We are proud to announce that we are now the official UK Repair and Maintenance Centre for Autel!
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It all begins with a phone call. A tenant reports a damp patch in the corner of the bedroom. It looks small, manageable, even. A quick repair job, maybe some repainting. But three months later, you're back. The mould has spread. The tenant is unwell. And what began as a minor maintenance issue has escalated into a costly remediation project, potential legal action and reputational damage you can't afford.
This isn't a worst-case scenario. It's a pattern playing out across social housing portfolios every day.
The hidden cost of reactive maintenance is that damp and mould don't announce themselves. By the time they're visible to the naked eye, the damage is already deep - structural, health-related and financial. Traditional inspections rely on what can be seen from the ground or accessed via scaffolding. But moisture doesn't wait for convenient access. It penetrates facades, gathers behind cladding and spreads through insulation long before it becomes obvious.
The result? Multiple site visits. Repeated call-outs. Escalating costs. And tenants who lose trust in their housing provider.
Under Awaab's Law, which came into effect in 2025, social housing providers now have a legal duty to investigate and address reports of damp and mould within strict timeframes. The law doesn't just demand faster responses, it demands better ones. That means identifying the root cause, not just treating the symptoms.
Thermal drone inspections offer something traditional methods can't: a complete thermal map of a building's envelope in a single visit. Using sophisticated infrared imaging, drones detect temperature variations that indicate moisture ingress, insulation failure or thermal bridging, often before any visible signs appear.
This isn't just about finding problems faster. It's about finding them all at once.
When a housing association receives a damp report, a thermal survey can validate the complaint, identify the source and map the full extent of the issue in one go. No guesswork. No return visits to "check if it's got worse." Just clear, actionable data that allows repairs to be targeted, effective and compliant within Awaab's Law timelines.
And because drones can access hard-to-reach areas, high-rise blocks and complex roof structures they eliminate the need for scaffolding or cherry pickers for initial assessments. That alone can save thousands per property.
Every return visit to the same property costs money. Labour, travel, equipment, admin… it all adds up. But the bigger cost is the one you don't always see straight away, tenant dissatisfaction, legal claims and the reputational damage that comes from being seen as slow to act.
Thermal inspections reduce repeat visits by getting it right the first time. They provide a baseline survey that can be referenced over time, helping housing providers track building performance, plan maintenance schedules and demonstrate compliance with regulatory standards.
In short, they turn reactive firefighting into proactive asset management.
Awaab’s Law has changed the standard for response time and action when damp and mould is involved. It's no longer enough to simply open a future investigation when tenants complain, housing providers must act quickly and decisively to address the root cause. Thermal drone inspections provide the evidence base to do exactly that. They show where moisture is entering. They reveal insulation defects. They highlight areas of heat loss that contribute to condensation and mould growth. And they do it all in a format that's clear, shareable and audit-ready.
Housing providers are now adopting this technology at pace, because it's fast, cost-effective and delivers the evidence needed to meet their legal obligations.
Mould and moisture aren't just maintenance issues, they're health issues, legal issues and financial risks rolled into one. The money you don't see is the money spent fixing the same problem multiple times over, defending disrepair claims or managing the fallout from a preventable tragedy.
Thermal drone inspections won't eliminate damp and mould. But they will help you find it sooner, fix it faster and prove you've done everything required by law.
The question isn't whether you can afford to look, it's whether you can afford not to?
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