Recurring aerial inspections that pay for themselves the first time they catch something.
FAA Part 107 pilots, radiometric thermal payloads, and every report sealed by a Florida-licensed architect — on a fixed monthly price.
A single visit is a snapshot. A subscription is a record.
Defects grow slowly.
Spalling, moisture ingress, and coating loss are visible in a dated photo months before they become visible from the ground.
Thermal & moisture auditsSB-4D and insurers want paper.
A recurring architect-sealed record is the fastest way to satisfy milestone reviewers and get premium credit.
SB-4D & facade inspectionsChange-detection needs a baseline.
Volumetric and photogrammetric comparison only works when you already have prior captures to compare against.
4D digital twinsThree cadences. One predictable invoice.
Cancel or change tiers anytime from your client portal.
$499 / monthly
Monthly visual documentation for insurance and asset records.
- Monthly exterior photo capture
- 4K aerial video walkaround
- Cloud-stored compliance archive
$899 / monthly
Thermal + visual data for envelope and moisture detection.
- Radiometric thermal imagery
- Moisture & void detection report
- Architect-sealed summary each cycle
Also available bi-weekly at $1,499/mo.
Start with Thermal Audit$2,499 / weekly
Weekly deployments for active sites and progress tracking.
- Weekly deployment cadence
- Volumetric progress tracking
- Priority dispatch after storms
Volume discounts up to 15%.
Managing multiple buildings? Discount applies across any mix of tiers — no separate contract.
Among the only Florida operators packaging FAA + architect-sealed aerial inspection as a fixed monthly subscription with portfolio-wide discounts.
| Portfolio size | Discount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 building | — | Standard pricing |
| 2–4 buildings | 5% off | Applied at invoice |
| 5–9 buildings | 10% off | Applied at invoice |
| 10+ buildings | 15% off | Dedicated portfolio scheduling |
A year of coverage costs less than one bad day.
A year of Visual Shield is roughly the cost of a single rope-access inspection. A year of Thermal Audit is roughly one insurance deductible. Break-even = catching one defect, once.
Cost comparison
A year of coverage vs. one bad day.
Ranges reflect publicly reported figures for Florida commercial facade and structural incidents. Actual costs vary widely by asset and event.
Source ranges: NIST NCST reports, Florida court dockets, and reporting of record. Not a quote or legal estimate.
The class of defects a recurring program is designed to surface.
Publicly reported incidents from the past two decades. No causal claim is made about any specific event — investigations are ongoing or complete and cited to their public sources. Each note describes the general class of defect that recurring aerial + thermal inspection is intended to help surface earlier.
- 2021
Champlain Towers South
Surfside, FL
Publicly reported long-term concrete deterioration and waterproofing failures preceded a partial collapse (NIST NCST investigation).
Recurring facade orthomosaics + radiometric thermal capture are designed to surface concrete spalling, rebar staining, and moisture ingress patterns years before failure.
- 2023
Davenport apartment collapse
Davenport, IA
Publicly reported exterior masonry deterioration and prior engineering reports flagged risk before partial facade collapse.
Monthly facade capture creates a dated visual record that makes deteriorating brick and lintel conditions unambiguous for owners and AHJs.
- 2023
Ann St. parking garage
New York, NY
Publicly reported long-standing structural deficiencies preceded a partial collapse of an aging parking structure.
Aerial + thermal inspection of exposed slabs and columns can document ongoing spalling and moisture-driven corrosion between engineer visits.
- 2019
Hard Rock Hotel (under construction)
New Orleans, LA
Publicly reported design and construction issues contributed to a partial structural collapse mid-build.
Weekly 4D digital twins reconcile as-built against BIM and flag deviations in near-real time — a class of finding this incident brought into public focus.
- 2018
FIU pedestrian bridge
Miami, FL
Publicly reported pre-collapse cracking was documented in the days leading up to failure (NTSB investigation).
Scheduled high-resolution aerial capture provides a time-stamped record of crack propagation that engineers can reference between site visits.
- 2015–2019
Miami-Dade balcony incidents
Miami-Dade, FL
Publicly reported balcony failures across multiple aging South Florida buildings drove the eventual SB-4D legislation.
Recurring facade and balcony-underside imagery is exactly the class of documentation SB-4D is designed to require.
More visits, more warning.
The interval between captures is the ceiling on how early anything can be caught. Weekly deployments typically buy months of lead time over an annual inspection.
Detection lead time
Cadence buys you time.
Typical days of advance warning before an envelope defect would otherwise cause a visible failure. Illustrative — engineering judgment always applies.
Every report is sealed by a Florida-licensed architect.
Aerial data is only as useful as the professional judgment applied to it. On every plan, captures are reviewed by Registered Architect, State of Florida before the report is released. That review is what makes the record defensible to AHJs, insurers, and boards.
Read the full scope and liability language on report scope & liability or learn more about the firm.
Reporting deliverables.
4K facade walkaround
Full-elevation imagery of every side of the asset, delivered as a browsable orthomosaic.
Radiometric thermal overlay
Heat signatures overlaid on the visible image — moisture, insulation gaps, and hot-spots become obvious.
Year-over-year change layer
New captures automatically compare to prior cycles so drift is flagged, not hunted for.
- Architect-sealed inspection PDF
- Annotated defect log with severities
- Time-stamped flight logs & authorizations
- Cloud-hosted compliance archive
- Insurance-ready image evidence package
- Board-ready executive summary
Any asset that benefits from a dated record benefits from a plan.
Condos & HOAs
SB-4D milestone-ready facade records.
See serviceOffice high-rises
Envelope triage and post-storm records.
See serviceIndustrial plants
Asset-health tracking between turnarounds.
See serviceSubstations & grid
Thermal hot-spot surveillance without an outage.
See serviceMarine & ports
Seawall and dock condition, above the waterline.
See serviceTelecom towers
Hardware alignment and obstruction lighting checks.
See serviceWind farms
Blade wear tracked across every inspection cycle.
See serviceCommercial roofs
Ponding, drainage, and pre-hurricane roof audits.
See serviceBreak-even = catch it once.
- 20-story Florida condo, Thermal Audit plan: $899 / mo × 12 = $10,788 / yr.
- Publicly reported Florida facade litigation: per-unit settlements routinely land in six to seven figures.
- Break-even: one documented defect that would otherwise have been missed.
Common questions.
Do these plans satisfy Florida SB-4D milestone inspection requirements?
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The recurring aerial capture builds the visual and thermal record engineers-of-record and AHJs expect for Phase 1 milestone review. Every cycle is sealed by a Florida-licensed architect. The plan supplements — it does not replace — the statutory structural inspection performed by a licensed engineer.
Can I cancel or change tiers?
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Yes. Change cadence or cancel from the client portal at any time. Cancellation stops billing at the end of the current cycle; captured data stays yours.
What happens if weather cancels a flight?
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Florida weather is priced in. If we cannot safely fly during your scheduled window, we reschedule within seven days at no additional cost.
Will my insurance carrier accept these reports?
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Yes. Every report ships as an architect-sealed PDF with time-stamped flight logs and airspace authorizations. Many Florida carriers reduce premiums when a documented recurring inspection program is in place — we provide a compliance letter on request.
What exactly does the architect's seal cover?
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The seal covers Registered Architect, State of Florida's review of the aerial data and the observations documented in the report. Full scope and liability language is on the report-scope page.
How does portfolio pricing work?
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Volume discounts apply across any mix of tiers: 5% off for 2–4 buildings, 10% off for 5–9, and 15% off for 10 or more. Discounts are applied at invoice — no separate contract required.
Still deciding? Talk to Florida Drone Inspections — response within one business day.
Ready to replace assumptions with data?
Request a scoped audit — response within one business day.