alright so a buddy of mine runs a roofing company and wants me to start doing aerial inspections for him, mostly insurance documentation stuff and pre-job assessments. ive been flying recreationally for a few years so im not a complete noob but ive never done anything commercial.

right now i have a Mavic 3 Classic which i know is a capable bird but im wondering if its actually enough for this kind of work or if i need to be looking at something more dedicated. the camera is good but like, is it good enough that a claims adjuster is going to take the output seriously? also thinking about whether i should add a thermal option eventually, ive heard moisture detection under membranes is a thing with thermal but im not sure how practical that actually is in the field.

also does anyone know if i need anything beyond part 107 for commercial roofing inspections specifically, i got my cert last year but havent really dug into the liability insurance side of things yet which is probably dumb of me at this point

mavic 3 is honestly fine for rgb roofing docs, ive seen guys deliver perfectly acceptable inspection reports with less. the limiting factor is usually your flight planning and consistency more than the sensor ? if youre doing a proper grid pattern with decent overlap the output is going to look professional regardless. where you might feel the limitation is really tight urban jobs with obstruction or super windy days where a heavier bird would just sit more stable.

on the thermal moisture thing, yes it works but there are specific conditions ? you basically need to fly either early morning or after sunset when the surface has been heating and cooling, and even then interpreting the data correctly is a whole skill. its not plug and play. for a starting out roofing gig i wouldnt stress about thermal yet, get the workflow dialed in first.

and yeah definitely sort out the insurance before you take any money, general liability and hull coverage at minimum, your buddys homeowner or business policy isnt going to cover your drone if something goes wrong on site

tbh the adjusters i've worked with dont really care what drone you used as long as the imagery is sharp and geotagged properly. had one guy ask me what "software" i used and he meant like, the drone itself lol. what they care about is coverage, resolution, and can they see the damage clearly. Mavic 3 will do that no problem.