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For decades the construction industry has remained largely unchanged in its practices and the technology that powers it. However, no one in AEC can deny the impact that drones, or UAVs, have had on construction design, surveying and mapping, and many see them as the future of the construction industry.

Rick Rayhel, Microdrones' Sales Manager for United States' Western Region, is one of those people; he's seen first hand how drones can enhance the construction business.

In the U.S., drones have only been used to aid construction in the last couple of years. On the precipice of drone potential, Rayhel said, “There’s never a lack of ideas or interest on what can be done with drones.”

Today, drones are used for volumetrics, aerial photos, mapping, and 3D sketching to name a few applications. Drones assist in the many stages of a construction job, including monitoring safety and progress.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of drones in construction, though, is their cost-effectiveness. On this episode of Propelling, Rick emphasizes that UAVs can save a company thousands of dollars in manpower. Instead of filing costly insurance claims after a safety incident, these vulnerabilities can be found before they lead to damage. Instead of laborious and often treacherous ground scanning done by humans, a UAV can collect data quickly and efficiently.

Drones are collecting data at a dizzying rate, but that data is useless if a construction business does not know what to do with it. That is where Rayhel and Microdrones solutions come in.

“Purchasing and flying the drone is the easiest part of the equation," Rayhel said.

What is crucial is how companies take that data and implement changes that lead to profit for your business. Post-processing may be the most important part of using UAVs in the industry.

Rayhel dives into detail about what to look for in a drone for construction work, and he divulges what crucial questions to ask before bringing UAVs into a business model.