The Capston, Embassy Gardens
Ballymore
Quarterly buyer update film, Episode 1 of 8
Case study
Tier 1 main contractor (named under NDA) | Canary Wharf commercial scheme
Monthly aerial monitoring | Ongoing, 2025-2027
Overview
Over & Above runs a monthly aerial monitoring programme for a Tier 1 main contractor on a commercial high-rise scheme at Canary Wharf. The client and the development are named in writing under a signed NDA on request from procurement and contract administrator teams.
The programme covers monthly programmed flights along a fixed flight path, captured to GPS-locked positional accuracy, with stills and edited video delivered within 48 hours of every flight. The contract duration is eighteen months, covering the full vertical build above the existing podium.
The brief.
The principal contractor required an independent monthly aerial record of the build for three purposes. Programme verification against the agreed milestones for the senior client team. Visual evidence supporting the monthly QS valuation cycle. Defensible site condition documentation in the event of variation, delay or condition disputes.
The brief also required full procurement-grade compliance with the principal contractor's onboarding system, including SSIP accreditation, RAMS submitted in their preferred format, current Certificate of Insurance at Tier 1 levels (£10m public liability), and CDM 2015 alignment with the principal contractor's site management regime.
Restricted airspace coordination was a precondition. The site sits inside the London City Airport approach envelope. Any flight above ground level requires coordinated clearance with London City ATC. The contractor needed an operator who held the active workflow rather than one who would have to establish it from scratch on a tight programme.
What we did.
Over & Above mobilised inside the principal contractor's standard onboarding window. SSIP documentation, current Certificates of Insurance, the standard RAMS template, and the CAA Operational Authorisation reference were issued on day one of engagement. The first survey flight was conducted within fourteen days of contract signature.
The survey flight established the GPS-locked flight path. Twelve waypoints, three altitudes, four cardinal-elevation angles. Every monthly flight runs the same mission, automated through the aircraft's mission planning, with the pilot overseeing and intervening only where wind or local airspace activity requires manual override. The same shots, the same angles, the same lighting condition where time of day allows. Plus or minus one metre on position. Plus or minus one degree on yaw and pitch.
London City Airport ATC coordination is run for every flight. The flight envelope is agreed in advance, the takeoff window is notified, and the operation is conducted within the approved envelope without exception. The principal contractor receives a written clearance summary alongside the monthly delivery.
Monthly outputs include twelve high-resolution stills from the documented waypoints, an edited 60-90 second flyover with date-stamped lower-thirds for stakeholder distribution, and the original raw files retained on UK-resident cloud infrastructure for the duration of the contract plus twelve months. A chain-of-custody log is maintained throughout, available on request for any contested progress valuation or condition claim.
At the eighteen-month mark, the monthly captures will cut into a single time-lapse covering the full vertical build from podium to topping out. The time-lapse becomes a permanent asset for the principal contractor and the client.
Deliverables.
- Monthly programmed aerial flight along documented GPS-locked flight envelope
- Twelve high-resolution aerial stills per flight, captured to consistent waypoints
- Edited 60-90 second flyover per flight, colour-graded, date-stamped
- Cloud delivery within 48 hours of every flight
- London City Airport ATC coordination for every flight inside the approach envelope
- Chain-of-custody log retained for the duration of the contract plus twelve months
- Time-lapse archive of the full vertical build, cut on completion
Result.
The programme is ongoing. Monthly flights have run on the agreed schedule with no missed months. The principal contractor reports that the consistency of the visual record has materially improved the monthly senior client review and that the QS valuation cycle now references the aerial stills as standard supporting evidence.
Specific stills, project name, and full case-study material are available under NDA on written request to procurement teams.
For procurement and case-study requests, contact hello@overaboveaerial.com or call 0207 458 4997. The full project name, contractor name and stills from the monthly programme are released under signed NDA.
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