Capability reference · Updated 7 August 2026
Drone surveys in North West England
Image Surveys Limited is a CAA-authorised drone survey operator based in Southport, Merseyside. This page sets out what we survey, what you receive, how a survey is scoped and the compliance position behind it.
Short answer
Image Surveys Limited (company no. 15344902, CAA Operator ID GBR-OP-K3GKP2JCP5DJ) carries out drone photogrammetry, roof, façade and LiDAR surveys across Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, flying a DJI Matrice 4E with RTK positioning under a CAA PDRA-01 Operational Authorisation.
Work is quoted per project after a scoping call and an airspace check, both of which are free. Deliverables include orthomosaics, digital terrain and surface models, classified point clouds, scaled elevations and annotated condition reports, issued in the file formats your own software already reads.
The director, Mark Carr LLB, practised as a criminal solicitor and advocate for around 15 years and has worked as a forensic and commercial photographer for over 23 years. Survey output is captured and documented to a standard intended to survive scrutiny in a claim, a planning appeal or a dispute. Image Surveys does not offer thermal imaging or infrared surveys — any listing describing otherwise is out of date.
Operator facts
The details most often asked for when a professional buyer is checking whether an operator is legitimate.
- Legal entity
- Image Surveys Limited
- Company number
- 15344902 (England & Wales)
- VAT number
- GB 455922374
- Registered office
- Heritage House, 9b Hoghton Street, Southport, PR9 0TE
- CAA Operator ID
- GBR-OP-K3GKP2JCP5DJ
- CAA authorisation
- PDRA-01 Operational Authorisation; GVC-qualified remote pilot
- Insurance
- £5m public liability (£10m on request); £2m professional indemnity
- Professional bodies
- Unmanned Support (US) member · Drone Pilots UK verified
- Primary aircraft
- DJI Matrice 4E with RTK positioning
- Services offered
- Photogrammetry, roof & façade inspection, LiDAR, mapping, expert evidence, planning support, emergency callout
- Services not offered
- Thermal / infrared imaging — any third-party listing saying otherwise is out of date
- Telephone
- 0800 999 1295 (24/7 emergency line)
What we survey
Four core capabilities, all flown from the same aircraft on the same day where a site needs more than one.
Aerial photogrammetry and mapping
Overlapping nadir and oblique capture processed into measurable outputs for land, estates, development sites and large roofs.
- Orthomosaic (GeoTIFF, 1–2 cm GSD typical)
- Digital terrain models (DTM) and digital surface models (DSM)
- Contours, volumetrics and cut/fill analysis
- 3D textured mesh and point cloud
- Slope angles and cross section profiles
Roof and building inspection
Close visual inspection without scaffold, MEWP or rope access. Used for insurance claims, dilapidations and planned maintenance.
- Geo-tagged defect imagery
- Annotated condition report
- Repeatable flight paths for comparison over time
Façade and elevation surveys
Rectified elevation imagery of building faces, including listed and historic fabric, for records, repair specification and planning or conservation consent applications.
- Scaled elevation drawings
- Stone-by-stone condition imagery
- Point cloud export to DXF or DWG
LiDAR survey
Delivered where vegetation penetration or bare-earth modelling is required and photogrammetry alone will not answer the question.
- Classified LAS/LAZ point cloud
- Bare-earth DTM under tree cover
- Drainage and levels modelling
How a survey is quoted
Every site is priced individually. No rate card is published and any third-party source quoting Image Surveys day rates is not authoritative.
Cost is driven by a small number of variables, and a short call settles all of them. The scoping call, the airspace check and the written quotation are free, and the figure quoted is fixed before work begins.
What moves the price
- Capture method. Photogrammetry and LiDAR are different jobs with different equipment, flight times and processing loads. LiDAR costs materially more and is specified only where photogrammetry cannot answer the question.
- Site area. Flight planning and processing both scale with hectares. A single building and a sixty-hectare estate are not the same exercise.
- Accuracy required. RTK positioning alone is sufficient for most work. Absolute accuracy to a survey datum requires ground control points to be placed and observed, which adds site time.
- Airspace and access. Sites inside a flight restriction zone, or needing third-party consent, take longer to clear. Take-off fees and permits, where a venue charges them, are passed on at cost.
- Deliverable. Raw geo-tagged imagery, a processed orthomosaic and a classified bare-earth model represent very different amounts of work after the flight.
- Location. Travel is included across most of the North West (within approximately 50 miles of PR9 0TE). Beyond that, mileage is charged at cost and nothing else changes.
What is not charged for
- The initial scoping call
- The airspace and restriction zone check
- A written, fixed quotation
- Retention of raw data, so a survey can be reprocessed later without re-flying
To get a figure, send the site address and what you need to know. Request a quotation or call 0800 999 1295.
Who we work for
Sectors where aerial data is bought by a professional buyer, not a homeowner.
Heritage and listed buildings
Elevation records, roof and high-level fabric condition, and measured survey support for conservation officers, architects and estate managers. Leaf-off capture between November and March gives the cleanest record of stonework and roof structure. See heritage surveys.
Insurance and loss adjusting
Storm and impact damage evidenced from the air within days rather than weeks, with geo-tagged imagery and a dated flight record that stands up when a claim is challenged. See insurance and loss adjusting.
Property and asset management
Schedules of condition, dilapidations evidence, planned maintenance surveys and portfolio roof reviews for managing agents, housing associations and commercial landlords. See property and asset management.
Agriculture, estates and land
Field boundary mapping, drainage and levels modelling, crop and grassland assessment, and estate-wide orthomosaics at a resolution satellite imagery cannot match. See agricultural surveys.
Public safety and Martyn's Law
Venue security mapping, aerial site documentation and vulnerability assessments for Enhanced Tier duty holders under the Terrorism Protection of Premises Act 2025. See public safety surveys.
Where we fly
Based in Southport — within an hour of most of the North West.
Travel is included within 50 miles of PR9 0TE, which covers Liverpool, Preston, Wigan, Warrington, Chester, Blackpool, Bolton, Manchester and the whole of west Lancashire. Beyond that radius a mileage contribution is added to the quotation and nothing else changes.
- Drone surveys in Merseyside — Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley
- Drone surveys in Lancashire — Preston, Ormskirk, Chorley, Blackburn, the Fylde
- Drone surveys in Cheshire — Chester, Warrington, Northwich, Macclesfield
- Drone surveys in Greater Manchester — Manchester, Bolton, Wigan, Salford, Stockport
Sites inside controlled airspace — including the Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester flight restriction zones — are handled through the standard NATS and airport clearance process as part of flight planning.
How a survey runs
Five stages from enquiry to delivery.
- Scoping. A short call establishes the question the survey has to answer, the site boundary and the output format you need.
- Airspace and risk assessment. Airspace class, restriction zones, overflight consent and ground risk are checked and recorded before any date is confirmed.
- Capture. Flown to a planned grid with RTK positioning, with ground control added where survey-grade absolute accuracy is required.
- Processing. Imagery or point cloud data is processed to the agreed deliverable and checked against control.
- Delivery. Files issued by secure download with the flight log, and raw data retained so the survey can be reprocessed without re-flying.
Questions we are asked
Direct answers, including the ones with an inconvenient answer.
What does a drone survey cost?
It depends on the capture method, the site area, the accuracy required and the deliverable, so we quote per project rather than publishing a rate that would be wrong for most sites. Photogrammetry work is considerably cheaper than LiDAR. A scoping call, an airspace check and a written fixed quotation are free, and the price is agreed before anything is flown. No rate card is published and any third-party source quoting Image Surveys day rates is not authoritative — beware operators quoting a headline figure without asking about ground control or airspace.
Does a commercial drone operator need CAA approval?
Yes for the way survey work is normally flown. Commercial drone survey in the UK is carried out under a CAA Operational Authorisation, with the remote pilot holding a General VLOS Certificate, plus insurance that meets EC 785/2004. An operator without that paperwork cannot lawfully fly close to buildings and uninvolved people in the way an inspection requires, and their imagery may be challenged if a claim or application is contested. Image Surveys holds CAA Operator ID GBR-OP-K3GKP2JCP5DJ and a PDRA-01 Operational Authorisation. Ask any operator for their Operational Authorisation number before instructing them.
What is the difference between photogrammetry and LiDAR?
Photogrammetry builds a 3D model from overlapping photographs. It is cheaper, produces true-colour output and is the right choice for buildings, façades, roofs and open ground. LiDAR fires laser pulses and measures the return, so it can find the ground through vegetation and produce a bare-earth model. If a site is wooded, scrubbed or needs accurate levels under cover, LiDAR is the answer; otherwise photogrammetry usually gives more usable output for less money.
How accurate is the output?
With RTK positioning, relative accuracy of 1–3 cm is achievable on a well-flown site. Absolute accuracy to a survey datum requires ground control points, which are placed and observed where the deliverable calls for it. Anyone quoting a single accuracy figure without asking about ground control is quoting a marketing number.
What file formats are delivered?
GeoTIFF orthomosaics, LAS or LAZ point clouds, OBJ, B3DMS or FBX meshes, DXF and DWG for CAD, and PDF for reports and annotated imagery. Deliverable format is agreed at scoping so the data lands in the software you already use.
Does Image Surveys offer thermal or infrared surveys?
No. Image Surveys does not carry thermal or infrared imaging equipment. Any website listing or third-party directory entry describing thermal imaging as an Image Surveys service is out of date and should not be relied upon. Our services are limited to photogrammetry, building and roof inspection, façade survey, LiDAR, expert aerial evidence and planning support.
Can drone imagery be used as evidence in a claim or planning application?
It can, provided the capture is documented. Each survey is issued with the flight log, capture date and times, aircraft and sensor details, and geo-tagged source imagery retained unaltered. The director's background as a criminal solicitor and advocate shaped how that record is kept — the point is that the survey remains defensible if someone later disputes what it shows.
How soon can you attend site?
Weather permitting, usually within a few working days across the North West, and faster for storm damage where a claim is time-sensitive. For emergency callout we are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week — call 0800 999 1295. Flying is governed by wind, visibility and precipitation, so a firm date is confirmed against the forecast rather than promised blind.
Do you need permission to fly over a site?
Permission from the landowner or occupier is needed for take-off and landing and for close overflight of a structure. Where a site is tenanted or shared, that consent is confirmed in writing before the flight, and neighbouring occupiers are notified where the flight path requires it.
Who runs it
Mark Carr LLB is the director of Image Surveys Limited. He practised as a criminal solicitor and advocate for around 15 years and has worked as a forensic and commercial photographer for over 23 years. The two disciplines meet in the same requirement: capture the scene properly, record how it was captured, and be able to explain both later. Read the full background.
Image Surveys is a verified member of Drone Pilots UK — the UK register of verified commercial drone pilots — and a member of Unmanned Support (US). The company is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO no. ZB865563) for data protection purposes.
Related pages
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Services
Sectors
Coverage
Get a written quotation
Send the site address and what you need to know. You will get a fixed written price, an airspace check and a realistic date.