size of the drone construction
market. Most of these are top-down forecasts. As
we have written here, there are some pretty fantastic
and unrealistic forecasts for how fast the commercial
drone industry will grow overall. We see the demand
and growth projections for drones varying by use
case and industry vertical, but we believe construc-
tion is a sector that will do better than others.
Goldman Sachs’s top-down approach estimates
that, of the total market value for drones in the
commercial market, the construction industry will
generate about USD $11.2 billion over the next five
years, with $1.3 billion in the U.S. alone. We’ve
also seen other total addressable market (TAM)
forecasts that indicate drones in building and con-
struction inspection alone could generate about
USD $6 billion in value.
Our analysis takes a different approach. We fore-
cast market value from the bottom up. We start by
looking at the immediate return on investment in
the current year (what construction firms are doing
now) and project the market’s growth based on
issues such as regulatory hurdles and the adoption
rate among AEC firms. We calculate the value as
the economic benefit of using a drone versus not
using a drone to do the same work. Our analysis
shows that this year in the U.S. alone, drone-based
2 © Skylogic Research, LLC
services will provide a value of $1.4 billion. We
project that value to grow about 15% per year over
the next five years and total more than $9.4 billion.
Suffice it to say we believe the opportunity is good,
and the potential for growth in this sector is very
high.
“This year in the U.S. alone, drone-based
services will provide a value of $1.4
billion. We project that value to grow
about 15% per year over the next five
years and total more than $9.4 billion.
“
Construction Drone Solutions
If you are just now looking into drones, you’ll find
the market for construction drone solutions to be
a diverse space with overlapping offerings. There
is no easy solution, and new software and sensor
offerings appear weekly. In this section, we’ll at-
tempt to simplify the landscape and point you to the
vendors we think are worth exploring to see if they
meet your particular needs.
Many construction firms have benefited from au-
tonomous drone operations, in which a remote
pilot-in-command inputs a flight plan in a ground
control station program, which then sends it to the
autopilot on board the drone aircraft. Once it’s
uploaded, the operator pushes the “go” button
and the drone executes the pre-programmed flight
to capture the data. During automated flight, flight
control inputs are made by components on board
the drone, not by the ground control station. After the
flight, the captured data is processed by software
that creates usable, actionable information.
In our opinion, a key value drones bring to con-
struction is the ability to fly the exact same mission
over and over. With most automated mission-plan-
ning software, once the initial flight plan is devel-
oped, any pilot with a similar aircraft can load a
mission and replicate the original flight.
Many companies offer an end-to-end solution
that integrates flight planning, mission control, and
post-processing. Some companies include a drone
(and even sensors, in some cases) that they designed
and built themselves. Here’s a partial list of vendors
with drone and software solutions (along with their
taglines) that target the AEC industry (see below).
Construction Drone Vendors
3DR
The complete drone software solution for AEC
Airware
Site management reinvented
Bentley
Solutions for surveying, reality modeling, and map-
ping
Drone2Map for ArcGIS
Turn your drone into an enterprise GIS productivity
tool
DroneDeploy
The Complete Mapping Experience
Identified Technologies
Optimize your jobsites
Kespry
Fly, measure, and manage earthwork projects
Pix4D
Documenting and measuring sites from an aerial
perspective
3 © Skylogic Research, LLC
Keep in mind that many of these solutions are based
on DJI Enterprise drones—and for good reason. DJI
is the clear market leader in drone aircraft sales and
almost every software category, and has been for
some time now. Our data shows DJI is the dominant
brand for drone aircraft purchases, with a 72%
global market share across all price points. By
building on top of its existing technology platform,
DJI can fast-track development and benefit from
economies of scale. By migrating the successful tech-
nology stack and feature sets upmarket, DJI never
has to reinvent the wheel—just improve upon the
original design, and save engineering cycles for
real innovation.
Why is this significant? To stay relevant, other ven-
dors have had to partner with them—3DR, Bentley,
DroneDeploy, PrecisionHawk, Propeller, Skycatch,
to name a few. What this means for operators or
businesses is that you can perform services on a
PrecisionHawk
A turn-key platform that uses drone data to automate
and optimize decision-making on the job
Propeller
Measure and manage your construction site using
visual tools based on drone data
SenseFly
Proven drone solutions simplify the collection and
analysis of geospatial data, allowing professionals to
make better decisions, faster
Skycatch
Everything you need on one platform, from automat-
ing flights to one-click data processing and enter-
prise-wide hosting
Topcon
Tools to be more efficient, improve your accuracy,
and better manage your data, machines, and crew.
Trimble
Innovative technology for planning, design, construc-
tion, and operation, from the office to the jobsite
standardized platform and choose from an ecosystem Another use for drone aerial imagery and data is
of compatible software. Building Information Modeling (BIM). BIM is the
process of designing a building collaboratively, using
one coherent system of computer models rather than
Drone Use in Construction separate sets of drawings. It involves generating and
managing digital representations of physical and
As noted in the Introduction, the value of a drone functional characteristics of places. The digital rep-
program is the contextual value of the information resentation becomes a shared knowledge resource
gleaned from the data collected by drones. The list of for a facility and forms a reliable basis for decisions
all use cases that provide that value is too long for this during its entire lifecycle.
paper, but we’ll explore the major ones.
Use on the Jobsite
Use in Design
Construction jobsite monitoring can involve using
Drone imagery and data have been useful tools in
drones to capture pictures for daily, weekly, and
design and pre-construction workflows for commer-
monthly progress reports, or as site survey maps that
cial construction and architectural firms like The Beck
provide a foundation for work plans. Drone images
Group, Brasfield & Gorrie, and DPR Construction. A
used in daily progress reports are great for change
simple use is to take an aerial shot of what potential
detection: they can help identify issues that allow
tenants and investors would see when they look out
jobsite managers to quickly resolve problems such as
from, say, their east-facing, tenth-floor office. These
improper sequencing that can lead to performance
visuals could include:
delays. Most plans start with accurate current topog-
raphy maps, with elevation contour lines and detailed
• Future building face/reface views for
2D and 3D models.
development
• Building models in the neighborhood context
• 180- or 360-degree visualizations from each
floor

Work plans can include:

• Georeferenced cut and fill and earthwork

hauling specifications
• Asset management including materials,
equipment, temporary roads, and structures

4 © Skylogic Research, LLC

• Stockpile volumes for labor and time estimates SWOT Analysis
to move/remove
• Egress and on-site logistics for vehicles and A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique
heavy machinery used to help a person or organization identify the
• Quality control (CAD plan vs. actual) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(SWOT) related to business competition or project
• Regulatory compliance and progress reporting
planning. We’ll borrow the concept and apply it to
the use of drones in construction. The goal is to fair-
Site survey maps and work plans require more skills
ly assess the factors that we believe are relevant in
than simple aerial photography—they require knowl-
each of these four areas, so that the resulting strategic
edge of orthomosaic photography and photogram-
adoption of drones is realistic.
metry. See the Appendix / Resources section for lists
of references to learn more about the skills involved.
See next page for SWOT Analysis: Use of
Drones in Construction-->
Challenges
Sometimes getting the green light for a particular
drone use case can be challenging, and while mak-
ing the business case, you may find resistance and
roadblocks. Concerns about safety, security, and
liability risks are real, and are best addressed by
documenting regulatory requirements, training, safety
protocols, and emergency procedures.

The BIM concept has generated tremendous interest:

when rigorously applied, it can relieve many of the in-
dustry’s pain points. The big idea is to provide a cen-
tral project management repository where 3D build-
ing models can be linked to time- or schedule-related
information (called BIM 4D), plus cost estimates and
budgets (BIM 5D), plus ongoing maintenance after
construction is completed (BIM 6D).

BIM offers enormous gains in time and cost savings,

much greater accuracy in estimates, and avoidance
of error, alterations, and rework due to information
loss. But adopting BIM—outside of incorporating data
from drones—involves much more than simply chang-
ing the software you use. To achieve all the benefits
BIM offers, everyone in the architecture, engineering,
and construction industries will have to learn to work
in fundamentally new ways. Put another way, BIM
requires a culture of collaboration—the exact oppo-
site of throwing the plans over the wall to the team
downstream.

5 © Skylogic Research, LLC

 SWOT Analysis: Use of Drones in Construction
Strengths
• Solution maturity: Although it is constantly improv-
ing, out-of-the-box data-capture accuracy by most drone
solutions today is very good. If greater accuracy is needed,
you can choose from readily available real-time kinematic
(RTK)- or post-processed kinematic (PPK)-based solutions.
• Cost: The cost of prosumer drones, the broad-based
support from a range of software developers, and the pric-
ing plans of subscription-based drone mapping services
have never been more competitive.
• Availability of resources: From drone-specific avi-
ation insurance to commercial drone industry trade shows,
to flight training, webinars, and how-to guides, there is a
plethora of resources available to anyone starting up a
construction drone practice.
Opportunities
• Worksite safety: Changes from the structure’s
design—introduced during construction, or approved or
unapproved modifications that altered the original design—
can create safety risks. Drones provide a cost-effective way
to perform assessments of objects that otherwise require
ground crews and a human to perform risky climbs. In most
cases, a single pilot can easily fly around whatever it is that
needs to be inspected and record a live feed of high-quali-
ty video for engineers on the ground.
• Collaborative workflow: Use of drone data de-
mands that you set up new data integration workflows for
your existing ecosystem of software solutions (e.g., CAD
and project management software) and learn how to
manage daily project software workflows from constantly
changing sets of new images. Workflows need to focus on
how to both communicate and manage change—in the
feedback to design, in the feedback to production, or to
both at the same time.
• Automation: We are beginning to see more soft-
ware automation such as object recognition and artificial
intelligence (AI). These algorithms are starting to be embed-
ded on drones to minimize the amount of human effort to
distill the vast amount of information and focus on action-
able inference.
6 © Skylogic Research, LLC
Weaknesses
• Data processing bottlenecks: Most solutions (not all)
require that you upload images from the drone aircraft to a
mobile device, a laptop, or a cloud service, where they are
stitched together to create a base map and the underlying
data is processed into usable layers. In most solutions, you
have to wait for that information—sometimes for hours.
• Airspace restrictions: Piloting drones over construc-
tion sites in cities, urban districts, airport zones, or critical
areas can sometimes be a real challenge due to flight
permissions, weather conditions, legal restrictions, and job
site obstructions.
• IT and data governance: In some use cases (e.g.,
inspections), a single drone can collect 50 to 100 giga-
bytes of data. Managing these large data sets has to be
worked out with IT departments.
Threats
• Doing nothing: When every AEC business incorpo-
rates drones into its processes and operations, the question
for leaders becomes how to differentiate their organization
from competitors. A decision on this investment might be dif-
ficult to justify solely based on ROI, because the immediate
impact on business outcome is not known. But inaction or
a delay in taking action might enable another company to
position itself as the industry leader—an obviously unac-
ceptable result.
• Underqualified/illegal operators: Drone hobby-
ists and pop-up drone companies offering professional
services for bottom dollar with no expertise or licensing in
the field can lead to disappointed one-time customers, who
expect unreasonably low rates or don’t trust the quality and
accuracy of the data after having had a bad experience.
• State and local regulations: Depending on where
you live, state or local regulations can hamper high-value
operations. Although the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Pro-
gram attempts to address this, we may end up seeing more
regulatory red tape—producing a patchwork quilt of rules
that further restrict airspace and takeoff and landing points.
 Getting your start / What you need to know

Here is the information you’ll need to get started with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
commercial drone regulations, pilot certification, insurance, and more.

Regulations
Regulations for commercial drone pilots in the U.S. (aka Part 107) came into effect in August 2016. The rules outlined
by the FAA cover unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flown for “routine non-hobbyist use.” You can check out the FAA’s
full summary of the Part 107 regulations, but here are the main points:

• Pilots must be at least 16 years old and hold a “remote pilot airman certificate” issued by the FAA.
• Commercial UAS operation must take place within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the operator.
• Operations are allowed only during daylight hours or within the hours of civil twilight (immediately
before sunrise and immediately after sunset).
• Must not exceed a maximum groundspeed of 100 mph or a maximum altitude of 400 feet.
• Air Traffic Control approval is required before flying in controlled airspace.
• Flight is not permitted directly over non-participating people.
• Drones weighing between 0.55 lbs. and 55 lbs. must be registered with the FAA.

Pilot certification
Drone operators must be certified, similar to a driver’s license written test. The test covers everything from aviation
weather, the national airspace system, and regulations, to aircraft loading, performance, and operations. Tests are
administered at FAA-approved Airmen Knowledge Testing Centers. Existing certified pilots (under Part 61 of the
Federal Aviation Regulations) may take an online training course available on FAASafety.gov to have a remote pilot
certification with a small UAS rating added to their existing pilot privileges. To maintain currency as a remote pilot
under Part 107, you will be required to take a knowledge test every two years.

Insurance
Though not required, it is highly recommended that you obtain drone hull and liability insurance. Hull insurance
covers damage to the drone itself. It’s generally separate from liability policies. Liability insurance covers damage
caused to a third party by your drone operations, including bodily injury and property damage. Most clients, espe-
cially larger businesses, require proof of liability insurance before letting a drone take off at their site. The average
drone service provider carries a $1M liability insurance policy.

Training and forums

There are many drone training schools and online forums. They all provide a great starting place for you to learn the
nuances of flying drones and using the technology. While we can’t recommend one above another, we list a few in
the Appendix / Resources section and recommend using the following criteria to evaluate them:

• Offers self-paced online training courses and educational content

• Gives FAA test preparation courses
• Offers industry or use case–specific courses like mapping and 3D modeling
• Has worked with everyone from pilot entrepreneurs to big companies to public organizations like
police and fire departments
• Offers a weekly digest of important news
• Provides access to a community forum and a Facebook group where you can connect with others
© Skylogic Research, LLC

Lessons Learned/
Cautionary Tales
Find a Quick Win
One lesson learned by the early adopters is the value
drones provide managers of large construction sites. In
this example, project managers at an oil storage con-
struction site project complained that they couldn’t get
their oversight work done—meaning they did not have
enough time in the day to properly oversee their many
construction projects. On a typical duty day, a project
manager visits various construction sites and verifies that
the workers have all required equipment, checks general
progress, and sees that things are generally being done
such that the company can meet the minimum standards
of tolerance set by law. It turns out that a simple data
capture and quick 3D models were an invaluable re-
source for these projects.
Be Clear About Customer Value
When drone business service providers talk publicly
about the differentiation of drones, you’ll often hear
them say: “It’s all about the data.” But one of the lessons
learned from the early adopters of drones in construction
is that it isn’t just about the data. It’s about getting good
information that provides value for the construction or
architectural firm. So whether teams are collaborating
around one daily map for a construction site as “the
single source of truth,” or providing floor-by-floor visual-
ization views for a future building site, the ultimate goal is
to provide valuable information for downstream cus-
tomers—and drones alone cannot do that. What drones
can do is offer a much quicker way of capturing different
types of data, digitizing it, and making it something you
can analyze immediately or over time to support con-
struction variance analysis.
Plan for Safety
While a programmed drone can fly a more precise
mission than a pilot, Part 107 requires a licensed remote
pilot in command to oversee every flight. The pilot is
responsible for ensuring that the aircraft is properly main-
tained and flight ready, that conditions are safe, and that
the pilot has any necessary waivers. Every drone opera-
tor and mission should be operated within the rules and
regulations stipulated by the governing bodies appli-
7 © Skylogic Research, LLC
cable to you and your specific equipment. Safety plans
should encompass not only the drone aircraft’s airworthi-
ness, but also the following:
• Area and environment – hazards, weather, air
space restrictions, bystanders
• Mission plan – contingency planning for safe
exit routes in the event of a system failure,
degraded performance, or lost communication
link
• Public awareness – notification to nearby prop
erty owners of your intentions (permissions)
• Preflight/run-up – verification that all ancillary
equipment is operating to specifications
• In-flight – proximity of other aircraft and pilot
intentions to land
Take small steps with BIM/drone
projects
BIM offers enormous gains in cost and time savings,
much greater accuracy in estimation, and the avoidance
of errors, alterations, and rework due to information loss.
But adopting BIM itself—outside of incorporating data
from drones—involves much more than simply changing
the software you use. To achieve all the benefits BIM
offers, everyone in the architecture, engineering, and
construction industries will have to learn to work in fun-
damentally new ways. BIM-plus-drones is a whole new
paradigm, so we recommend that you take small steps
when implementing a BIM/drone data project. Choose
which steps are appropriate for your firm and tackle
them one at a time: Do a test run on a pilot project, see
how your firm does, and then use the pilot project to
prepare for wider BIM/drone data implementation.
and get answers to pressing questions
 Appendix/Resources
Training and Certification
Drone Certification: A Step-by-Step Guide to FAA Part 107 for U.S. Commercial Drone Pilots
Drone License Step-by-Step Guide So You Can Make Money
DARTdrones
Drone Pilot Ground School
Unmanned Vehicle University
15 Best Drone Training Colleges

Waivers and Authorizations

FAA Part 107 Waiver (COW) – What Drone Pilots Need to Know (2018)
FAA’s LAANC System – (Low Altitude Authorization & Notification Capability)
Applying for a Waiver Under the New Drone Rules
Request a Part 107 Waiver or Operation in Controlled Airspace

Attorneys Media / Social Media

5 Tips on Finding a Good Drone Attorney Commercial Drones FM (podcast)
Antonelli Law Drone Analyst® (blog)
Drone Law Pro Drone Law Today (iTunes podcast)
Hogan Lovells Drone Radio Show (podcast)
LeClairRyan DRONELIFE (news)
Rupprecht Law P.A. DronePilots Network (forums)
sUAS News (news)
Professional Associations UAV Coach Community (forum)
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Unmanned Aerial Online (news)
Construction Management Association of America
(CMAA) Advocacy Groups
American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing Commercial Drone Alliance
(ASPRS) Property Drone Consortium
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Small UAV Coalition
(AUVSI)

ABOUT SKYLOGIC RESEARCH

Skylogic Research, LLC, is a research, content, and advisory services firm supporting all participants in the com-
mercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry. We provide research-based insights to help you make critical
investment decisions with confidence. Drone Analyst® is the brand name and registered trademark of Skylogic
Research.

8 © Skylogic Research, LLC