New Survey Shows Just How Dependent Construction Is on Chinese Drones

ABC finds nearly all drone-using respondents rely primarily on DJI, highlighting the challenge of shifting to alternative platforms

by DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magil

As the U.S. government puts the squeeze on foreign drone manufacturers, it is likely to significantly increase costs for the drone users in the construction industry, virtually all of whom fly Chinese-made UAVs as their primary drones of choice according to a recent survey by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).

The survey found that the vast majority, 97.1%, of all ABC member companies that flew drones as part of their operations use DJI products as their primary operational drone, while 2.9% choose UAVs produced by Autel Robotics, another Chinese company, as their principle drone provider.

Federal officials have long sought to discourage the use of drones produced in foreign countries, particularly China, by end-users in the United States. In December, the Federal Trade Commission updated its Covered List to include foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems and UAS critical components, preventing new models from being imported.

To produce the study, ABC surveyed its member companies and found that 36% of respondents said they use drones in construction, aerial mapping and other operations. In an email statement, Matt Abeles, ABC vice president of construction technology and innovation, said the survey indicates that the industry’s embrace of drone technology is very real and likely to continue to expand in the future.

“There is still room for growth, with just one-third of respondents saying they fly drones. Even at that rate, this puts drones into a mainstream category of technology used on the jobsite,” he said.

The survey results represent a “statistically valid, representative sample of ABC’s contractor membership. Of note, 75% of them work in commercial construction,” he said.

How Much Construction Companies Spend on Drones

Abeles said the survey showed that most (62%) drone-using respondents reported investing only between $1,000 and $10,000 in drone hardware and related equipment, indicating that a massive investment in drone technology is not needed for most use cases.

In its survey, ABC posed a total of eight questions aimed at gathering data on the participants’ views on company participation, drone usage, equipment investments, operational applications, technology preferences and adoption challenges.

Respondents represented a broad cross-section of the construction industry, including commercial, multifamily, utility, federal, military and heavy-civil contractors. Several of the survey questions allowed respondents to select multiple answers, so percentage totals for those questions frequently exceeded 100%.

Those survey respondents who reported deploying drones in their operations said that among the biggest challenges they faced in adopting drone technology were regulatory and compliance issues (53.5%), training and staffing (43.4%) and limited use cases (37.4%).

Other challenges to adoption included: limited number of use cases for drones (37.4%), difficulty with integrating drones with existing workflows, (16.2%) and the high cost of equipment (12.1%).

How Drones are Used in Construction

Abeles said this was the first year that ABC had conducted the drone usage survey, and therefore the association did not have previous data about drone usage in the construction industry to use for comparison. However, he said ABC plans to combine the information gleaned from the survey with other member-driven data to help inform the association’s broader construction innovation strategy.

“The findings provide insight into how contractors are adopting and applying emerging technologies, where barriers exist, and where additional resources, education or advocacy may be needed,” he said. “ABC will evaluate opportunities to repeat the survey in future years, allowing member data to help identify trends, measure changes in technology adoption and guide future construction technology and innovation priorities.”

He added that the survey provides a window into the specific ways in which respondents used drones in their operations on a day-to-day basis.

“Drones are most often used for site progress monitoring (80.8%), marketing and media (77.5%) and inspections and mapping (50%),” he said.

Among the survey’s other findings:

• The most common payload/accessory package carried by construction industry drones (81.3%) comprises high-resolution RGB cameras, followed by real-time kinematic (RTK) and Post-Processed Kinematic (PPK) advanced satellite positioning systems (21.9%). Thermal cameras make up the third most payload/accessory package.
• Other commonly deployed payload/accessory packages include LiDAR sensors (18.8%), spotlights and other lighting systems (4.2%), payload delivery systems (2.1%) multispectral or hyperspectral sensors (2.1%) and loudspeakers (1%).
• Asked which drones they used other than their primary UAVs, respondents named several non-Chinese UAV producers including Wingtra (10.3%), Skydio (5.2%) and Parrot (1.7%).
• While most respondents (62%) said they spent between $1,000 and $10,000 on drone hardware and related equipment, 11% said they spent between $10,000 and $50,000; 5.9% between $50,000 and $100,00; 5.9%, between $100,000 and $250,000; 4.2% between $250,000 and $1 million; and 0.8% over $1 million. More than 10% of respondents declined to reveal their drone-related expenditures.