Drone inspection and compliance documentation for Grand Strand construction sites

Horry County is one of the fastest-growing counties in South Carolina by permit volume, driven by coastal retirement and second-home migration and the development pressure it creates. Residential subdivision construction inland from the coast along the US-501, US-544, SC-31, and SC-90 corridors, commercial and retail development along US-17 and US-501, hospitality and condo construction throughout the Grand Strand, and logistics and light industrial development around Conway all generate NPDES-permitted land-disturbing activity. Georgetown County adds a separate construction base: residential and commercial growth around Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, and the Georgetown city area.

SC Drone Services provides aerial BMP inspections and NPDES compliance documentation for construction sites throughout the Grand Strand, covering Horry and Georgetown counties with GPS-tagged photo sets organized by BMP type, written condition summaries, and compliance records formatted for SWPPP logs.

Any construction project disturbing one acre or more in Horry or Georgetown County requires coverage under the SCDHEC Construction General Permit. The CGP inspection schedule applies uniformly: at minimum every seven calendar days during active land disturbance, and within 24 hours of a rainfall event of 0.5 inches or greater at the site. Both requirements run independently. Records stay in the SWPPP for at least three years and must be available for SCDHEC review.

Horry County falls under SCDHEC's Coastal region for field compliance inspections. The Waccamaw River and its coastal plain tributaries, including Crabtree Swamp and the Little Pee Dee system, are the primary receiving waters for construction runoff in the Grand Strand region. Sites discharging to these waterways receive attention during SCDHEC field visits. The flat coastal plain topography means sediment basins and silt fence systems on large subdivision sites operate at low hydraulic gradient, which affects performance after significant rain events.

SC Drone Services covers construction sites throughout Horry and Georgetown counties. In Horry County, the highest concentration of active permitted sites runs along the development corridors feeding the Grand Strand: the US-501 corridor from Conway toward Myrtle Beach, the Carolina Bays Parkway interchange areas, US-544 and SC-90 in the central and northern county, and the North Myrtle Beach and Little River areas. For Myrtle Beach and Conway city-specific scheduling and service details, see the Myrtle Beach drone inspection services page and the Conway drone inspection services page.

Georgetown County's construction activity is concentrated in the Pawleys Island and Murrells Inlet coastal communities along US-17, the Georgetown city and port corridor, and growing residential development in the Andrews and Hemingway areas. Both counties are within range for same-day rain event inspections for contracted clients.

Environmental consultants and CEPSCI inspectors managing active permitted sites across the Grand Strand face the multi-site rain event problem in concentrated form. A summer storm tracking up the coast can produce 0.5 inches across all of Horry County in a single event, triggering simultaneous 24-hour inspection obligations at every active site in the county. Sites distributed from Little River to Conway to the Loris area cover more than 50 miles of north-south geography. Ground inspection of all active sites within 24 hours requires significant resources.

SC Drone Services covers multiple Grand Strand sites in a single morning flight session, with GPS-tagged documentation and written condition summaries for each site delivered before standard business hours. We work as a drone documentation subcontractor on your inspection program. You remain the qualified inspector of record. For the logistics of setting up multi-site coverage at the start of construction season, see our SWPPP inspection support service page.