Dronegrafix NYC building safety infrastructure blog

Welcome to the Dronegrafix NYC building safety blog

Dronegrafix is a commercial small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) or commonly referred to as ‘Drone’ service provider and technology company founded and Headquartered in Manhattan, covering Northern America. There are many reasons why I started Dronegrafix and am excited to be a part of the incredible potential to revolutionize multiple industry verticals whereby drone derived data is algorithmically analyzed, processed, and transformed into numerous outputs of actionable data.

Drones are embraced by some industries and a vital resource, saving time, money, increasing efficiency, production, and lives... It is important to place the use cases into different verticals, Dronegrafix specializes in commercial infrastructure projects and has a handpicked but growing network of highly skilled operators. It has always been our goal to work with NYC stakeholders to initiate the use of drones to inspect buildings in Manhattan.

We mention drone verticals because running a drone operation for infrastructure inspections is vastly different from other industry uses.

Why do we care so much?

This is not going to be easy; however, I know this is an area that is the perfect candidate for significant upside, and we will be there to guide, advise, learn, help and mold the rules of engagement.

I am the Board President of a Manhattan building and went through the lengthy, expensive, disruptive Local Law 11 (and previous Local Law 10) building inspections from the initial inspection cycle to the following 5th-year inspection that resulted in extensive facade renovations.

A somber note:

In 1979 a Barnard College student Grace Gold was killed by a piece of masonry, then in 2015 Greta Greene, a two-year-old and now in 2019 Erica Tishman. We need to work together and do everything we can to amend current restrictions to enable NYC buildings to be initially inspected by drones.

Local Law 10:

Mayor Ed Koch passed Local Law 10 in 1980 to prevent risks from the deterioration of NYC building facades.

Local Law 11 - known as the Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP)

Introduced in 1998, mandated five-year inspection of exterior walls on buildings over six stories, conducted by a New York State registered Architect or NYS Licenced Professional Engineer and inspected by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI)

Amend the Law:

Local Law 10 allowed for inspection by binoculars, and Local Law 11 mandated physical inspection of walls using scaffolding.

An amended Law could allow for inspection by sUAV/Drone.

Personal experience with Local Law 11

Then it was our building that required Local Law 11 work, and this is where the interest of using drones was born.

During the planning of the scaffolding, there was no ‘obvious’ way to erect scaffolding other than drill large anchors into the building roof, our ceiling, our balcony for the process. Was this the only solution?? - Drill multiple holes and anchors in a relatively new roof membrane that would undoubtedly cause leaks later on. I researched abseilers who in theory could safely latch into our water tower, I was advised this was against Rules law that governs Union buildings, and the only way was to use scaffolding.

I pushed hard for alternatives (we had several items that effected a more accessible solution such as wood decking, glass screens. If I were not persistent, the result would have significantly reduced the lifespan and quality of the structure of the roof and voided the remaining warranty. An alternative method followed, and we managed to use ropes and counterweights on the rear terrace, it was not pretty, but it did work, even though it was left there for six months.

Rising scaffolding costs:

We were then informed the budget did not allow for the inspection for the ten-story small side exteriors that were not part of the initial inspection plans. Looking out onto these new areas, I wondered if we could use a skilled abseiler then why can’t we fly a drone up to look for issues, this is an enclosed side area where no people do not go and can be closed off. Here begins the unraveling of the complex drone laws of NYC…An additional $40,000 later, we had inspected the remaining two exterior walls.

Using drones for building inspections:

This concept is not new; there are various articles and reports on how NYC needs to embrace this technology. No-one is saying drones can replace manual inspections; however, as the 1st line of investigation and immediate safety report, this would be invaluable. We have drones that use high resolution photographic, video, and thermal technology that can identify water damage unobservable to the human eye. We would create a full facade and roof inspection that can be viewed in real-time or archived that can be viewed, shared, and annotated. We use post-processing artificial intelligence, machine learning software that can identify structural defects. Local Law 11 is about facade condition and after that any deterioration. We would utilize overlay software that demonstrates this and could share access to the Department of Buildings who can remotely access indexed inventory.

Why can’t drones fly in Manhattan?

There is an old 1948 law that requires all aircraft to take off and land in a designated area for flights governed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Summary:

The recent tragic loss of Erica Tishman is going to bring this industry into the spotlight and will undoubtedly be credited for the good that will follow. It will be essential to have experience and understanding of infrastructure flying; this is not the same as collecting data in an open field. Whether it is Dronegrafix or any other company, there needs to be strict safety procedures and controls in place. Drones react differently in varying environments; you have to allow for magnetic interference, wind, surroundings, emergency procedures, and visual line of sight (VLOS).

I witnessed a 4-inch piece of brick fall from a building that was being prepped for an inspection. Luckily the brick landed on our parapet wall, which was 2 ft from falling another ten stories to the ground or a couple of feet from our balcony.

We could deploy a drone (subject to permissions/conditions) and be analyzing the data with building facade models within hours. We will continue to push for this technology to be used and use this page as the landing site for updates in both rules, laws, and technology. We have created worksheets, ideas, and presentations for varying use cases.

We want to enable buildings to have an initial drone inspection and create a digital property portfolio. Comprising high-definition photographs, 4k video, thermal/infrared imagery, reports, and photogrammetry models that can show damaged areas, and potentially identify hidden water penetrating brickwork that could cause another catastrophic event. If further investigation is required, digital plans we have created are used to bid to contractors. We set up scheduled updates; authorized personnel can view progress, document, and verify the work. Further inspections are overlayed with previous reports identifying any new anomalies.

Disclaimer:

Dronegrafix are not engineers, architects, or inspectors; our role is to acquire the data using drones and varying technologies, upload and process data for qualified people to assess. We want Drones to be used as the 1st line of inspection, once areas of concern are identified, qualified inspections using scaffolding would take place.

Call us for a consultation or to discuss, collaborate on pushing this technology forward, and let’s make NYC a safer place.

Dronegrafix

www.dronegrafix.com

info@dronegrafix.com