Plain words first
Say the problem, and here is what it is called
Nobody should need the vocabulary before they can ask for help. Find whichever of these is closest to your situation. The name of the service is on the right, and if the right answer is somewhere other than here, that is said too.
Something is wrong with a building
- There is a damp patch on a ceiling and nobody can find the sourceThe roof gets photographed slope by slope, along with the stack, the flashings and the gutters, close enough to see which joint has gone. If the water is getting in somewhere that leaves no visible mark, the thermal camera is the next step and there is a sibling site built around exactly that.What it is calledProperty and roof survey
- A tile or a slate came off in the windOne missing slate usually means the fixings around it are going too, so the useful thing is a photograph of the whole slope rather than the hole. If you are claiming on insurance, the dated evidence pack a loss adjuster reads is a slightly different job and the storm damage site is set up for it.What it is calledProperty and roof survey
- The chimney looks like it is leaningA stack is photographed from several angles so lean, cracked flaunching, perished pointing and the state of the pots can all be seen properly. It is one of the most common jobs on older Devon housing and one of the hardest to judge from the pavement.What it is calledProperty and roof survey
- The gutters are overflowing but I cannot see whyLooking straight down into a gutter run shows the blockage, the fall, a split joint or a hopper that has come away. It is a five minute answer from above and a scaffold job from below.What it is calledProperty and roof survey
- I am buying a house and the survey says the roof needs further investigationThat phrase appears in a lot of homebuyer reports and it usually means the surveyor could not see the roof. Photographs of every slope give you something to take back to the seller or to a roofer for a real quote.What it is calledProperty and roof survey
It is about land, a site or a farm
- I need a picture of a field from above for a saleA straight-down set showing the whole parcel and its boundaries, plus obliques from each side so the slope and the setting read properly. Agents ask for this constantly on anything with land attached.What it is calledLand and site survey
- I want a record of the site before the concrete goes downPhotographs dated on capture, flown to the same pattern each visit so the sets compare. It is the cheapest insurance there is against an argument about what was under the slab.What it is calledLand and site survey
- There is a dispute about where a boundary runsThe images show what is physically on the ground, which hedge bank sits where and what has been moved. They are not a legal determination of a boundary and we will not pretend otherwise, but solicitors find them useful alongside the deeds.What it is calledLand and site survey
- The tracks and ditches on the farm need looking atWashouts, blocked ditches, standing water in the same corner every winter and the state of an outbuilding roof all read better from a hundred metres up than from a gateway.What it is calledLand and site survey
I want pictures, not a report
- The house is going on the marketEdited stills that show the plot rather than just the front door, flown at the time of day the building actually looks its best. Video too if the listing wants it.What it is calledPhotographs and video
- My business premises look terrible in photographs from the roadYards, holiday parks, campsites, garden centres and industrial units all photograph badly at eye level, because the thing worth showing is the whole site.What it is calledPhotographs and video
- We want footage of the venue for the websiteStraightforward, with one limit worth knowing early: flying over a gathering of people is out of scope here, so the shots are planned around when the grounds are clear.What it is calledPhotographs and video
The right answer is somewhere else
- My dog is missing right nowGo straight there rather than through this site. It is a fixed price for a thermal-capable search, often the same day when the light and the weather allow, and the page tells you what to do while you wait.What it is calledMissing Dog Search (separate site)
- The room is cold and I think the insulation is missingA thermal reading answers this, but only in the right conditions, which is why it has a site of its own explaining when a reading can be trusted and when it is telling you nothing.What it is calledThermal Drone Survey (separate site)
- I need certified levels for a planning applicationThat is a ground survey with instruments and control points, and it is the kind of thing an engineer or a chartered land surveyor signs. Ring anyway if you want a second opinion on what has actually been asked for, because a request for a site plan and a request for certified levels look similar on paper and are not the same job at all.What it is calledNot a drone job
- Somebody is missing on open groundThe police, the coastguard or mountain rescue come first, always. Once they are involved, the search and rescue site explains where a privately flown thermal aircraft can and cannot help.What it is calledCall 999 first (separate site)
Still stuck
None of these is quite it
Then send it in your own words. Being unable to categorise a problem is not a barrier to getting it looked at, and describing it badly on a form has never once stopped anyone getting a straight answer back.
See which one fits
Describe it however it comes out
An address and a sentence is plenty. You will get a fixed price back, or a straight answer that this is not a job for an aircraft.