Outsourcing vs. Building Your Own Construction Drone Team

Drones and Construction: What’s Best for Your Construction Business?

The construction industry is complex, with tight schedules, high costs, and significant safety risks. To thrive in this environment, companies need tools that streamline workflows, enhance safety, and improve decision-making. Enter drones. These high-tech tools are no longer futuristic gadgets—they’re becoming a must-have for construction companies looking to stay competitive. Here’s why:

Enhanced Progress Monitoring

Drones provide a bird’s-eye view of your project, offering real-time progress reports. Weekly drone flights can capture high-resolution imagery that’s easy to compare against project timelines and goals. This kind of transparency keeps teams accountable and ensures everyone is on the same page—reducing delays and miscommunication.

Accurate and Efficient Surveying

Traditional surveying methods are time-consuming and prone to human error. Drones, equipped with advanced sensors like LiDAR or photogrammetry software, can survey large sites in minutes instead of days. They deliver centimeter-level accuracy, making them ideal for creating topographic maps, calculating volumes of materials, or marking out boundaries.

Improved Safety

Construction sites are inherently risky, but drones help minimize hazards by performing tasks that would otherwise put workers in danger. For instance, instead of sending a worker to inspect a roof or monitor progress in a hazardous area, a drone can gather the necessary data remotely. This reduces the likelihood of accidents and ensures compliance with safety regulations.

Cost Savings

While drones require an initial investment, they save money in the long run. By streamlining workflows, reducing delays, and preventing costly errors, drones can significantly lower operational costs. According to industry reports, companies using drones for site management have reported up to 20% savings in project costs.

Better Decision-Making

Drones deliver high-quality data that empowers construction managers to make informed decisions. From 3D models and thermal imaging to site progress videos, drones offer actionable insights that help optimize resources, reduce waste, and improve project outcomes.

Faster Documentation and Reporting

Clients and stakeholders often want detailed updates on project progress. Drones make it easy to create visual reports with aerial imagery, videos, and progress data. These polished updates not only impress stakeholders but also build trust and transparency.

Competitive Advantage

Finally, drones are becoming a differentiator in the construction industry. Companies that adopt drone technology gain a competitive edge, showcasing their commitment to innovation, safety, and efficiency.

Drones have reshaped the construction industry by enhancing progress monitoring, surveying, mapping, and safety management. But if you’re an executive in construction, the question isn’t if you should adopt drone technology—it’s how. Should you outsource services to a professional provider or build an internal team? Let’s break down both options in detail to help you decide.

Outsourcing Drone Services

Immediate Expertise at Your Fingertips

When outsourcing, you’re hiring professionals who are already certified, experienced, and equipped with the latest drone technology. These providers specialize in delivering construction-focused services, such as photogrammetry, thermal imaging, or volumetric calculations, and they know how to interpret the data to improve workflows.

You don’t have to worry about FAA regulations, insurance, or troubleshooting technical glitches—providers handle all of this for you.

Cost-Effectiveness Without Sacrificing Quality

Outsourcing eliminates hefty upfront investments in drones, software, and training. With predictable fees, it’s easier to budget for project-specific needs. Plus, you don’t incur hidden costs like equipment depreciation or re-certifying employees when regulations change.

Operational Flexibility and Scalability

Need high-resolution maps for one project and thermal scans for another? Outsourcing allows you to adjust services on-demand. This scalability ensures you’re paying only for what you need when you need it.

The Downsides

However, outsourcing does have its limitations. You’ll have less control over drone operations and data handling. In some cases, you may face delays if the service provider has limited availability or their processes don’t align perfectly with your project timelines.

Building an Internal Drone Team

Control and Customization

By creating your own drone team, you gain full control over operations, ensuring workflows are tailored to your specific needs. Your team can design data collection processes that integrate seamlessly with existing systems, such as project management software.

Developing Internal Expertise

Your team’s expertise grows over time, fostering innovation and knowledge specific to your company’s unique challenges. An in-house team can adapt faster to on-the-ground needs without waiting for third-party availability.

Costs: Upfront and Recurring

This is where it gets tricky. The initial setup includes purchasing drones (often $10,000+ per unit for professional models), software licenses, training programs, and certifications. Add recurring expenses for maintenance, insurance, and staying compliant with FAA regulations.

For example, each FAA Part 107 certification for your pilots requires fees and renewals, and software licenses can run thousands annually. Long-term, the costs could balance out—but only if your drones are in constant use.

Operational Challenges

Building an in-house team requires not just money but time. Hiring, training, and integrating drone operations into your workflow can take 6–12 months. Furthermore, technology evolves rapidly. Keeping up with hardware upgrades and software updates becomes your responsibility.

Build or Buy Analysis — Should you outsource services to a professional provider or build an internal team?

Making the Decision

Frequency of Drone Use: If your projects require frequent drone operations, building a team could save money in the long term. For occasional needs, outsourcing is far more practical.

Budget Considerations: For companies without significant upfront capital or the desire to take on ongoing expenses, outsourcing is the smarter choice.

Control Needs: If data security and operational customization are critical to your business, an in-house team might be worth the investment.

Scalability: Outsourcing provides unmatched flexibility. Need 10 drones for one project and none the next? No problem.

Summary: The Pros and Cons

Outsourcing Drone Services

Pros: Cost-effective, fast setup, high expertise, flexible scaling.

Cons: Less control, potential delays, data security risks.

Building an Internal Drone Team

Pros: Total control, customized workflows, internal expertise.

Cons: High upfront costs, long setup time, resource-intensive maintenance.

Final Thoughts

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the “build or buy” question. Instead, the right choice depends on your company’s priorities, project frequency, and budget. If you’re not ready for the steep learning curve and investment of an in-house team, start by outsourcing. As your drone needs grow, you can always revisit the idea of building your internal team. With a strategic approach, you’ll maximize the ROI of this game-changing technology, no matter which path you take.

From The Editor:

Do you need to hire a professional drone service provider for your project? To speak to an aerial data specialist, fill out a form, email us or for even faster response times, give us a call at (833) FLY-4YOU or (833) 359-4968. Check out our transparent pricing at https://www.aerialdecisions.com/drone-photography-pricing/ and watch this space as we expand on the above topics and more over the coming weeks and months.

If you like this post, feel free to click the share button at the bottom of the page. We appreciate you helping us by spreading the content we share on our blog.

About Aerial Decisions

Aerial Decisions is a Los Angeles-based Drone Services Provider (DSP). We specialize in providing cutting-edge drone data collection combined with industry leading software solutions tailored for the commercial construction industry. Our mission is to optimize the way enterprise construction projects are managed by offering precise aerial photography, detailed data analysis, and innovative software tools through a network of FAA-certified and insured drone pilots. Aerial Decisions is not just a drone service provider; we are your strategic partner in commercial construction. Our hands-on approach to understanding your unique requirements and our dedication to excellence ensures that every flight and every data point is optimized for your success. Trust us to be the eyes in the sky that elevate your construction projects to new heights.

Author
Recent Posts

Jim Gibson

Founder | CEO at Aerial Decisions

Jim is the founder of Aerial Decisions and is an FAA Part 107 Certified Commercial Drone Pilot.He has spent the last 10 years building and leading world class sales teams for an industry leading digital marketing agency.Jim is widely recognized amongst his peers as a consummate full funnel digital marketing expert and a respected industry leader.

Equally adept as an entrepreneur, Jim has led start up organizations in a multitude of industries ranging from telecommunications to web based software services.In this latest adventure, Jim is leveraging his profound love of flying drones into a dynamic new start-up that he hopes one day becomes the standard bearer for drone flying advocacy across the globe.

Jim originally hails from Clearwater, Florida and currently lives in Glendale, California with his wife Diana and his lovable pup, Gunnar.

When Jim’s not flying drones: “You’ll catch me on the ice (or asphalt) playing beer league hockey or training for my next triathlon.Whether it’s on ice asphalt or in the water you’ll always find me on the move and rarely sitting still.