A 3D scan of a roof turns a repeat site visit into a single flight: measured slope, plane geometry, drainage, and penetration positions captured from the air and handed to an estimator or an array designer as data instead of a memory of what the roof looked like. Roofing and solar contractors who work from a scanned roof price against quantities that were actually measured, not quantities that were eyeballed from the ground or half-remembered from a walk.
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The problem: bidding a roof you've only estimated
Roof work gets priced off whatever measurement was practical to get before the bid was due — a rough visual estimate, an old as-built that predates three reroofing cycles, or a set of numbers pulled during a single roof walk that had to cover every plane, every penetration, and every drainage detail in one pass. Complex or multi-plane roofs make that walk slower and less reliable, and steep-slope or occupied roofs make it something crews would rather not repeat more often than necessary.
The gap between the estimate and the roof shows up at the worst time: a material order that comes up short because a plane was measured wrong, a panel layout that has to be redrawn once the racking crew finds an obstruction nobody counted, a bid that under-priced flashing detail because the roof has more penetrations than the walk-through caught. Any of that is cheap to catch before a crew or a material order commits to it, and expensive to discover afterward.
Aerial capture replaces the estimate with a measured roof: plane-by-plane slope and area, drainage direction, and a counted inventory of penetrations and obstructions, produced from a flight instead of a series of roof walks.
What gets captured from the air
A roof flight is planned to answer the questions a bid, a material order, or an array layout actually depends on, rather than to produce a picture of the building.
Plane geometry and slope
Pitch, area, and ridge, hip, and valley lines for every distinct roof plane, measured rather than estimated from the ground or from a single vantage point.
Drainage and low spots
A surface model showing drainage direction and any low area or ponding risk across the roof, useful for a reroofing scope and for placing equipment where water will not collect against it.
Penetrations and obstructions
Vents, curbs, skylights, HVAC units, and other rooftop equipment positioned and counted, feeding both a material takeoff and the keep-out zones an array layout has to work around.
Usable area for array layout
Net roof area after setbacks and obstructions, measured as geometry for a solar designer to lay panels and racking against — the geometry feeds their design and engineering process rather than replacing it.
Site and elevation context
Building elevations and, where relevant, ground-mount site topography from the same drone mapping visit, useful where a project's surroundings matter as much as the roof itself.
What you receive
Most roofing and solar bids need quantities fast and a drawing to build from; both come off the same aerial capture.
Orthomosaic and area takeoff
High-resolution aerial imagery and measured plane areas sized for a bid, a material order, or a quick walk-through with a client.
Surface model or point cloud
Slope, drainage, and elevation data an estimator, an engineer, or an array designer can measure directly, without waiting on a drawing to be produced first.
Dimensioned roof plan
A 2D CAD plan showing plane breaks, dimensions, and penetration locations, sized for a bid package, a permit submission, or an install layout crews can work from in the field.
Capture and coverage report
A record of the flight, the ground control if used, and a note on any area not captured, so the numbers behind the bid are documented rather than assumed.
What roofing and solar contractors ask us
01Do we still need to walk the roof?
For the geometry itself, generally no — slope, area, drainage, and penetration positions come off the flight. Close-range condition detail, like membrane damage or a specific repair judgment, is a separate question that still belongs to whoever is qualified to evaluate it; the flight gives you the measured geometry to bid and design against, not a condition assessment.
02Is this accurate enough to replace field measurement for a bid?
For quantities and layout, generally yes. Aerial accuracy is driven by ground sample distance and ground control — with surveyed control points and RTK or PPK positioning, centimetre-level results on the roof surface are realistic, which is well within what a bid or a material takeoff needs.
03Can this feed a solar array layout directly?
It can feed one. The flight gives a designer net usable roof area, plane geometry, and obstruction positions to lay panels and racking against; the array design itself, including production estimates and structural or electrical engineering, stays with your solar designer or engineer.
04Are the flights legal — what about airspace?
Flights are conducted under FAA Part 107, with LAANC airspace authorization obtained wherever the site sits in controlled airspace. Site-specific restrictions get confirmed as part of scoping, before a flight is planned rather than on the day of it.
Your next decision
Make the invisible measurable.
Tell us what is inside, outside, and on the line. We will help you scope the capture and the handoff — in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.