Kipcon Engineering, based in North Brunswick, has embraced the use of drones in applications such as surveying, building inspections and other projects, seeing the technology as a new frontier for construction and engineering.
By Joshua Burd
In the life of an engineer, the days of using a scaffold to inspect a building façade or walking the roof of a warehouse to check for water damage could soon be a thing of the past.
Experts with Kipcon Engineering believe they are on that path at their own firm.
Over the past year, Kipcon has worked to expand and modernize its practice with the use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. The North Brunswick-based firm has used the technology for everything from surveying and road repairs to moisture testing and building inspections, providing a new frontier for engineering and construction professionals.
“It’s becoming the eyes of engineers,” said Mitchell Frumkin, the founder and president of Kipcon. He added: “And it’s not like we’re the only ones using it. It’s just that, with just about every type of project we’re involved in, we are trying to use drone technology.”
Far from the novelty drones that have become increasingly popular for personal use, the commercial use of UAVs comes with strict regulatory and licensing requirements from the federal government. But for engineers, the ability to pair the technology with high-resolution cameras, mapping software and other high-end tools has the potential to change the profession for the better.
It can also create additional value for landlords.
As an example, Frumkin said his firm recently quoted a property owner around $3,000 to $4,000 to inspect the roofs of some 60 buildings. That represents about one-fifth of what it would cost to climb the buildings and do the inspections on foot, he said, not to mention the safety benefits and time savings.
“Whatever the client is asking for, it’s going to cost them less money, it’s going to get them more quality and it’s going to be much safer to do,” said Frumkin, whose firm typically partners with third-party drone operators. “And we’re firm believers in educating people.”
And while it’s still only a small portion of Kipcon’s business that uses the technology, the company has started to tap into what Frumkin sees as the enormous growth potential. The firm is under contract to inspect several industrial buildings in central New Jersey, where it will use a drone-mounted thermal imaging camera to detect water infiltration and other damage, allowing the landlord to plan and prioritize when it will replace each roof.
A separate client has retained Kipcon to take monthly drone evaluations during construction, while another owner has hired it to inspect the leaking skylights of a large retail property.
The firm has sought to turn additional clients onto the idea in part by hosting seminars with property managers and other professionals over the past year.
“What portion of our business could potentially use drones, even if it’s not yet?” Frumkin asked. “I would say 75 percent of what we do could use a drone. There’s no question about it.”
For example, inspecting a road for cracks has traditionally meant walking the pavement and taking measurements, then marking a site plan with boxes to indicate the damaged areas. Frumkin said that process has always left some room for error when it came time to turn over the project to a repair crew, but with a drone, engineers can perform a flyover that takes current photos of the site and provide their client with actual, up-close images of the cracks.
“Now, you take the picture and you have the scale, you can draw it in the office and it tells you the dimensions,” Frumkin said. “And the contractor who looks at it knows exactly where the cracks are.”
The technology can also be useful and valuable when it comes to surveying for developers.
“It costs a lot of money and it takes a lot of time to walk the site and do a survey,” said Adam Frumkin, a project manager with Kipcon and son of Mitchell. “But with a drone … for a couple thousand dollars max, you would get a topographic survey of the entire site and then they can decide whether or not they can actually build on that land. Or, if they are already building, they can do the site plan using that topographic map.”
The safety benefits are especially evident when it comes to performing inspections in places such as steep, uneven rooftops or elevated building facades. Kipcon has pitched high rise building owners on providing a 360-degree drone view of their properties rather than using scaffolding, which can also be a timesaver for the landlord.
But the firm has also encountered skepticism from clients who are reluctant to try something new.
“One of the hardest parts is that, since it’s a new technology, a lot of people are hesitant to use it because it’s new and it’s different,” said Adam Frumkin, who has spearheaded the firm’s push into UAV technology. He added that it can be difficult to land a meeting with every prospective client, but for “the ones that we’ve gotten in front of, they’ve been convinced, for the most part.”
Integrating drones into its practice has meant forging partnerships with those that specialize in the technology. Over the past year, Kipcon has connected with operators in New Jersey and other states, allowing it to offer the service in any market in which it has a project.
“There are drone companies out there that are not engineers, but they have the latest and greatest equipment, they have all the insurance and they have licensed pilots around the country,” Mitchell Frumkin said. “So we work with companies like that because they become our eyes — they’re a tool that we use rather than us taking on the responsibility, the insurance and all of the equipment.”
The firm also plans to offer the services in-house in the case of smaller projects. Last month, the elder Frumkin passed the 60-question Federal Aviation Administration exam to become a commercially licensed pilot, while several others at Kipcon have been studying to do the same. Doing so requires two to three months of preparation and developing a level of expertise in areas such as reading weather maps and understanding airspace restrictions around airports.
That’s not to mention the rules of flying the drone. The FAA mandates that the vehicles fly no more than 400 feet off the ground, while the pilot is required to keep it within his or her line of sight at all times.
But by all indications, the benefits of using the technology make it a worthwhile endeavor. Along with the traditional duties of engineers, the other uses for drones in commercial real estate are only growing, according to Kipcon. Some developers and property owners have also embraced the technology for both marketing and due diligence, providing an economical way to document or promote a project as it’s under construction.
For Kipcon, latching onto the technology now has the potential to be a differentiator.
“The way that my mind works is that, as soon as I see something that could help us that somebody else isn’t doing, I use it because it sets us apart from the competition,” Mitchell Frumkin said.
