Drone Close Visual Inspection (CVI) for High-Risk Assets
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Hover Aerial Imaging delivers Close Visual Inspection (CVI) of high-risk infrastructure across South East Queensland and Northern NSW. Operating under CASA ReOC #9398, we replace rope access, scaffolding, and Elevating Work Platforms with high-definition aerial imagery captured from safe ground positions. Every inspection produces sub-millimetre georeferenced visual data — a permanent, repeatable, engineer-defensible record of asset condition.
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​What is drone Close Visual Inspection (CVI)?
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A Close Visual Inspection is a structured visual inspection performed against a defined standard (typically AS 5100, AS 3600, asset-owner-specific standards, or operator condition rating frameworks). Drone-based CVI substitutes the access method (traditionally rope, scaffold, EWP, or confined-space entry) with aerial standoff capture. The inspecting engineer still reviews the data and signs off on condition. The drone removes the access risk, cost, and time.
Which assets are most suited to drone CVI?
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Bridges — steel and concrete, road and rail, including underdeck, piers, abutments, bearings, expansion joints
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Telecommunications and transmission towers — antenna arrays, climber bolts, structural welds, ladders, lightning protection
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Dams, spillways, and weir structures — concrete face, crest walls, gate mechanisms, downstream apron
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Industrial chimneys, flare stacks, silos, cooling towers — vertical assets where access is high risk and time consuming
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Rail infrastructure — bridges, tunnels (with sufficient lighting and waiver), substations, gantries
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Wind turbines — Inspection of blades, hub, nacelle
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Building façades — high-rise commercial, body-corporate residential, heritage masonry
What does the CVI deliverable include?
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High-resolution georeferenced imagery — sub-millimetre resolution, captured to the inspection standard's defect-class specification
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Dilapidation and condition reports (.PDF) — written summary aligned to your inspection standard
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3D digital twin or orthomosaic of the asset, on which defects can be marked and review
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Defect register (.CSV) — geolocated, classified, photographed, and confidence-scored where
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AIassisted Capture metadata — flight plan, GSD, GCP coordinates, weather conditions, CASA airspace authorisation references
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Signed inspection report — by partnered structural engineer where required (additional)
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Drone CVI typically costs 30–70% less than equivalent rope-access or EWP-based inspection, driven primarily by reduced access cost (no scaffolding, no traffic control, or equipment hire) and faster capture.
Critical-asset rapid inspections that would take 2–3 days by rope access are completed in a single shift by drone. Recurring inspection programs compound the savings further.
How does drone CVI compare on cost?
Frequently Asked Questions
Are your drone inspections compliant with Tier-1 safety standards?
Yes. Hover Aerial Imaging operates under CASA ReOC #9398. Every project is delivered with Job Safety Assessments (JSAs) and Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS). All pilots hold valid Construction White Cards and CASA RePLs. We have $20M Public Liability insurance.
What standards do your CVI inspections align to?
We capture to your specified standard. Typical alignments include AS 5100 (bridges), AS 3600 (concrete), asset-owner-specific standards (Queensland Rail, Transport for NSW, Powerlink, Energex/ Ergon), and IPWEA condition rating frameworks. We tune flight plans, GSD, and standoff to the smallest defect class your standard requires.
Do you provide the engineering report or just the imagery?
Our scope is data capture and processing. For asset-condition sign-off, we partner with structural engineers who review the captured data and produce signed inspection reports. We can quote with or without the engineer's report — let us know your project requirements.
Can you inspect inside box girders, tunnels, or confined spaces?
For most box girders, tunnels, and partially confined spaces, our standard drones can operate with adequate lighting and CASA waiver in these enviroments, while our equipment can operate in GPS denied enviroments, mapping and location accuracy will be affected.
What's the typical turnaround on a CVI report?
Standard delivery is 5 to 7 working days from capture. Time-critical inspections (weekend rail possessions, emergency assessments after weather events) are expedited to 24 to 48 hours from capture, with raw imagery transferable on the same day if needed. We can also operate in a 'live' enviroment, tranferring deiscovered defects to your team on the ground in real-time.