I do not know what the thing I need is called. Is that a problem?

No, and it is the reason this site exists. Describe what you can see, or what you cannot, and we will tell you which service answers it. Nobody is expected to arrive knowing the vocabulary.

It is a fixed price per job, agreed before anything is booked, and travel inside the coverage area is part of it. The figure depends on the size of the job and how far away it is, so send the address and what you need and a price comes back.

How far do you travel?

Base is Exeter, which puts most of Devon inside an hour and much of Cornwall, Somerset and west Dorset inside two. There are 47 town pages on this site and everywhere between them is covered as well.

How soon can somebody come out?

It depends on the diary and much more on the weather, since wind and rain both ruin the work. Ring or send the form and you will get a real answer about the next workable slot rather than a promise the sky might not keep.

Do you need to come inside the house?

No. All of this is flown from outside, and for most jobs you do not need to be there at all, as long as we can reach a safe launch point.

Is it legal to fly over my neighbour's garden?

An aircraft can pass over land the operator does not control, but it has to keep a safe distance from people and property that are not part of the job, and it has to take off and land somewhere with permission. Both are worked out before the visit rather than argued about on the day.

What happens if the weather is wrong on the day?

It gets moved, and you are told as early as we know. Photographs taken in driving rain or a gusting wind are not worth having, and handing over a set you cannot use helps nobody.

Can you tell me what a repair will cost?

No, and anyone who quotes for a repair off a photograph is guessing. The report says what was found and where it is, in a form a roofer or a builder can price properly.

Devon and the South West

You do not need to know what it is called

Most people who ring have a problem, not a service name. Tell us what you can see, or cannot see, and we will tell you which survey answers it and what it costs before anything is booked.

Tell us what you need Call 07397 809570

An aerial view over a Devon village of slate and tiled roofs with hedge-banked fields and a sunken lane beyond it in late afternoon light

One person flies it, writes it up and answers the phone
Fixed price agreed before the visit, travel included
Written report within 48 hours where a report is what you need
CAA registered, A2 Certificate of Competency, insured with Coverdrone

Say it however you would say it

Not sure which one? Say it in your own words on the enquiry form and we will tell you which it is.

The usual first question

Most people ring with a problem, not a service name

There is a stain on a bedroom ceiling and no way of telling where it starts. A field is going on the market and the agent has asked for something from above. The builder wants a record of the plot before the concrete goes down. A tile came off in the wind and the insurer wants to see it. None of those callers open with the words drone survey, and there is no reason they should.

So this site is built the other way round. Say the thing you can see, or the thing you cannot see, and the name of the service is our problem rather than yours. If it turns out an aircraft is the wrong answer entirely, you will be told that too, which costs a phone call and saves everybody a wasted visit.

Everything is flown by one person out of Exeter, which is why the answer to what it costs and when it can happen comes back from the same voice that turns up on the day.

Straight to it

Which of these is closest?

Four ways in. The last one is for anybody who reads the first three and still is not sure, which is a good half of the people who ring.

Three services

Buildings, land, and pictures

Almost everything that comes in falls into one of these three. Follow whichever is closest and the page will tell you what is included, how a job runs and what you get at the end.

An aerial view down onto the roof and rear extension of a Devon semi-detached house, showing tiles, a chimney stack and a flat felt roof

Property and roof surveys

Anything on or about a building you cannot get to: roof coverings, ridges, valleys, chimneys, gutters, flat roofs and cladding.

Property and roof

A near-vertical aerial view of Devon farmland showing hedge-banked field boundaries, a farm track, a stone barn and a stream line

Land and site surveys

Land, fields, farms and development sites, where the useful thing is a picture of the whole shape of a place rather than a close-up of one detail.

Land and sites

A golden hour aerial photograph of a Devon country house and its grounds, with a gravel drive, mature trees casting long shadows and hills behind

Photographs and video

Pictures rather than a report: a house going on the market, a business that wants proper images of its own premises, a venue, a view, an event.

Photos and video

Credentials

What sits behind the survey

CAA registered operator

Operator ID and Flyer ID both held and current with the Civil Aviation Authority, which is the baseline for flying commercially in UK airspace.

A2 Certificate of Competency

The A2 CofC, which allows closer flying to buildings and to people not involved in the flight than the basic qualification does. It does not extend to flying over crowds, and nothing on this site suggests it might.

DJI Mavic 4 Pro

A 100 megapixel Hasselblad camera and 6K video. Enough resolution that one flight can produce both a photograph fit to print and a frame close enough to read a hairline crack.

DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced

A 640 by 512 radiometric thermal camera for the jobs where the answer is a temperature difference rather than something visible: trapped moisture, heat leaving a building, a warm shape on cold ground.

Insured with Coverdrone

Full commercial cover, and the certificate goes to anyone who needs to see it before a visit. Managing agents and site managers usually do, and asking is sensible rather than awkward.

A construction background

The person flying has worked in construction, which is why the report says what a defect is and where it sits rather than only that something looks wrong in a photograph.

Fixed price, agreed first

The price is set before the visit and travel inside the coverage area is part of it. No hourly creep, no mileage added afterwards.

Written report within 48 hours

Where the job needs a report, it lands within 48 hours of the flight. Photograph-only jobs have their delivery date agreed at booking instead.

What arrives afterwards

Photographs you can act on, and words that explain them

For anything that needs a report rather than just pictures, this is what lands in your inbox within 48 hours of the flight.

Full resolution photographs, each one referenced to where on the building or the site it was taken
A written account of what was found, in plain language rather than trade shorthand
Anything that looks like it needs attention soon, separated from anything that is simply worth knowing about
The date and the conditions the flight happened in, which matters for an insurance claim or a dispute
The original files, kept for you, so a second opinion never needs a second visit

How a survey runs

Printed aerial photographs of a house roof spread out on a wooden kitchen table beside a mug of tea and reading glasses

The range of it

One aircraft, four very different mornings

These are the kinds of job that come in week to week across the South West. Different problems, the same person flying and writing them up.

A close aerial view of a Devon slate roof showing the ridge, a lead valley and a rendered chimney stack with clay pots

A near-vertical aerial view of a small development site on the edge of a Devon market town, with graded ground, stacked materials and a stone hedge bank boundary

An aerial view of a Devon estuary town, its stone quay, moored boats and a run of painted terraced houses rising behind

A drone pilot seen from behind in a Devon farm gateway, holding a controller beside a five bar gate and a stone hedge bank

Where we fly

Forty seven towns, and everything in between them

Base is Exeter. Each town page says which of the three services people there most often need and why, which is usually more useful than a list of postcodes.

All 47 areas covered

Questions

Questions we get asked

I do not know what the thing I need is called. Is that a problem?: No, and it is the reason this site exists. Describe what you can see, or what you cannot, and we will tell you which service answers it. Nobody is expected to arrive knowing the vocabulary.
What does it cost?: It is a fixed price per job, agreed before anything is booked, and travel inside the coverage area is part of it. The figure depends on the size of the job and how far away it is, so send the address and what you need and a price comes back.
How far do you travel?: Base is Exeter, which puts most of Devon inside an hour and much of Cornwall, Somerset and west Dorset inside two. There are 47 town pages on this site and everywhere between them is covered as well.
How soon can somebody come out?: It depends on the diary and much more on the weather, since wind and rain both ruin the work. Ring or send the form and you will get a real answer about the next workable slot rather than a promise the sky might not keep.
Do you need to come inside the house?: No. All of this is flown from outside, and for most jobs you do not need to be there at all, as long as we can reach a safe launch point.
Is it legal to fly over my neighbour's garden?: An aircraft can pass over land the operator does not control, but it has to keep a safe distance from people and property that are not part of the job, and it has to take off and land somewhere with permission. Both are worked out before the visit rather than argued about on the day.
What happens if the weather is wrong on the day?: It gets moved, and you are told as early as we know. Photographs taken in driving rain or a gusting wind are not worth having, and handing over a set you cannot use helps nobody.
Can you tell me what a repair will cost?: No, and anyone who quotes for a repair off a photograph is guessing. The report says what was found and where it is, in a form a roofer or a builder can price properly.

Elsewhere

If this is not quite the job you have

These are separate sites we also run, each set up for a different problem. Follow whichever one matches what you actually need.

Missing Dog SearchIf a dog is missing right now, go straight there rather than through us. It is a fixed price, often the same day when the weather and the light allow, and the page tells you what to do in the meantime.Thermal Drone SurveyIf the question is heat, damp or missing insulation rather than something you can see, the thermal camera is the tool and that site explains when a reading can be trusted and when it cannot.Storm Damage Roof InspectionIf you are putting an insurance claim together after a storm, that site is set up around the dated evidence pack an insurer or a loss adjuster actually reads.

See which one fits

Tell us what you need with Drone Services Devon

Tell us the address and what you need looking at. Sam Hembury will come back with a fixed price and the next available slot.

Tell us what you need Call 07397 809570 info@exeterdronesurveys.co.uk