The rules we fly by

Not over people who aren't part of the job, as a matter of policy. The FAA does allow flight over people, but only for aircraft that qualify under one of four categories based on weight, impact energy, and certification. Almost no professional mapping or inspection drone carries those qualifications, and any operator who tells you otherwise deserves a follow-up question.

So we solve it the way working operators actually solve it: flight planning. Site control, timing, and buffer distance keep the aircraft off uninvolved people entirely. On an active construction site or an occupied HOA property, crew and residents are briefed or the flight path routes around them. That posture is why this rule has never cost a client a deliverable.

Not sustained flight, no. The same category system that governs flight over people extends to people inside moving vehicles. A brief transit over a road during a mapping pass is a different risk profile than loitering above traffic, and the regulation draws exactly that line: no sustained flight over moving vehicles unless everyone below has been put on notice inside a closed or restricted-access site.

For corner-lot roofs and road-adjacent job sites, we plan the orbit and the mapping lines so the aircraft doesn't camp over live traffic. It's a planning problem, and it's ours, not yours.

Yes, and no waiver is needed. This one is commonly misstated. Since April 2021, Part 107 pilots who have completed the current training can fly at night, provided the aircraft carries anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles. Ours does.

Night matters for thermal work in particular: a roof radiates the day's heat after sunset, and moisture trapped in the assembly shows up as a temperature difference that's often clearest in the hours after dark. Being legal at night isn't a stunt, it's when some of the best data gets captured.

The FAA regulates airspace safety, not privacy. That means an FAA authorization to fly is not the same thing as permission to photograph someone's backyard, and we treat the two separately. Colorado has no dedicated drone-trespass statute; privacy and property concerns run through general state law and, more practically, through how a professional operator behaves.

Our standard: landowner or site authorization for every job, cameras pointed at the subject property, and advance notice to a property manager or HOA when residents will see the aircraft. For HOA boards worried about resident complaints, that briefing note is usually the difference between questions and quiet.

Yes, and Colorado takes them seriously. State law prohibits using an aircraft, drones included, to spot or locate wildlife to aid hunting, and Colorado Parks & Wildlife treats harassment of wildlife by drone as an enforcement matter. On open-space and rural jobs we plan altitude and standoff so wildlife is a non-event.

Yes. Since March 2024 the FAA has fully enforced Remote ID, a broadcast requirement that works like a digital license plate: the aircraft transmits its identity, position, and control-station location for the duration of the flight. Our aircraft are compliant, which also means every flight we fly is publicly accountable. We consider that a feature.

No, and that's worth knowing when you're comparing operators. There is no federal insurance requirement for commercial drone work, so coverage is a choice each operator makes. We carry commercial liability coverage anyway, because construction GCs, HOAs, and property managers ask for a certificate of insurance, and because flying uninsured over someone's asset is not a professional posture. A COI is ready on request.