Checklist · Aviation

Commercial Drone Operations Under Part 107: A Compliance Checklist

49 U.S.C. § 44807

Type: Checklist
Jurisdiction: National
Date: 2024-10-03
Topic: Aviation

Part 107 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations is the rulebook for nearly every commercial drone flight in the United States, and it is deceptively easy to violate. This checklist walks an operator through the full compliance arc: confirming that Part 107 rather than the recreational exception or Part 91/135 governs the flight, earning and maintaining the Remote Pilot Certificate, registering and marking the aircraft, satisfying Remote ID under Part 89, honoring the core operating limitations, obtaining airspace authorization through LAANC, clearing the operations-over-people and night-flight rules, and applying for waivers when the default rules do not fit the mission. It then covers the duties that cannot be waived at all — preflight inspection, the prohibition on careless or reckless operation, the alcohol and drug rules, and the ten-day accident report under 14 C.F.R. § 107.9. Crucially, it maps the law Part 107 does not displace: state and local privacy, trespass, nuisance, and harassment law reach the drone operator even when every federal box is checked. Insurance, contractual risk transfer, and the evolving beyond-visual-line-of-sight pathways round out the picture. Because the drone rules have changed repeatedly and continue to evolve, every item here should be confirmed against the current regulation before flight.

Commercial Drone Operations Under Part 107: A Compliance Checklist

Aviation > Unmanned Aircraft | Published 3 October 2024 - Updated 14 April 2026 | UpLaw - uplaw.us

A drone is an aircraft. That single sentence is the key to the whole regime — it means the Federal Aviation Administration regulates your quadcopter with the same statutory authority it uses on a Boeing, and it means the careless-operation rule that grounds airline pilots applies to the operator hovering forty feet over a driveway. Part 107 makes commercial flying legal. It does not make it safe from the rest of the law.

Keywords: Part 107, drone law, sUAS, remote pilot certificate, Remote ID, LAANC, controlled airspace, BVLOS, operations over people, drone registration, FAA waiver, drone privacy, accident reporting, aviation law

How to use this checklist

Work the phases in order the first time. After that, Phases 5 through 12 become your per-flight discipline and Phases 1 through 4 become annual housekeeping. Every citation below is to 14 C.F.R. Part 107 unless otherwise noted.

Two warnings before you start. First, the drone rules move. The operations-over-people categories, the night-flight rule, Remote ID compliance dates, and the beyond-visual-line-of-sight framework have all changed materially in recent years, and further rulemaking is pending. Confirm the current text of the regulation before you fly. Second, Part 107 is not a shield against everything else. It is a federal airspace-safety rule. It says almost nothing about privacy, and it does not license you to trespass, to harass, or to breach a contract.

Our running example: Bellcrest Aerial Media, LLC, a two-person outfit that shoots exterior stills and video of listed homes for residential brokerages. Bellcrest thinks of itself as a photography company. The FAA thinks of it as an air carrier's less regulated cousin, and a homeowner's association thinks of it as a nuisance. All three views matter.

Phase 1 — Which regime applies? Part 107 vs. recreational vs. Part 91/135

[ ] Confirm the aircraft weighs less than 55 pounds at takeoff, including everything on board and attached (§ 107.3). At 55 pounds or more, Part 107 does not apply and you are into exemption territory under 49 U.S.C. § 44807.
[ ] Ask the purpose question honestly. If the flight furthers a business — a listing photo, a roof inspection, a wedding video you are paid for, content for a company's social feed — it is not recreational, and the limited recreational exception in 49 U.S.C. § 44809 is unavailable.
[ ] If the operation is genuinely recreational, verify the § 44809 conditions (flight strictly for recreational purposes, adherence to a community-based organization's safety guidelines, TRUST passage, registration, airspace authorization) — and understand you lose that exception the moment money or business purpose enters.
[ ] If you will carry property for compensation or hire beyond what Part 107 permits, evaluate whether Part 135 air carrier certification is required.
[ ] Rule out the categorical exclusions: public aircraft operations, and aircraft operated under a § 44807 exemption, follow different rules.

Why it matters, and the traps. The single most common misclassification is the "I'm just a hobbyist who happened to get paid" flight. There is no de minimis exception. The FAA has taken the position for a decade that a drone is an "aircraft" within the meaning of 49 U.S.C. § 40102 and is therefore subject to the careless-or-reckless prohibition — the position the National Transportation Safety Board endorsed in Huerta v. Pirker (NTSB 2014), reversing an ALJ who had held that a model aircraft was not an "aircraft" at all. The second trap is the 55-pound line: it includes the payload. A 48-pound airframe carrying an 8-pound cinema camera is not a small unmanned aircraft system.

Bellcrest's founder shot a friend's house "as a favor" and posted it to the company's portfolio. That is a commercial flight. The favor was consideration for the portfolio, and even if it were not, the FAA looks at whether the flight is in furtherance of a business. Fly it under Part 107.

Phase 2 — The Remote Pilot Certificate: eligibility, the test, and currency

[ ] Confirm the remote pilot in command is at least 16 years old, can read, speak, write, and understand English, and is in a physical and mental condition to operate safely (§§ 107.61, 107.17).
[ ] Pass the Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing center, or — if you already hold a Part 61 pilot certificate with a current flight review — complete the FAA's online sUAS training course instead.
[ ] Apply for the certificate through the FAA's Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) system and complete TSA security vetting.
[ ] Track recency: § 107.65 requires completion of the applicable recurrent training or knowledge test within the preceding 24 calendar months. The recurrent requirement has been satisfied in recent years by a free online FAA training course rather than a proctored test — confirm the current format and provider before you assume it, because this detail has changed — and note that it is very easy to let lapse.
[ ] Carry the certificate (or have it available) and be prepared to present it, along with registration and any waiver or authorization, on request from the FAA, NTSB, TSA, or federal, state, or local law enforcement (§ 107.7).
[ ] Name the remote PIC for every flight. Only one person may hold that role, and that person bears final authority (§ 107.19).

Why it matters, and the traps. A lapsed recurrent training date does not merely embarrass you; it means the flight was conducted without a properly current remote PIC, which is an independent violation and a gift to any plaintiff's lawyer arguing negligence per se in the state-court suit that follows a crash. See our companion guide, Aviation Law: A Comprehensive Guide to FAA Regulation and Liability, on how certificate action under 49 U.S.C. § 44709 and civil penalties under 49 U.S.C. § 46301 interact with private tort exposure.

The other trap is organizational. Bellcrest hired a second shooter as a 1099 contractor and assumed his certificate covered the company. It does not work that way — the certificate attaches to the person, the registration attaches to the aircraft, and the company's liability attaches to both. If you are using contract pilots, read Classifying Workers: Employee or Independent Contractor — A Practical Checklist before you assume the label sticks.

Phase 3 — Register the aircraft and mark it

[ ] Register each aircraft used under Part 107 with the FAA under 14 C.F.R. Part 48, through the FAADroneZone system. Part 107 operations are registered as non-modeler aircraft; each airframe gets its own registration number.
[ ] Pay the registration fee and calendar the renewal; registration is issued for a fixed term (three years at present) and expires.
[ ] Mark the registration number on an external surface of the aircraft, legibly and durably (§ 48.205). The FAA moved this requirement from "anywhere on the aircraft, including an interior compartment" to the exterior specifically so first responders need not open a damaged airframe.
[ ] Keep proof of registration available during operations — electronic is fine (§ 107.7).
[ ] Update the registry when ownership changes or the aircraft is destroyed.

Why it matters, and the traps. Registration is not waivable and it is the easiest thing in the world for the FAA to prove. Operating an unregistered aircraft exposes the operator to civil penalties and, in aggravated cases, criminal exposure. Note the history here: in Taylor v. Huerta (D.C. Cir. 2017), the court vacated the FAA's registration rule as applied to model aircraft, holding it conflicted with the then-existing statutory bar on regulating model aircraft — and Congress promptly legislated the requirement back into place. The lesson is not that registration is optional; it is that this body of law is a moving target created by the interaction of rulemaking, litigation, and statute. For the doctrinal machinery behind that interaction, see Administrative Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Agency Action and Judicial Review.

Phase 4 — Remote ID compliance (standard, broadcast module, or FRIA)

[ ] Determine your Remote ID pathway under 14 C.F.R. Part 89:
- [ ] Standard Remote ID aircraft — built with Remote ID broadcast capability from the factory (check the FAA's Declaration of Compliance list, and check that your firmware is current); or
- [ ] Broadcast module — a bolt-on transmitter added to a legacy aircraft, which then must be flown within visual line of sight at all times; or
- [ ] FRIA — operation within an FAA-Recognized Identification Area, which is available for aircraft without Remote ID but is limited and is generally not a workable pathway for commercial site work.
[ ] Enter the Remote ID serial number into the aircraft's FAA registration record.
[ ] Verify Remote ID is transmitting during preflight; a standard Remote ID aircraft that cannot broadcast may not take off.
[ ] Confirm the current compliance and enforcement posture before relying on any grace period.

Why it matters, and the traps. Remote ID is the drone's digital license plate: it broadcasts the aircraft's identity, position, altitude, and the control station's location to anyone with a receiver. It is what makes the rest of the regime enforceable, and it is a prerequisite for the operations that operators actually want — night flight over people, sustained flight over open-air assemblies, and eventually routine BVLOS. Two traps recur. First, operators assume a firmware update happened automatically; it did not. Second, operators forget that a broadcast module locks you into visual line of sight — you cannot pair a legacy airframe with a module and then seek a BVLOS waiver.

Remote ID also has a privacy consequence that surprises commercial operators: the broadcast includes the control station's location. Anyone standing in the neighborhood with a phone app can find the pilot. Bellcrest learned this when an irritated homeowner walked up to the van.

Phase 5 — The core operating limitations

[ ] Visual line of sight at all times, by the remote PIC or a visual observer, unaided except for corrective lenses (§ 107.31). Binoculars and FPV goggles do not satisfy VLOS.
[ ] Maximum altitude 400 feet AGL, or higher if within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no more than 400 feet above that structure's uppermost limit (§ 107.51).
[ ] Maximum groundspeed 100 mph (87 knots) (§ 107.51).
[ ] Minimum flight visibility 3 statute miles from the control station, and cloud clearance of 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally (§ 107.51).
[ ] One aircraft per remote PIC — no simultaneous operation of multiple aircraft by one pilot (§ 107.35).
[ ] Yield the right of way to all other aircraft; you must give way, always (§ 107.37).
[ ] No operation from a moving vehicle or aircraft, except over a sparsely populated area (§ 107.25).
[ ] No carriage of hazardous materials (§ 107.36), and no external load or towing that compromises control (§§ 107.23, 107.205 limits).

Why it matters, and the traps. These limitations are the heart of the rule and most are waivable — but only in advance (Phase 9). The VLOS rule is the one commercial operators break most casually. Flying a roofline "just around the back of the house" behind a chimney is a § 107.31 violation, full stop, and it is the violation most likely to be visible on your own marketing footage. The right-of-way rule is absolute and non-negotiable: a drone yields to a helicopter even if the helicopter is behaving badly.

The 400-foot structure exception is widely misread. It does not let you climb to 400 feet above a tall building anywhere in the vicinity; it lets you go 400 feet above the structure's uppermost limit while within a 400-foot radius of it. Bellcrest, shooting a hillside listing, drifted laterally away from the house while climbing and left the exception behind without noticing.

Phase 6 — Airspace: classes, LAANC, and controlled airspace

[ ] Identify the airspace class over every point in the operating area — use the FAA UAS Facility Maps and a current sectional, not a consumer app's guess.
[ ] Class G (uncontrolled): no ATC authorization required. This is most of the country away from airports.
[ ] Class B, C, D, and surface Class E: prior authorization from ATC is required (§ 107.41). Obtain it via LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) through an FAA-approved service supplier, or by application through FAADroneZone where LAANC is unavailable.
[ ] Honor the LAANC ceiling for your grid square — it may be 0 feet, which means no automatic authorization at all.
[ ] Check for temporary flight restrictions and NOTAMs (§ 107.47), including stadium TFRs and VIP movement TFRs, before every flight.
[ ] Check prohibited and restricted areas and special-use airspace (§ 107.45), plus § 2209-designated critical infrastructure restrictions where they exist.
[ ] Do not interfere with airport operations or the flow of manned aircraft (§ 107.43).

Why it matters, and the traps. Congress vested the United States with "exclusive sovereignty of airspace" in 49 U.S.C. § 40103(a), and § 107.41 is where that sovereignty bites. Flying in controlled airspace without authorization near an airport is also potentially criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 39B, which reaches operation of an unmanned aircraft in a manner that interferes with a manned aircraft or that occurs in the runway exclusion zone of certain airports.

Two traps. First, a LAANC authorization is for a specific location, altitude, and time window — it is not a season pass, and flying outside the window is flying unauthorized. Second, "the app said it was fine" is not a defense; the remote PIC, not the app vendor, is responsible under § 107.19. Bellcrest's most valuable listing sits three miles from a Class D field with a 100-foot LAANC ceiling. The 380-foot hero shot the broker wanted is simply not available without a § 107.41 waiver.

Phase 7 — Operations over people and over moving vehicles

[ ] Default rule: no operation over a human being who is not directly participating in the operation and is not under a covered structure or inside a stationary covered vehicle (§ 107.39).
[ ] If you need to fly over people, identify your Subpart D category:
- [ ] Category 1 — aircraft under 0.55 pounds with no exposed rotating parts that could lacerate skin.
- [ ] Category 2 — aircraft that will not cause injury above the regulation's lower kinetic-energy threshold on impact, with no lacerating exposed parts and no FAA-identified safety defect; requires a manufacturer's means of compliance and Declaration of Compliance.
- [ ] Category 3 — a higher kinetic-energy threshold, but the operation may not be over an open-air assembly, and must be within a closed or restricted-access site (with notice to those present) or involve only transiting, not sustained flight, over people.
- [ ] Category 4 — aircraft with an airworthiness certificate issued under Part 21, flown per its operating limitations and an approved maintenance program.
[ ] Confirm the aircraft is on the FAA's list of Declaration of Compliance-approved models for the category you claim — the manufacturer makes this showing, and you inherit it.
[ ] For sustained flight over open-air assemblies, confirm the aircraft meets the applicable category and is Remote ID compliant.
[ ] For operations over moving vehicles (§ 107.145), confirm the category rules and the closed-site/transiting restrictions are met; sustained flight over moving vehicles is not permitted outside those limits.

Why it matters, and the traps. This is the phase operators get wrong most expensively, because "over people" is not a proximity test — it is a directly overhead test, and the moment a pedestrian walks under your flight path you have either complied or violated with no warning. The bigger structural trap is that you cannot self-certify. Category 2 and 3 turn on a manufacturer's Declaration of Compliance for a specific make and model. A popular consumer drone is not Category 2 merely because it is small.

Bellcrest wanted to fly a slow reveal down a residential street at 60 feet with cars moving beneath. That is sustained flight over moving vehicles and it is not authorized. The fix is scheduling and geometry — shoot the street early, from a lateral standoff, with a spotter — not a bigger memory card.

Phase 8 — Night operations and anti-collision lighting

[ ] Confirm the remote PIC has completed the updated initial or recurrent training covering night operations (§ 107.65 currency plus the night knowledge content).
[ ] Equip the aircraft with an anti-collision light visible for at least 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision, and have it on for night and civil-twilight operations (§ 107.29).
[ ] Confirm civil twilight times for your location and date; the definition differs in Alaska.
[ ] Re-run the airspace check — a LAANC ceiling and a TFR do not go away after dark.
[ ] Reassess VLOS realistically: a strobe is not the aircraft's orientation. If you cannot determine attitude and direction, you are not maintaining line of sight.

Why it matters, and the traps. Night flight was once waiver-only; it is now permitted by rule with training and lighting. Operators who trained under the old regime sometimes still hold a stale night waiver and assume it is what authorizes them — and sometimes hold neither the waiver nor the updated training. Meanwhile, the practical risk went up, not down: night operations are where VLOS violations and controlled-flight-into-terrain events cluster. The regulation's permission is not an endorsement.

Phase 9 — Waivers: what can be waived and how to apply

[ ] Identify the section you need waived. Section 107.205 enumerates the waivable provisions, which include § 107.25 (moving vehicle), § 107.29 (night/anti-collision lighting), § 107.31 (VLOS), § 107.33 (visual observer), § 107.35 (one aircraft per pilot), § 107.37(a) (yielding right of way), § 107.39 (over people), § 107.41 (controlled airspace), and § 107.51 (operating limitations).
[ ] Understand what is not waivable: registration, the Remote ID requirements of Part 89, § 107.9 (accident reporting), § 107.23 (careless or reckless operation and hazardous ops), and § 107.27 (drugs and alcohol). Do not build an operation on the hope of relief that the rule does not permit.
[ ] Apply through FAADroneZone, and apply early — complex waivers take months.
[ ] Build the application around a safety case: describe the operation, identify each hazard, and show the mitigations that give an equivalent level of safety. The FAA is not asking whether you want relief; it is asking how you make the risk go away.
[ ] Read the waiver's special provisions when granted — they are conditions, and violating them voids the waiver and leaves you in violation of the underlying rule.
[ ] Calendar the waiver's expiration.

Why it matters, and the traps. A waiver is a regulatory bargain, not a permission slip. The overwhelming reason waivers are denied is a thin safety case: applicants describe the mission instead of the mitigations. Note also that a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) and a § 107.41 airspace authorization are different instruments from a § 107.205 operational waiver; operators routinely conflate them. If you find yourself building a business model that requires three stacked waivers, step back and consider whether a § 44807 exemption or a Part 135 certificate is the honest structure.

Phase 10 — Preflight inspection and the pilot's operational duties

[ ] Conduct the preflight familiarization, inspection, and assessment required by § 107.49: assess the operating environment (weather, airspace, obstacles, people on the ground), review the airspace and TFRs, ensure all persons directly participating are briefed, inspect the aircraft for safe condition, and confirm sufficient power for the intended operation.
[ ] Confirm the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation (§ 107.15) and that the remote PIC is not suffering a physical or mental condition that would interfere (§ 107.17).
[ ] Verify control link, GPS lock, compass calibration, firmware, propeller condition, and battery health — and log it.
[ ] Brief the crew: remote PIC, any person manipulating the controls under the remote PIC's direct supervision (§ 107.12), and any visual observer (§ 107.33), who must be able to communicate with the remote PIC.
[ ] Establish and brief the lost-link and flyaway procedure, and the emergency landing area.
[ ] Keep a flight log. It is not required by Part 107 — and it is the single most useful document you will ever produce in an enforcement action or a lawsuit.

Why it matters, and the traps. Section 107.49 is written as a duty, not a form, which lures operators into treating it as a vibe. It is not. When the FAA investigates, it asks what you assessed and when — and if you have no record, the agency's version of your preflight is the one that stands. The same logic governs litigation preservation once something goes wrong; see Issuing a Litigation Hold and Preserving ESI: A Practical Checklist, because flight logs, telemetry, and the footage itself are ESI and the duty to preserve attaches early.

Phase 11 — Prohibited conditions: careless operation, alcohol, and hazardous ops

[ ] Never operate in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another (§ 107.23(a)). This is the FAA's catch-all, it is not waivable, and it does not require an accident.
[ ] Never drop an object from the aircraft in a manner that creates an undue hazard (§ 107.23(b)).
[ ] Observe § 107.27: no operation within 8 hours of consuming alcohol, while under the influence, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater, or while using any drug that affects faculties contrary to safety (incorporating 14 C.F.R. §§ 91.17 and 91.19).
[ ] Do not operate over or near an emergency response effort in a way that impedes it — this is a fast track to both federal enforcement and state criminal charges.
[ ] Train the crew that the remote PIC may deviate from Part 107 only in an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action (§ 107.21) — and must, on FAA request, submit a written report of the deviation.

Why it matters, and the traps. Section 107.23 is where the FAA lands when nothing else fits. It is the drone descendant of § 91.13, the rule the NTSB applied to a small unmanned aircraft in Huerta v. Pirker, and it means that "no rule expressly prohibited what I did" is not a defense. Careless operation is also the natural bridge to state tort liability: the standard of care a jury will hear about is the federal one. On how a regulatory violation feeds a negligence claim, see Tort Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Negligence, Intentional Torts, and Strict Liability.

Phase 12 — Accident reporting: the 10-day rule

[ ] Report to the FAA within 10 calendar days of any operation that results in (§ 107.9):
- [ ] Serious injury to any person, or any loss of consciousness; or
- [ ] Damage to any property other than the small unmanned aircraft, unless the cost of repair (including materials and labor) does not exceed $500, or, in the case of a total loss, the fair market value of the property does not exceed $500.
[ ] File through FAADroneZone or the responsible FAA Flight Standards District Office.
[ ] Separately assess whether the event is an NTSB-reportable accident under 49 C.F.R. Part 830 — the thresholds are different, and for larger unmanned aircraft the NTSB has its own reporting regime.
[ ] Preserve the aircraft, the telemetry, the logs, and the media. Do not "clean up" the SD card.
[ ] Notify your insurer immediately — most aviation policies impose a prompt-notice condition, and late notice is a real coverage defense.
[ ] Loop in counsel before you write the narrative. The report is a federal filing.

Why it matters, and the traps. The reporting duty is not waivable and the $500 threshold is far lower than operators assume — a cracked window, a dented gutter, or a scratched car panel will exceed it. The most damaging mistake is not the crash; it is the unreported crash that surfaces later in discovery, converting an ordinary property claim into a story about concealment. The prompt-notice and cooperation conditions in the policy are equally unforgiving; see Insurance Coverage Law: A Comprehensive Guide for Policyholders.

Phase 13 — What Part 107 does NOT preempt: privacy, trespass, nuisance, and state law

[ ] Confirm you have permission from the property owner or manager for takeoff and landing sites. Part 107 governs the air; it says nothing about standing on someone's lawn.
[ ] Assess trespass and the immediate reaches of airspace. United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256 (1946), holds that a landowner owns at least as much of the space above the ground as he can occupy or use in connection with the land, and that low, frequent overflights can be a taking. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 159(2) treats flight within the immediate reaches of airspace that substantially interferes with use and enjoyment as a trespass.
[ ] Assess intrusion upon seclusion — Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B — which turns on an intentional intrusion into a place or affair as to which the plaintiff had a reasonable expectation of privacy, highly offensive to a reasonable person. Hovering outside a second-story window is the paradigm case.
[ ] Check state drone-specific statutes. They vary enormously: Florida's Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act (Fla. Stat. § 934.50), the Illinois Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act (725 ILCS 167), California Civil Code § 1708.8 (constructive invasion of privacy, amended to reach aerial capture), and Texas Government Code ch. 423 (image capture by UAS, portions of which have been the subject of First Amendment litigation — verify current status). This is a state-by-state inquiry; there is no national rule.
[ ] Check local ordinances on takeoff/landing from public parks and municipal property, and HOA/CC&R restrictions.
[ ] If the operating area touches tribal land, stop and get advice. Federally recognized tribes are separate sovereigns — not a subdivision of the state, and not a species of local government. The FAA's authority over navigable airspace runs everywhere, but a tribe's authority over its own land, its own takeoff and landing sites, its own permitting, and its own cultural-resource and privacy protections is its own body of law, enforced in its own forums. Assuming a state permit or a LAANC authorization clears you to fly a commercial mission over or from tribal land is a serious and recurring error.
[ ] Understand the preemption line. Federal law occupies airspace safety and navigation: 49 U.S.C. § 40103; City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal Inc., 411 U.S. 624 (1973). A federal district court in Massachusetts held in Singer v. City of Newton (D. Mass. 2017) that a municipal drone ordinance's altitude and registration provisions were conflict-preempted. But courts have consistently declined to read Part 107 as displacing generally applicable privacy, trespass, and nuisance law.
[ ] Build consent and notice into the workflow — signed property-access authorization, notice to neighbors where practical, and a policy on incidental capture of people.
[ ] If you retain or process footage of identifiable people, treat it as personal data. See Building a Privacy Compliance Program: Governance, Data Mapping, and the Legal Patchwork and Cameras, Consent, and the Law of Recording People. If you run any face-matching or automated recognition over the footage, the biometric statutes are a separate and severe layer — see Biometric Privacy Law and the AI Systems That Read Faces and Voices.

Why it matters, and the traps. This is the phase that produces the lawsuits. Bellcrest's pilot flew a perfectly legal Part 107 mission: Class G airspace, 180 feet AGL, daylight, VLOS, registered, Remote ID broadcasting, no one overflown. He also captured the neighbor's backyard, where the neighbor's teenage daughter was sunbathing, and he did it three times over two weeks. Every FAA box was checked. The neighbor sued for intrusion upon seclusion and nuisance, and the HOA sent a cease-and-desist under the CC&Rs. Part 107 compliance was not a defense to any of it.

Note also the flip side of the trespass question: the drone owner has rights too. A Kentucky homeowner who shot down a drone over his property was prosecuted and then sued; in Boggs v. Merideth, the federal court dismissed the drone owner's declaratory action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction rather than announcing where private airspace ends. The boundary between § 40103 navigable airspace and Causby's "immediate reaches" remains genuinely unsettled. Do not fly as though it has been resolved in your favor. For the land-side framework, see Land Use and Zoning Law: A Comprehensive Guide, and for the surrounding federal picture, How Drones Are Regulated in the United States: A Practical Overview.

Phase 14 — Insurance and contractual risk transfer

[ ] Read the aircraft exclusion in your commercial general liability policy. Standard CGL forms exclude bodily injury and property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use, or entrustment of an aircraft — and a drone is an aircraft. Assume your CGL does not cover the flight until an endorsement says it does.
[ ] Buy a UAS/aviation liability policy with adequate limits, and add hull coverage for the airframe and payload if the equipment is material.
[ ] Confirm coverage for invasion of privacy and personal and advertising injury — the exposure in Phase 13 is precisely what the aviation liability policy may not reach.
[ ] Add clients as additional insureds where the contract requires it, and match the certificate to the actual policy.
[ ] In the services agreement: define the scope of the flight, allocate responsibility for site access and permissions, include an indemnity for third-party privacy and trespass claims, cap liability, and address ownership and license of the footage.
[ ] Register copyright in the imagery if it has independent value — see Registering Copyright in Photographs: A Photographer's Guide and Copyright Registration for Photographs: A Practical Checklist.
[ ] Operate through a properly formed entity with observed formalities — see Incorporating a Startup the Right Way: A Founder's Legal Checklist and The Small Business Legal Toolkit.

Why it matters, and the traps. The aircraft exclusion is the trap that ruins small operators. A drone photography company buys a $1,000 CGL policy, crashes into a parked BMW, and discovers the claim is excluded by a clause it never read. And when a privacy claim arrives, the operator discovers that its shiny new aviation policy covers the aircraft's operation but not the tort the client actually got sued for. You need both halves of the coverage picture, and you need to read the endorsements, not the certificate.

Phase 15 — Beyond visual line of sight: waivers, exemptions, and the evolving rule

[ ] Recognize that BVLOS is, today, the exception, not the rule — it requires either a § 107.31 waiver under § 107.205 or a § 44807 exemption, and the FAA grants them on a documented safety case, typically involving detect-and-avoid technology, a shielded operating environment, or ground-based radar.
[ ] Do not confuse "extended visual line of sight" with BVLOS; a visual observer chain has its own § 107.33 rules and does not by itself authorize BVLOS.
[ ] Track the rulemaking. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed the FAA to move on a BVLOS rule, and the agency has proposed a dedicated BVLOS framework (commonly discussed as a new Part 108). Verify the current status of that rulemaking before planning around it — a proposed rule is not law, and the final rule may differ materially from the proposal.
[ ] If the business model is package delivery, plan for Part 135 and a very different regulatory life.
[ ] Build a written safety management system now if BVLOS is on your roadmap; the FAA will ask for one, and you cannot retrofit an operating history.

Why it matters, and the traps. BVLOS is where the drone economy actually lives — infrastructure inspection, agriculture, delivery, public safety — and it is also where operators most often fly first and paper it later. That is exactly backwards. Building the safety case before the operation is not bureaucracy; it is the entire content of the FAA's approval standard, and it is the record that will protect you when the operation goes wrong. For where this fits in the broader regulatory arc, see The Aviation and Drone Law Toolkit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Treating a paid flight as recreational. There is no small-favor exception. Business purpose means Part 107.
Letting recurrent training lapse. Twenty-four calendar months goes fast; a lapsed remote PIC is an uncertificated remote PIC.
Registering the company instead of the aircraft. Registration is per airframe, and the number goes on the outside.
Assuming a Remote ID module is a free upgrade. A broadcast module permanently locks the aircraft into visual line of sight.
Self-certifying an operations-over-people category. Categories 2 and 3 depend on the manufacturer's Declaration of Compliance, not your judgment about how heavy the drone feels.
Treating a LAANC authorization as a standing permission. It is location-, altitude-, and time-limited.
Reading the 400-foot structure exception too generously. You must stay within a 400-foot radius of the structure.
Believing a stale night waiver still governs. Night flight is now rule-based, with training and lighting conditions.
Missing the § 107.9 report. The $500 damage threshold is trivially easy to cross, and the report is due in 10 days and cannot be waived.
Assuming Part 107 preempts privacy law. It does not. A lawful flight can still be a tort.
Flying on a CGL policy. The aircraft exclusion is standard, and it will be invoked.
Building a business on waivers you have not obtained. Apply first. Fly second.

The Consolidated Part 107 Checklist

Before you ever fly

[ ] Aircraft under 55 lbs, including payload; Part 107 (not § 44809, not Part 135) is the right regime
[ ] Remote Pilot Certificate obtained; recurrent training current within 24 calendar months
[ ] Each aircraft registered under Part 48; registration number marked on an external surface
[ ] Remote ID pathway established under Part 89 and serial number filed with the registration
[ ] Aviation/UAS liability policy in force, with privacy coverage assessed; entity formed
[ ] Client services agreement with scope, access permissions, indemnity, and footage license

Before every flight

[ ] § 107.49 preflight: environment, airspace, TFRs, obstacles, people, power, aircraft condition
[ ] Airspace class confirmed; LAANC or FAADroneZone authorization obtained for Class B/C/D/surface E
[ ] Waiver in hand for anything outside §§ 107.25, 107.29, 107.31, 107.33, 107.35, 107.37(a), 107.39, 107.41, 107.51
[ ] Anti-collision lighting on for night/civil twilight; night training complete
[ ] Property access permission secured for takeoff/landing; neighbors considered
[ ] Crew briefed: remote PIC, person manipulating controls, visual observer, lost-link procedure
[ ] Remote ID confirmed transmitting

In flight

[ ] VLOS maintained, unaided
[ ] ≤ 400 ft AGL (or within 400 ft radius/above a structure); ≤ 100 mph groundspeed
[ ] 3 SM visibility; 500 ft below / 2,000 ft horizontal cloud clearance
[ ] One aircraft only; yield right of way to all manned aircraft
[ ] No unauthorized flight over people or moving vehicles
[ ] No careless or reckless operation; no object drops creating a hazard

After the flight

[ ] Flight log completed and retained
[ ] § 107.9 report filed within 10 days if serious injury, loss of consciousness, or >$500 property damage
[ ] Insurer notified promptly of any incident; evidence and media preserved
[ ] Footage handled under the privacy and retention policy; consent/notice issues logged

Primary Authority

Verify before relying. The unmanned-aircraft rules are among the fastest-moving bodies of federal regulation in the country. The operations-over-people categories, the night-operations rule, the Remote ID compliance dates and enforcement posture, the recurrent-training format, the registration term and fee, and the beyond-visual-line-of-sight framework have all changed within the last several rulemaking cycles, and further rulemaking is pending. Every section number and every substantive limit below is cited as a pointer to the current regulation, not as a substitute for it. Read the operative text of the rule — and any waiver, exemption, or authorization you hold — before you fly.

14 C.F.R. Part 107 — Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Key provisions: § 107.3 (definitions; the 55-pound limit), § 107.7 (presentation of documents), § 107.9 (accident reporting), § 107.12 (remote pilot certificate required), § 107.15 (condition for safe operation), § 107.17 (medical condition), § 107.19 (remote PIC responsibility), § 107.21 (in-flight emergency), § 107.23 (hazardous, careless, or reckless operation), § 107.25 (operation from a moving vehicle), § 107.27 (alcohol and drugs), § 107.29 (night operations and anti-collision lighting), § 107.31 (visual line of sight), § 107.33 (visual observer), § 107.35 (one aircraft per remote PIC), § 107.36 (hazardous materials), § 107.37 (right of way), § 107.39 (operation over human beings), § 107.41 (operation in controlled airspace), § 107.43 (airport operations), § 107.45 (prohibited/restricted areas), § 107.47 (flight restrictions), § 107.49 (preflight familiarization, inspection, and assessment), § 107.51 (operating limitations), § 107.61 and § 107.65 (eligibility and aeronautical knowledge recency), § 107.145 (operations over moving vehicles), § 107.205 (list of waivable regulations), Subpart D (operations over human beings, Categories 1–4).
14 C.F.R. Part 89 — Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft (standard Remote ID, broadcast modules, FAA-Recognized Identification Areas).
14 C.F.R. Part 48 — Registration and marking requirements for small unmanned aircraft, including § 48.205 (display of the registration number on an external surface).
14 C.F.R. Part 135 — Operating requirements for commuter and on-demand operations (drone package delivery at scale).
49 U.S.C. § 40103 — Sovereignty and use of navigable airspace.
49 U.S.C. § 44809 — Exception for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft.
49 U.S.C. § 44807 — Special authority for certain unmanned aircraft systems (exemptions).
49 U.S.C. §§ 44709, 46301 — Certificate action and civil penalties.
18 U.S.C. § 39B — Unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft (criminal).
49 C.F.R. Part 830 — NTSB notification and reporting of aircraft accidents.
United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256 (1946) — a landowner owns at least as much airspace above the ground as he can occupy or use in connection with the land; low overflights can constitute a taking.
City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal Inc., 411 U.S. 624 (1973) — federal law preempts local regulation of aircraft noise and flight operations.
Huerta v. Pirker (NTSB 2014) — a small unmanned aircraft is an "aircraft" subject to the careless-or-reckless prohibition.
Singer v. City of Newton (D. Mass. 2017) — municipal drone ordinance provisions on altitude and registration held conflict-preempted.
Boggs v. Merideth (W.D. Ky. 2017) — declaratory action by a drone owner whose aircraft was shot down dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction; the boundary of private airspace remains unsettled.
Representative state statutes (verify your own state): Fla. Stat. § 934.50; 725 ILCS 167; Cal. Civ. Code § 1708.8; Tex. Gov't Code ch. 423.

Secondary Sources

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 158 (trespass to land), § 159(2) (flight over land), § 652B (intrusion upon seclusion).
FAA Advisory Circular 107-2 (as amended), Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
FAA UAS Facility Maps and the LAANC program documentation; FAADroneZone waiver and authorization guidance.

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This checklist is general legal information from UpLaw (uplaw.us), not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Part 107, Part 89, and the surrounding unmanned-aircraft rules have changed repeatedly and continue to evolve; state and local privacy, trespass, and nuisance law varies and is not preempted by federal aviation regulation. Verify the current federal rule and your own state's law, and consult qualified counsel before acting.