Prohibited Surveyors

I had an interesting chat with a senior surveyor of a large national, and international, building consultancy last week.

It seems that their surveyors have been prohibited from using drones themselves for roof and building inspections.

The surveyor explained that their Risk Management team have assessed that the responsibilities associated with the administration, management and deployment of in-house drones were greater than they want to accept. The company surveyors have been instructed to engage properly resourced, accredited and insured third-part drone operators.

The reasoning is not difficult to see, particularly in relation to large surveying practices who may employ dozens field surveyors.

In order to comply with the regulations regarding drone usage and manage all of the safety aspects, the company needs to implement a number of criteria;

An ‘Accountable Manager’ must be appointed. This named person has responsibility for the administration and maintenance of the company’s drones – and any people using the drones.

The Accountable Manager must ensure;

• That appropriate insurance is in place. The required insurance is defined by law and is drone-specific. Most Public Liability insurance policies do not cover the use of drones by staff.
• That the company has an Operator ID – obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and renewed every year, for a small fee.
• That all staff using camera drones have their own Flyer ID, which is also obtained from the CAA, and is subject to passing a short on-line multiple question exam. The Flyer ID should be renewed every five years.
• That drones of the appropriate classification are being used. Since January of this year (2026) C0 and C1 class drones can be used fairly freely and with little restriction, even in public spaces. C2 drones will usually require the operator to be in possession of an ‘A2 Certificate of Competence’ (A2CofC) for most jobs. Some work with C2 drones will require a higher level of qualification.
• That individual surveyors are in possession of an appropriate accreditation, such as the A2CofC, for the drone and type of work they are carrying out. The A2CofC is renewable every five years also.

In addition to all of the aforementioned background administration and processes, the company is responsible for the activities of its employees while working on company projects. This is obviously the case in respect of all regular and routine job functions, but ensuring that drone-flying employees are flying their drones in accordance with all of the applicable rules and regulations, making the necessary applications to fly near airports, prisons, nuclear facilities and military bases – as well as being aware of Temporary Flight Restriction zones, and all with due care and attention to the safety of members of the public, brings an extra dimension to the company’s safety policy and obligations.

Unsurprising then, that a major player in the building consultancy field has decided to outsource their drone inspections to third-party operators.

Of course, this doesn’t absolve them of all responsibilities. Just like any work sub-contracted to outside organisations the company still has obligations to ensure that sub-contractors are properly resourced and competent to carry out the delegated work.

In the case of drone operating companies, that should mean that the surveying practice will confirm that insurances, accreditations and risk management systems are in place before on-boarding them through their procurement system process. Once accepted onto the surveying company’s list of suppliers, instructing the drone company to carry out roof, building or structure surveys on their behalf should be straight-forward.

One final point though, and one also mentioned by my senior surveyor contact, is that drone operators who have experience or background in building, surveying or construction generally, will always be preferred. People with an understanding of roof and building construction provide added value by targeting their drone surveys at the critical aspects of a building, rather than the ‘scatter-gun’ approach to inspection imagery that some drone-photography operators resort to.
As my surveyor contact said – a drone-guy/girl with roofing experience can bridge the gap between building consultants and drone operators.

And that must be worth extra brownie-points in the procurement process.