Could you describe Domofrance's business?

Domofrance is an Entreprise Sociale pour l'Habitat, a subsidiary of the Action Logement Immobilier Group. We are the leading social landlord in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, managing nearly 40,700 housing units. Domofrance supports local authorities in the development of their territory by participating in neighborhood planning. Our aim is to meet the specific needs of families, students, young professionals and people with reduced autonomy, by offering them housing that is adapted to their needs throughout their residential career.

Why do you use drones in your business?

Domofrance has been a partner of Bordeaux Technowest for the past 5 years, and already uses drones to inspect inaccessible structures as a preventive measure, following disasters, or for the acceptance of structures after work has been completed.

The use of drones offers many advantages for our technical inspection missions. This more efficient and less costly method enables us to carry out several inspection missions in a single operation. When it comes to monitoring our property assets, it's essential to ensure a high level of service quality for our tenants, and to prevent risky situations. Drones enable us to carry out aerial inspections of balconies, roofs, terraces and other parts of buildings, detecting pathologies invisible to the naked eye. Without the technical innovation, these inspections would mean gondolas deployed on buildings, visits to each dwelling and many hours of work. Thanks to the use of drones, we can anticipate potential problems, ensure the safety of structures and optimize our property management. This approach is part of our digitalization and innovation strategy, which enables us to improve the performance and quality of the services we provide to our tenants.

At a time when the construction industry is going digital, drones have a key role to play in the virtuous management of assets.

How long have you been using drones for your assignments?

We began exploring the use of drones in 2019. Then, we embarked on a pilot project to test this innovative technology in the inspection of our buildings specifically for balconies. The results were conclusive, and since then we have integrated drones into our inspection practices to optimize our maintenance operations and monitoring of our assets.

Do you work with service providers or have you brought this skill in-house? If in-house, what is the added value?

We have chosen to work in collaboration with service providers specialized in the use of drones and associated technologies, such as Lynxdrone. Working with these partners gives us access to dedicated know-how and state-of-the-art equipment, guaranteeing the reliability and quality of our inspections.

Why are you taking part in UAV SHOW? What are your expectations of the show?

Domofrance is committed to sustainable and responsible development. We are B Corp certified, meeting demanding environmental, societal and social standards. As part of our 2019-2023 Strategic Business Plan, we are giving prime importance to local roots and digital transition. Our participation in UAV SHOW is part of this dynamic, highlighting our projects and our ecosystem, while contributing to the modernization of the social housing sector thanks to technological advances. As a company like ours, we believe it's our duty to support local innovations and develop them on a large scale!