Storm Boelo battered the north of England this week, and the unsettled weather isn't finished. For anyone responsible for a commercial roof, the real risk isn't the damage you can already see from ground level - it's what's happening above the parapet that nobody has checked yet.

The usual next step after a storm is booking scaffold or a cherry picker and waiting for a slot, while water keeps finding its way in through a lifted flashing, a split membrane or a blocked outlet.

A small defect left unconfirmed for a few weeks can turn into a much bigger repair bill, or a harder insurance claim, by the time anyone gets eyes on it. Facilities and property managers across the region are dealing with exactly this right now: a roof that might have storm damage, and no fast way to confirm it.

We fly the whole roof once wind speeds drop to a safe level, with no access equipment to wait for. A single flight captures every section in high detail, including the parapets, plant and rooflights that are hardest to reach from a ladder or a mobile elevated platform. 

From that capture we build an interactive 3D model, so you can view the whole roof in context, zoom into a specific flashing or outlet, and share the same view with your insurer, loss adjuster or roofing contractor. 

Where a closer look is needed, a chartered surveyor can add a formal condition report to support any claim or repair instruction or, your in house team can use our inspection platform to speed up the process.

What that means in practice: a roof plan with every defect marked by location, condition survey imagery detailed enough to spot a displaced fixing, and a 3D model your insurer and contractor can both work from, usually within hours of the flight rather than days after scaffold goes up. 

It also means nobody has to go back onto a storm-damaged roof just to work out how bad things are.

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👉 https://blog.drone-works.uk/post/after-storm-boelo-how-drone-surveys-help-assess-damage-quickly-and-safely-20261026