UAV Services

TMG provides unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) services under a current FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate. Across three payload types — high-resolution visual, thermal (infrared), and photogrammetry — the drone reaches elevated and confined-access work safely and documents it in imagery a report can cite by frame.

UAV is offered as a standalone service and as a method within a broader structural, welding, or NDT scope. TMG's role is observation and reporting; UAV findings that bear on acceptance are confirmed by direct examination before any nonconformance is called.

Visual inspection and access

• Bridge superstructures — fascia girders, pier caps, and bearing assemblies difficult to reach from the deck or grade.
• Sign structures and high-mast assemblies — connection and weld condition at height without a bucket truck or lane closure.
• Tall column splices, moment-frame welds, and beam-to-column connections at elevation.
• Tank shells and roofs, and stack welds on stand-alone vertical assemblies.
• Roof framing in occupied buildings where a lift cannot mobilize without disrupting operations.
• Pre-mobilization walk-throughs to identify access constraints and weld locations, reducing field time on the priced engagement.

Thermal imaging — investigative surveys

Thermal (infrared) imagery reads surface-temperature differences that point to conditions hidden from the visible eye. Thermography is investigative: it locates anomalies and flags them for confirmation by direct testing or observation — it does not, on its own, establish the cause.

• Building-envelope surveys — indicate potential moisture intrusion and air-leakage pathways at façades, fenestration, and roof-to-wall transitions.
• Low-slope roof moisture surveys — locate areas of suspected entrapped moisture in roofing assemblies, where wet insulation holds heat differently from sound material on the thermal cycle.
• CMU grout-cell verification — indicate grouted versus ungrouted cells in reinforced masonry by thermal contrast, flagging cells for confirmation.
• Electrical and mechanical hot-spot surveys — identify abnormally warm connections, panels, and equipment for follow-up by the responsible trade.
• Solar-array surveys — identify underperforming or faulted photovoltaic modules across large arrays.

Photogrammetry and construction documentation

• Progress documentation — timestamped, geotagged aerial photo sets that record site conditions over the life of a project for owner and general-contractor records.
• Orthomosaic mapping — high-resolution, geo-corrected top-down maps for progress tracking and approximate, scaled measurement across a site.
• 3D models and point clouds — photogrammetric surface models for as-built and existing-condition records.
• Volumetric estimates — approximate cut-and-fill and stockpile quantities from drone-derived surface data.
• Existing-condition and post-event documentation — a dated, comprehensive aerial record before, during, or after a project milestone or event.

UAV mapping products are for documentation, visualization, and progress tracking. They are not survey-grade and are not a boundary, topographic, or other land survey. TMG is not a licensed surveying firm; where survey-grade accuracy or a legal survey is required, the data should be verified by a licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper.

How UAV integrates with inspection

UAV imagery is treated as observation evidence — equivalent in the report to a hand-held photograph, with the same caption convention (location, drawing or sheet reference, code-anchored verdict). Anomalies that fall at the rejectable / non-rejectable threshold under AWS D1.1 — Structural Welding Code – Steel, Table 8.1 (or the equivalent acceptance criteria for the controlling code) are confirmed by close-range examination before being called a nonconformance.

Operating discipline

Flights begin with a project-specific airspace check (LAANC authorization where required), a site-condition review, and a pre-flight check of the aircraft. TMG holds the records required by 14 CFR Part 107 — pilot certificate, aircraft registration, and maintenance log — and shares them with the client on request.

Engagement

UAV work is priced by day rate or per-visit call-out fee, and is commonly paired with visual welding inspection, structural special inspection on tall-frame projects, and close-range examination at locations identified from imagery. Recurring progress-documentation programs are available on a scheduled basis. TMG serves Florida and the Southeast. See all services or the contact page to request a proposal.