Implementation of new Federal Aviation Administration regulations in 2016 really opened the doors for contractors to start employing drones on construction projects.

To be sure, before the Small UAS Rule took effect many people were using unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, in construction. But the new regulations governing commercial use of UAS not only increased usage, but also led to proliferation of new businesses dedicated to aerial photography and video.

“Before that you had to have a private pilot’s license to fly a drone for commercial purposes and a Section 333 exemption from the FAA,” said Michael Carlini, a commercial pilot and flight instructor who also runs Eugene-based Southern Oregon Drone. “It took a lot of time, so what they found out what was happening was they were flooded with requests and you basically had to have a lawyer do it. In response to that they figured out they needed for it to be more streamlined and accessible.”

According to the FAA, introduction of the Small UAS Rule made business easier for commercial drone operators. Along with a new framework outlining how, where and when commercial operators can legally operate, the rules rolled out a new online system called Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC). It allows for nearly instant online approval for flight requests inside FAA-controlled airspace. And in Portland, a five-mile radius around Portland International Airport is considered Class C airspace, with prior authorization required for each drone flight.

“This dramatically decreases the wait experienced using the previous authorization process and allows operators to quickly plan their flights,” the FAA stated. “Air traffic controllers also can see where planned drone operations will take place.”

Elijah Polsky is a co-owner of Rogue Survey & Photography in southern Oregon. The FAA regulations adopted in 2016 helped the business get off the ground, he said.

“It was absolutely huge,” he said. “It made it so people like me could get the Part 107 (commercial licensing), but on the other hand it came with a lot more strict rules.”

Joe Vaughn, founder and owner of Skyris Imaging of Portland, agreed and said the recent increase in the number of companies entering the drone field is already forcing inefficient operations to close down.

“What I’m finding is there are a lot fewer drone companies lasting these days, and that’s because their prices aren’t correct,” he said. “If they charge too little they won’t be in business too long. We’ve been in business now for six years, back before any of this.”

In 2012, Skyris built its own drones capable of carrying out the work they needed done. It ranges from simple snapshots showing construction progress to complex, three-dimensional models based upon hundreds or even thousands of separate images.

But business potential hasn’t stopped a number of parties from entering the field, Vaughn said.

“Now they buy (drones) and they get dusty and they aren’t used,” he said. “So I figure there’s about two more years of this kind of fad.”

When it comes to construction, unmanned aerial systems are used in every phase of the development process. It starts with the initial real estate listing and topographic surveying and moves to 3-D building modeling and progression photos and videos for investors. Finally, it is now customary to produce a short video of the completed project for marketing and other uses.

“It is growing rapidly, exponentially, which is amazing,” Polsky said. “I’d say about 75 percent of what we do is construction-based.”

That growth also involves the local tech industry, with Portland startup Skyward recently finding success through the development of UAS operating systems that link with the LAANC system. Using Skyward software, drone operators can gain real time authorization for flights in controlled airspace throughout the National Airspace System.

Skyward was purchased last year by Verizon, but is still headquartered in Portland.

Those in the field who are using drones are plenty enthusiastic about their use and future potential.

“It’s been a big help,” said Martin Segura, an architect with Carleton Hart Architecture.

Carleton Hart requires the general contractors it works with to provide a continuous stream of photos from their respective job sites. Then drone imagery is fed into BIM or CAD software.

“It’s like the first line of defense,” Segura said. “The drone image might clue us in to something, and when we get down into the fine detail we might pick up something we missed before. Or, it can lead to the use of further technology.”

Many Skyris clients, however, come from the development and investment side.

“My background is commercial real estate and asset management,” said Vaughn, who formerly worked at Portland’s Gerding Edlen. “So I can talk to them in a language they understand and help them determine at what level we’re going to bump up the per-square-foot price in our pro forma, etcetera. We help our clients get their decision makers to a ‘yes.’”

Vaughn and his firm, which has 16 unmanned aircraft of various sizes, also provides sophisticated 3-D modeling imagery they produce themselves.

“We’ll also do inspections, building envelope inspections, and we can get very high resolution cameras both on the thermal spectrum and the visible spectrum to take a look for leaks or potential water intrusion,” he said.

Rogue Survey & Photography does many of the same things, albeit with a heavier focus on construction and surveying.

“We can do it from start to finish,” Polsky said. “During development, we’ll do a topo(graphic) survey, and then they get to building it and we can start taking photos and show progression so the investors and planners can see the information. And at the end we can do a marketing project.”

The latter is now commonplace, said Meaghan Morawski, a marketing specialist with Bremik Construction.

“We do use drone photography, but it’s mostly for progress shots,” she said. “It’s great for marketing and I think there are lot of uses for it. I think that everyone loves to see the progress that goes into the projects we do.”

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Drones: high-tech, brimming with promise, slightly unsettling. They’ve already changed how modern warfare is waged, and are thought to hold disruptive potential for numerous other industries – shipping, journalism, law enforcement and feature filmmaking, to name a few.

Right now, despite the hype about drones, relatively few outlets exist for legal commercial use in the U.S., in part due to regulatory dysfunction. But around Portland, insiders report that drones – legal and otherwise – are hard at work for construction companies, from preconstruction to the P.R. shot. And use of drones is expected to broaden as legal and technical barriers are smoothed over in the coming years.

Until then, with applications stunted in a choke point at the Federal Aviation Administration, companies have had to get creative with how they employ their drones when they even bother to go the “legal route.”

Manned to unmanned

“Drones” are only what people outside the Federal Aviation Administration call them, according to Todd Boyd, an aviation safety assistant for the agency. To everyone at the FAA, they’re “unmanned aerial systems” (UAS), and often called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

About 80 people work out of the FAA office in Portland. But the office, like others around the country, is overwhelmed with applications from drone owners to use U.S. air space. One potential drone pilot reported waiting four months before confirmation the FAA received his request. It’s thought the agency is biding its time and won’t fully commit to processing them until new regulations are enacted. That could happen as early as this summer.

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act, passed in 2012, got the ball rolling on integrating commercial UAVs into the FAA. But the agency so far hasn’t met many of the timeline goals contained in the legislation, including full integration of all nongovernmental drones by September 2015.

“Essentially, if you’re a hobbyist, you’re very unrestrained in how you may you use your UAV,” attorney Craig Russillo said.

Several years ago, Russillo, with the blessing of his bosses at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, began researching laws surrounding drones and today counsels in the emerging legal area.

A “recreational” tag applies to any craft lighter than 55 pounds and flying lower than 400 feet. Each remote-controlled craft must also be registered with the FAA, which includes a $55 one-time fee.

The FAA’s current position is that federal law prohibits the commercial use of drones, Russillo said. To fly one commercially, an operator must apply for a “333 exemption,” and ask the FAA to not apply all the regulations originally written for manned aircraft.

“The FAA’s just been inundated with them,” he said. “I don’t think they have the personnel to handle it.”

The FAA does have the power to levy large fines on scofflaws. Last year it fined Chicago-based SkyPan International $1.9 million for unauthorized UAV operations.

“UAVs are becoming super-useful in the construction industry, but I don’t know how many of these people are doing it lawfully,” Russillo said.

Companies skirting the law to take progress photos expose themselves to serious liability should something go wrong, Russillo said. He advises companies to at the very least file an exemption application before working with a UAV, even though it’s unlikely the FAA would process it before a new legal framework is rolled out.

Among the FAA’s current rules, drone pilots must be licensed sport aircraft pilots, have a spotter with them at all times, maintain visual contact with the aircraft at all times, and operate only during daylight hours and at prescribed altitudes. Many of those restrictions are expected to be eased under the new rules, Russillo said.

An elevated perspective

Legal concerns proved too much for Fortis Construction, which recently looked into purchasing its own drone before deciding not to, according to secretary-treasurer Rene Gonzalez.

“We believe there are safety issues and gray areas surrounding drone usage, which present a greater risk than benefit to our projects,” he said. “As a company, we have made a decision not to use drones at this time.”

JE Dunn Construction does use drones, primarily for aerial progress photos, president Darin Stegemoller said.

Drones are being used to compose project renderings. They can capture visuals in the difficult-to-capture “low-altitude opaque” area. Mike Hopper’s Eugene-based produces renderings with an “elevated view perspective.”

For R&H Construction, the question wasn’t whether to use drones, but whether to do it legally, principal Norm Dowty said. In looking into the issue, he learned it didn’t matter if R&H used its drone only for internal use; commercial licensure was still required. So, UAV consultant was hired to walk R&H officials through the FAA’s byzantine certification process.

“One of the things we debated was whether to go legal or not, and go through the time and expense,” Dowty said. “And we did … We just like doing things right around here.”

Luckily for the company, it had a licensed pilot on staff. And senior project manager Duane Francis happened to be willing to take on the challenge of learning the ins and outs of drone technology. R&H uses its craft on a fairly regular basis, several times a month – usually for marketing purposes, though the company has also used it to document rebar placement and inspect suspected roof damage.

Chopper city

Joe Vaughn’s Skyris Imaging has a fleet of six drones of varying capacities, but he’s been exploring a different avenue for aerial photography while the rules around drones are being worked out. Vaughn regularly charters helicopters ($500 per hour) and performs “missions” around the Portland area covering up to a half dozen sites.

He performs primarily three services for construction companies, all of which could be performed with drones. First are preconstruction photos, used in project planning. Then there are progress shots, which show all responsible parties that work is actually being done on a project. (Sometimes these are required by banks or lenders.) The third is the marketing shot, or, as Vaughn calls it, the ego shot.

The ego shot isn’t just about self-esteem, he said.

“It’s important to the architects, the contractors, the subcontractors – anybody associated with the project, really,” he said. “The main reason people need a good shot of their last project is in helping them get their next project.”

Legal drone use right now is pretty limited – no flying above crowds or near airports. A pilot typically may only take up a craft vertically, and under 400 feet, and return to the same spot on the ground. But with a helicopter, Vaughn has far greater access. To stay profitable using a costly chopper, he has several strategies for saving money – Skyris’ “secret sauce” – that he asked the 91��Ƶ to not share.

Russillo said tech leaders have barely scratched the surface developing uses for UAVs: micro-UAVs that are cheaper and less intrusive and UAVs capable of autonomous flight (there’s even talk of fixed-wing “mother ships” delivering swarms of shipping drones to cities, before packing them all back in and returning home). He said America is already being passed technologically by the rest of world, and will continue to be if pathways aren’t cleared for further commercial use.

“They’re already doing some of this stuff in other countries,” he said. “It’s happening.”

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