Unmanned aerial vehicles use in construction and infrastructure: risks and benefits

The need for using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the construction industry has been widely discussed, although actual adoption remains limited. The reasons for this require attention, particularly in understanding the extent to which benefits and risks facilitate or impede it. A dearth of studies remains, focused on accelerating and facilitating the conditions for the successful adoption of UAVs for various construction industry use cases. Therefore, this study takes an in-depth look into the reported benefits and risks of adopting UAVs with a view to ascertaining the extent to which they incentivise or impede adoption. This was achieved through an exploratory survey of 84 industry professionals in the UK, including both experienced professionals in UAV usage and those new to it. The collected data focused on the level of UAV adoption in the respondents’ organisations, perceived benefits and risks associated with use, and its influence on widespread use. The data analysis showed that the benefits drive motivation for use far more than the influence of UAV usage risks in impeding usage. Generally, benefits such as ‘Reduction of risks associated with inspection operations’ when using UAVs have the most significant influence on the adoption of UAVs in the construction industry.