How can dilapidation reports & surveys capture extreme weather impacts

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In the aftermath of extreme weather events, it can be hard to picture how things looked and operated before. This can be a challenge when it comes to councils repairing and restoring community damage, with few clear before and after images and documentation.

A dilapidation report is essentially a real-time report that documents an area at all times of the day, times oy the year, or any frequency required to support council projects. Here are some of the ways that dilapidation surveys and reports can support locations that are subject to extreme weather conditions.

Most cities will not have a plan in place to conduct regular photography throughout the whole city, and so the streets, urban areas, green spaces, roads and bushland do not have up-to-date data. In the unfortunate event of a bushfire or other natural disaster, it is critical that the affected locations have data they can access that can identify the extensive damage done and how that relates to the previous environment.

Project managers, developers and construction teams can also benefit from these snapshots. These images are easily collected by AI, through vehicle-mounted cameras which create a 3D map.

Another great advantage to dilapidation reports is that they can identify threats, proactively. For example, vehicle-mounted cameras may show that there are reservoirs that are almost full, drains and fire hydrants that are leaking, and even changes in the local environment that may make floods and bushfires more dangerous.

This means that industry experts can assess these areas and potential threats in real-time and keep tabs on them, rather than having to physically attend these areas.

In an ideal world, our council and community officials will notice and fix anything that requires quality assurance, but this does not always happen or does not happen as quickly as it should. Now community alerts and complaints can be followed up with up to date 3D mapping technology.

City and urban planning are made easier with 3D mapping and dilapidation reports. Opportunities can be explored without having to test an area in a way that inconveniences locals, and the area can be observed in its natural flow.

Public transport routines and changes to roads and highways can also be explored and the foot and car traffic can be accurately anticipated by looking at the short and long-term activity in these areas.

For cities that are prone to extreme weather events, these transport pathways need to be reliable and able to receive large traffic at a moment's notice.

These areas can be independently assessed and growth plans can be underway to create safer routes. Making mistakes and creating bottlenecks is not an option as it will blow out budgets, and timelines and create greater risks.

These 3D mapping tools are not only to be seen by council officials, but they also serve the purpose of educating and communicating with communities.

For example, communities can be kept informed of the nature of a potential threat, like constant rainfall impacting reservoirs and nearby bodies of water. Police, councils and other trusted sources can distribute these 3D maps so that families can make informed decisions over whether to stay or leave and what routes are the most logical based on that information.

Communicating these real-time images can also cover any shortfalls that may occur when improvements and construction are planned but not yet executed.

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As Australia faces some of the harshest weather events in recent history, it's important that new technologies and processes are tested and implemented. Dilapidation surveys and reports serve communities on several levels.