Updated October 2026

Construction progress flights, priced by the pilot who flies them

Construction progress flights are off-menu on Astral Pic. You describe the site, the window and what you need, verified Part 107 pilots nearby name their price, and you pick one. Your price is the pilot's quote plus our 20% fee, shown before you accept, and you pay by Stripe invoice after the pilot is confirmed.

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What is a construction progress flight?

A progress flight is a repeatable set of aerial stills and short video of a construction site, flown on a schedule so owners, lenders, general contractors and marketing teams can see the state of the work without a site visit. Pilots fly the same positions each time, usually corner overviews, a straight-down view and a short orbit.

Who orders it

General contractors documenting progress for owner reports and pay applications. Developers and lenders who want to see the site before a draw without driving out. Home builders recording a lot from slab to roof. Owners' representatives, and marketing teams that need a dated aerial for a sales office or a website. Construction and infrastructure was the largest end-user segment of North American drone services in 2025, at about 32% (Mordor Intelligence, as read in our October 2026 market notes).

Who flies it

Every Astral Pic job is flown by a pilot who showed us a current FAA Part 107 certificate, the FAA registration label on their drone and a liability insurance certificate of at least $1 million before they could accept a job. A person checked each one. If your contract needs a $2 million limit or a certificate naming you as additional insured, say so in the description so only pilots who can provide it quote.

What it is not

It is not a survey, a stamped drawing or an engineering deliverable. Orthomosaics, volume reports and 3D models need RTK hardware and licensed sign-off that Astral Pic does not provide; a pilot may offer plain mapping outputs in a quote, and you decide whether to accept.

Why is it quoted instead of fixed?

Because no two sites are alike. A quarter-acre infill lot and a 40-acre distribution center need different flight time, different airspace work, different access and different files, and a progress series may run monthly for a year. A fixed package fits a house. For a site, the pilot who will actually fly looks at your description and names the price.

How the price is built

The pilot names their payout, from $50 to $5,000. Your price is that payout divided by 0.8, rounded up to the next dollar; the difference is the 20% platform fee. A $400 quote means you pay $500; a $350 quote means you pay $438. Both numbers are printed on every quote before you accept, and the pilot does not see other pilots' bids.

What published rate guides say

UAV Coach's 2026 pricing guide puts a construction monitoring visit at $500 to $2,000 and a project at $1,000 to $3,000. Unmanned Aerial describes monthly progress-capture retainers of $1,200 to $3,000 per site. Drone U's service cost guide gives an example pilot charging $300 per progress flight and later $450. All three were read in October 2026. These are not Astral Pic prices. On Astral Pic the pilot names the price and the platform fee is already inside it. More ranges, with sources, are in the drone photography pricing guide; the quote rules are on the pricing page.

How does the quote path work?

You describe the site once, pilots within range send prices, you accept one, and we email a Stripe invoice. The accepted pilot calls your site contact the day before, flies inside the agreed window and uploads the files within 24 hours. You approve within 48 hours and the pilot is paid within 7 days.

Describe the site

On the booking page choose Something else (get a quote), type the site address, pick Construction site, give a window of days and describe the job in 20 to 1,000 characters: acreage, what to capture, how often, who meets the pilot, any crane or active work.
Pilots send prices

Verified pilots whose radius covers the site see your request and name a payout with a short note. Your price appears next to each bid, with the pilot's credential card. There is no fixed response time yet, so leave room before your first flight.
Accept one and pay by invoice

Accept a quote and we email a Stripe invoice for your price. The job appears under Your jobs once we have set it up, usually within one business day. A person at Astral Pic confirms the payment, and the pilot does not fly before that.
Flight, files, approval

Your pilot calls the day before, flies in daylight inside the window and uploads within 24 hours. Files reach your private page within 48 hours. Approve them, or ask for one round of changes, within 48 hours. Your pilot is paid within 7 days of approval.

Right now each flight is one quote. For a recurring series, say so in the description and ask pilots to quote per visit; you can request the same pilot by name next time. A standing schedule is on our list but is not built yet. Cancellation policy.

What do you receive, and when?

What you receive is what the quote says: stills and short video as plain files on a private page within 48 hours of each flight. You have 48 hours to approve or ask for one round of changes. Astral Pic does not deliver stamped surveys, orthomosaics or volume reports unless a pilot offers them in the quote and you accept.

The files

Usually overview stills from the same positions each visit, a straight-down view of the whole site and a short orbit clip. The page shows the delivery date and any note your pilot adds. Download them one by one or all at once and keep your own copies; nothing is watermarked, and the page is for delivery, not long-term storage. Only you, your pilot and Astral Pic staff can open the page.

Who owns them

The pilot owns the copyright. Once payment is confirmed and you approve the delivery, you hold a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, edit and publish the files to market, sell, lease, finance, insure, inspect, repair, build or document the property, including sharing them with your lender, owner, contractors and insurers. The pilot may show the work in a portfolio without the address. Read the footage license.

If something is missing

Ask for changes once, within 48 hours of delivery, and say which view you need. The pilot re-edits or, if the view could not be taken without another flight, says so, and you can talk it through in the job messages. When the pilot delivers again, a new 48-hour window starts and you approve. After that round you approve, and the pilot is paid within 7 days.

What does the pilot check before flying?

Daylight, 400 feet above the ground or 400 feet above a nearby structure, 3 miles of visibility, and no rain, sustained wind over 20 mph or flight restriction. Near an airport the pilot gets LAANC authorization first. On an active site the pilot also plans paths that avoid sustained flight over your crew and keeps clear of cranes.

Over your crew

FAA rule 14 CFR 107.39 allows flight over a person only if they are directly taking part in the flight, are under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle, or the aircraft meets one of the Category 1 to 4 standards, or the pilot holds a waiver. Site workers are usually not participants, so the pilot flies around them or asks the superintendent for a short pause on one corner.

Airspace

Much of any large metro sits under Class B, C or D airspace around its airports. The FAA's LAANC system gives near-real-time authorization at 726 airports (FAA LAANC page, updated September 29, 2026, as read in our October 2026 regulatory notes). Above the facility map ceiling the pilot files a further coordination request at least 72 hours ahead. Give a window of three days or more and we flag likely controlled airspace when you type the address.

Site permission and weather

The pilot launches from the site with the general contractor's or owner's permission, or from public land with permission; you confirm your authority over the site when you book, and your site contact should know the pilot is coming. If the pilot calls it off for weather or airspace you pay nothing extra and you pick a new window within 14 days. The weather policy has the limits in full.

Questions builders ask

The short version: you can ask for the same pilot, the pilot will not hover over your crew unless the aircraft is rated for it, and you can hand the files to your lender, owner and marketing team. The details are below. For anything specific to your site, put it in the description and pilots will quote around it.

Can we get the same pilot every month?

You can ask. Write the pilot's name in your next request and they will see it on their Quotes tab if the site is inside their radius; most pilots prefer repeat sites because they already know the positions. Right now there is no standing schedule or subscription, so each visit is its own quote and invoice. If the pilot is unavailable, other verified pilots nearby can quote instead.

Can the drone fly over our crew?

Only if the pilot's aircraft meets one of the FAA's Category 1 to 4 standards for flight over people under 14 CFR 107.39, or the pilot holds a waiver. Otherwise the aircraft does not maintain sustained flight over anyone who is not part of the flight. In practice the pilot flies the perimeter and the straight-down views from offset positions, and may ask for a short pause on one area. Tell us in the description if the site will be active during the window.

Who owns the files, and can our lender see them?

The pilot owns the copyright. Once payment is confirmed and you approve, you hold a perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, copy, edit and publish the files to document, build, finance, insure, market or sell that property, which covers your lender, owner, insurer and marketing team. The pilot may show the work in a portfolio without the address, and Astral Pic shows a delivery as a sample only when you tick the consent box.

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