A short, plain-language report
What was flown, when, what the maps show, and the numbers that matter. Dated, so it stands as a record of that day.
Included with every job
Summerland, BC · Construction & site documentation
A clear, dated pictureof your job site.
For builders, pit operators, and site owners in the South Okanagan. When you need to show progress, measure a pile, or keep a record of how the site sat on a given day, I fly it, process it myself, and send back one link with everything in it.
- Contractors
- Developers
- Gravel pits
- Municipalities
- First Nations
- Property managers
Who this is for
Built for the people actually running the site.
Sites change fast. Piles get hauled, grades change, and what the ground looked like in March is gone by June. Meanwhile the client wants an update, the lender wants proof, and the office wants numbers that hold up.
I'm a Transport Canada-certified drone pilot based in Summerland. I fly your site, process the data myself, and send back files you can actually use: a clear overhead site map, photos, measurements when the job calls for them, and a short report that explains what you're looking at. One person flies it, processes it, and delivers it, so nothing gets lost in a handoff.
What you receive
One clean link, with everything the job needs inside.
After the flight you get a single link to an organized folder. No portal to learn, no software to buy. What lands in it depends on what we scoped, from this list:
A clear overhead site map
One zoomable top-down image of the whole site. You can measure distances and areas right off the screen, and it works as a planning base. The technical name is an orthomosaic.
Included with every mapping job
Site photos
Organized, dated photos of the areas you care about: the works, the access, the pile, the thing you want on file.
Included with every job
A measurement and volume report, when included
Pile volumes against a base we agree on, with a per-pile breakdown, plus areas, distances, and grades. A consistent figure to hold against scale tickets, with nobody on the pile and no shutdown.
For pits · yards · earthworks · scoped per job
A surface model, when the job calls for it
The shape of the ground, with and without what's sitting on it. Slope, drainage, and how-much-moved questions get answered from it, and it's the piece your engineer will ask for.
For earthworks · drainage · design · scoped per job
A Google Earth file, when useful
Your site map as a file that opens straight in Google Earth on any computer. Handy for sharing with people who just need to see the site, not measure it.
On request · a small KMZ file
A 3D view, when included
A browser link that lets anyone spin around the site in 3D. Nothing to install. Useful for showing a client or a council what a flat map can't.
Scoped per job · opens in a browser
Not every job needs all of these. Most need two or three. I'll recommend the shortest list that answers your question, and quote from there.
Volumes, contours, and surfaces come out of licensed measurement software, run the same way every visit, so the numbers compare cleanly month to month.
How people use it
What the files actually get used for.
01
Progress updates without the writing
Send the link instead of a long email. The map shows the state of the site on a dated flight, and everyone sees the same picture: crew, client, lender.
02
Pile volumes, measured the same way every month
Check inventory against scale tickets without putting anyone on a pile or stopping work. Measured the same way each time, so the numbers hold up.
03
A record that settles questions
Before, during, and after, dated and on file. When a question comes up months later, you have the picture from that day.
04
Planning off real ground
Measure areas and distances straight off the map, and hand the surface model to your engineer or designer when the job goes technical.
Piles, pits & yards
Measure every pile without stopping the pit.
Gravel pits, aggregate yards, and mine sites run on volumes. One short flight measures every pile on the site against a base we agree on, with a per-pile breakdown, and nobody climbs a pile or closes the yard to get it. Flown the same way each visit, the numbers compare cleanly, month to month and year-end to year-end.
Buildings & roofs
Roof photo reports live on their own page.
The same flight can photograph a roof or a whole building face in sharp, dated detail, with nobody leaving the ground. We keep that service on its own simple page.
One flight · The whole picture
One flight covers the whole sitein one dated record.
The build, the slope it sits on, the access road, the ground falling away below: one flight captures all of it together, on the same day, in the same record.
Also on the same flight
The flight that maps your site can cover more.
A close, zoomed photo of a tower or sign with nobody going up. A live daytime look at a quiet site from your desk. Dated records for municipalities, Regional Districts, and First Nations, with the community as steward of its own files. A vegetation and water baseline for the qualified professionals who carry those files.
Don't see exactly what you need? Ask. There's a good chance we can do it, and if we can't, we'll say so and point you to someone who can.
How a project runs
You'll know the plan and the timeline before I fly.
Every job runs the same way: a short call to scope it, a flight day, processing, and one link in your inbox. One person flies it, processes it, and delivers it. Turnaround is agreed up front when we scope the job.
Honest limits
What this is, and what it isn't.
Drone mapping answers most day-to-day site questions well. It doesn't replace the certified professionals your project may also need, and I'll tell you plainly when a flight won't answer the question you're asking.
How this fits with the professionals: every figure we deliver is a photogrammetric measurement, RTK-referenced, with its accuracy stated on the delivery, numbers your crew can plan and bid from. Two jobs are reserved by law in BC: legal boundary lines belong to a BC land surveyor, and engineering verdicts carry an engineer's seal. Our files are built to hand straight to both, same data, no rework.
Monitoring flights are scheduled daytime passes rather than around-the-clock security. And weather or airspace can move a flight day; if it does, you'll hear from me early, not after.
For your engineer or GIS team
Technical files available when needed.
Most clients only ever open the report, the site map, and the photos. If your engineer, designer, or GIS person wants working files, everything below comes from the same flight, georeferenced in NAD83(CSRS), and opens in AutoCAD, Civil 3D, QGIS, or ArcGIS.
Terrain & analysis maps
- Slope classification
- Sun-exposure (aspect)
- Hillshade & terrain texture
- Elevation cross-sections
- Area, distance & slope reads
- Canopy / structure height
- Print-ready site-plan composite
File formats & on-demand add-ons
- GeoTIFF · DXF · CSV
- LAS / LAZ
- OBJ · GLB
- KMZ (Google Earth) · GeoPDF / Avenza
- COG · CoPC streaming
- Change-detection (two dates)
- Corridor & fence-line
- Laser reference distance & height
What each map, format & add-on is
All of it builds on the core files: the overhead site map (orthomosaic), the surface and bare-earth models (DSM / DTM), contours, the point cloud, and the 3D site model, mapped in NAD83(CSRS).
Terrain & analysis maps. Slope classification colours the ground by steepness; sun-exposure (aspect) by the way each slope faces; hillshade & terrain texture makes every rise and gully readable under a plan set; elevation cross-sections give a side-on profile along any line you choose; area, distance & slope reads pull everyday planning numbers straight off the capture; canopy / structure height maps how tall things stand for clearance checks; the print-ready site-plan composite lays the map, contours, hillshade, and a legend onto one sheet.
Formats & add-ons. The core files come in the formats listed above, including the Google Earth file (KMZ), an offline field map that shows your live position, and cloud streaming that opens from a link. Add-ons: change-detection measures how much moved between two dates; corridor & fence-line maps a right-of-way with cross-sections along it; laser reference distance & height is a planning-grade reference read from the aircraft's rangefinder.
Questions & answers
A few things people ask.
How accurate are the volume numbers?
They're measured off the 3D model, against a base we agree on before I fly. Because the site is captured the same way each visit, the numbers repeat and compare cleanly, pile to pile and month to month. The plain-language limits are stated in the honest limits section above.
Can you work for a municipality or First Nation?
Yes. Parks and asset imagery, site and bylaw records, First Nations land and cultural-site 3D, and flood-corridor mapping all run the same way as any other job: flown, processed, and delivered by one person, organized and dated.
What files do I actually get?
One link to a folder with the report, the overhead site map, the photos, and any measurements we scoped. Technical working files for your engineer are listed in the section above. The full questions & answers page covers turnaround, data ownership, and pricing.
Once, or on a schedule
One visit, or the same flight on a schedule.
Everything on this page can be a single visit or a repeat program: same site, same flight plan, each pass lined up with the last so the comparison holds and the record keeps building.
01
Progress tracking
The site flown on your schedule, each map lined up with the last: a running record of what moved, and when.
02
Pile & aggregate counts
Volumes pulled the same way every time, monthly, quarterly, or at year-end, so the numbers track pile to pile and period to period.
03
Parks, trails & works yards
A current, dated picture of parks, trail networks, and public works yards, for facilities and capital-planning staff.
04
Street trees & canopy
A dated baseline of street trees and park canopy, captured the same way each season so counts and cover compare year over year.
More from the air
Job sites aren't the only thing I map.
Same aircraft, same care, pointed at a different kind of property. For a build with lender draws, the flights can follow the draw calendar, so the documentation the inspector needs is already sitting in your link.
Request a quote
Tell me what you're working on and I'll recommend the simplest option.
A short note is plenty: where the site is, what you need to know, and when. You'll get a straight answer on whether a flight helps, what it would include, and the quote.
Every inquiry gets a reply within one business day.