Aerial Sketch™ programme by Xactware

Xactware's new Aerial Sketch™ programme enables building professionals, surveyors and estimators to use their PCs and Tablets to map out a roof plan – including an aerial view – safely and completely to scale, while keeping both feet firmly on the ground. In a recent webcast presentation, Xactware, a claims and loss estimating software company, showcased the new Aerial Sketch™ roof-dimensioning software programme which allows surveyors, estimators, refurbishment and restoration professionals to create digital diagrams of the building or structure they are working on without ever having to set foot on the roof.

The new programme reduces the potential for ladder mishaps, falls from heights and the risks posed by extreme weather conditions, enabling surveyors and estimators to draw the roof from the safety of the ground or office. This is not only a fast way of getting a workable diagram that can be used to update claims estimations and building plans, but it is also a user-friendly and cost effective way of eliminating some of the most dangerous tasks associated with roof estimating.

Using the patented Aerial Sketch software, an estimator can simply download a photo or a roof from aerial image providers and then crop and rotate it. The software can also scale the roof to size using a single reference point from within the image, such as the length of a car, street, or even the roof itself.

The programme will then automatically detect the roof's perimeters and features, such as the edges, ridges and valleys using oblique (non-overhead) images and then convert the sketch into a two- or three-dimensional workable diagram. The diagram can then be used in claims reports, repair estimations and uploaded into a report. Aerial Sketch is the latest in the line of Xactware's structural property insurance estimating tools and is included with the most recent version of Xactimate.