Top five use cases for drones in construction project management

Construction project management teams rely on drones for real-time visibility from day zero—improving safety and reducing costly rework. Five of the top drone use cases in construction are progress tracking, site surveys, safety inspections, earthwork analysis, and stakeholder reporting.

And solutions like OpenSpace Air make these tasks easy to achieve. With OpenSpace Air, it’s simple to add drone imagery into our Visual Intelligence Platform, where we process it automatically, and connect it with other project data for a complete view of your site.

Here’s a look at these top five use cases:

1. Progress tracking & documentation

The first way drones support construction project management is by helping you track progress over time. With drones, you can capture high-resolution aerial imagery that provides a clear record of how work is advancing—without needing to walk every inch of the site.

Key benefits:

• Start documenting even before a shovel hits the ground, for visibility from the start
• Reduce time spent on manual documentation
• Improve accountability and transparency
• Get a visual as-built record for billing, disputes, and reporting

Real-world example:

A general contractor using OpenSpace Air uploads drone captures weekly to automatically generate orthomosaics and 3D meshes. Project managers can then use Split View to compare up to four captures side by side to display progress over the course of multiple weeks or months, spot deviations from design intent early with the drawing overlay feature, and share progress visuals directly with owners—all without leaving the OpenSpace platform.

2. Site surveys & mapping

Drones have become an essential tool for site surveying and preconstruction planning. Specifically, you can capture accurate topographical data and generate maps and point clouds in a fraction of the time it takes using traditional surveying methods.

Key benefits:

• Faster, safer, and more cost-effective than manual surveys
• Accurate measurements for grading, drainage, and layout
• Easier logistic planning
• High-quality data that integrates with BIM and CAD tools

Real-world example:

Civil contractors use OpenSpace Air to automatically create 3D meshes and orthomosaics from standard drone flights. You can easily export the resulting files into the formats you need for uploading into tools like ArcGIS and Civil 3D for accurate planning and design validation.

3. Safety & risk management

Our next use case for taking advantage of drone imagery in construction is improving safety with remote inspections and monitoring. Instead of sending folks into hazardous or hard-to-reach areas, you can use drones to safely capture images and videos from above.

Key benefits:

• Keep crews out of unsafe environments
• Identify potential hazards earlier
• Help safety managers validate compliance, anytime and from anywhere

Real-world example:

A safety manager uses a drone to capture aerial overviews of their active zones and staging areas. After ingesting drone imagery into OpenSpace Air, they can layer the captures with site plans to verify barricade placement and ensure clear pathways for equipment and on-site teams. You can make these visuals, plus every drone image geolocated over the base map in full resolution, available to the rest of the safety team and pertinent stakeholders.

4. Earthwork & volume analysis

Drones make earthwork and volume measurement faster, easier, and more accurate than ever. By comparing drone-generated topographic data over time, teams can calculate cut-and-fill volumes and accurately monitor progress.

Key benefits:

• Reduce the need for manual measurement
• Assess grading, drainage, and cut-fill areas with heatmaps and measurement tools
• Track quantities and productivity
• Help validate subcontractor invoices and avoid disputes

Real-world example:

Using OpenSpace Air, site engineers analyze grading and excavation areas with cut-fill functionality and elevation models generated from their drone captures. That gives them more accurate reporting and reduced risk of costly over-excavation.

Note that 2D and 3D measurement functionality will be launching in OpenSpace Air in the coming weeks. With these powerful and accurate measurement capabilities, users will be able to streamline site analysis, improve accuracy, and reduce manual surveying time for construction and earthwork projects.

5. Stakeholder communication & reporting

Drone imagery is super effective for keeping all stakeholders informed. Having high-quality visuals makes it easy to clearly communicate project updates to clients, investors, and leadership teams—without requiring technical expertise.

Key benefits:

• Simplify complex information with imagery
• Build trust and transparency with clients
• Improve collaboration across teams

Real-world example:

Owners and developers use OpenSpace Air to help create visual reports that combine aerial and 360° captures. Everyone—from executives to field teams—can see progress and make faster, more confident decisions.

OpenSpace Air—drones in the Visual Intelligence Platform

With OpenSpace Air, you can upload imagery from any drone and we’ll automatically create high-quality orthomosaics, 3D meshes, and point clouds. With drone imagery added to our Visual Intelligence Platform, you have a single, easy-to-use place to access all your site imagery—from drones, smartphones, 360° cameras, and laser scanners.

The result? Clarity from every angle—making it fast and easy to turn imagery into intelligence you can use to manage projects efficiently, reduce risk, and make decisions with confidence.

FAQs about drone use cases in construction

1. How are drones used in construction project management?

Drones are used for surveying, progress tracking, inspections, logistic planning, and reporting. They capture high-quality visual data that helps teams manage sites safely, efficiently, and accurately.

2. What are the benefits of drones in construction?

Drone imagery improves visibility from day zero, reduces site visits, enhances safety, and saves time. You can also use your drone data to generate accurate documentation for billing, QA/QC, and schedule tracking.

3. Can drones integrate with project management tools?

Yes. Platforms like OpenSpace Air can help you manage and produce drone data that can be ingested into popular tools such as ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online, Autodesk systems like ACC and Civil 3D; plus project management systems like Procore and many more. All creating one central source of truth for project reality.

4. How do drones reduce risk in construction?

By capturing aerial data quickly and safely, drones minimize the need for manual inspections and provide early warnings of safety or schedule issues, helping teams take proactive action.

Want to learn more about OpenSpace Air?

• Grab time with one of our experts to chat and see OpenSpace Air in action, or contact your OpenSpace representative if you’re already an OpenSpace customer
• Head to our OpenSpace Air web page
• Read our FAQs for OpenSpace Air blog post
• Watch Director of Product Jess Lam’s talk about OpenSpace Air from Waypoint 2025