The FAA lists roof inspections among its examples of flights under Part 107.
This guide gives the rules a drone inspection meets at a roof, a tower, an industrial site or a pipeline, with the section of the rule that says so, and marks what is only proposed.
The questions a drone inspection meets, each with the rule that answers it and where that rule is written. Every rule was read in its source on November 14, 2026; the sections below give the detail, and the state laws near critical infrastructure have their own table.
22 questions a drone inspection meets: the rule that answers each and where it is written. Read November 14, 2026.
Yes in the FAA's own list: its examples of non-recreational Part 107 operations include “roof inspections”. Compensation, or the lack of it, “is not what determines” whether a flight is recreational, and the FAA adds: “When in doubt, assume Part 107.”
FAA, Recreational Flyers and Community-Based Organizations
No FAA page we read rules on this case. The FAA names roof inspections as a Part 107 example; Advisory Circular 91-57D leaves out of recreational flying any flight “related to or in furtherance of a business”; and the FAA says: “When in doubt, assume Part 107.”
FAA Recreational Flyers page; AC 91-57D, paragraph 2.2.1.1
A remote pilot certificate (at least 16, knowledge test passed), with the test or recurrent training current within 24 calendar months; every drone registered, at $5 per drone for three years, and meeting the Remote ID rule.
14 CFR 107.12, 107.61, 107.65; FAA registration and Remote ID pages
Yes. The remote pilot, any visual observer and the person at the controls must be able to see it with their own eyes, corrective lenses allowed, throughout the flight; a visual observer stays in effective communication with the remote pilot.
14 CFR 107.31, 107.33
Only with a certificate of waiver: 107.31 and 107.33 can be waived. Waiver requests go through the FAA's AIS Services, and the FAA aims to decide within 90 days. Part 108, the BVLOS rule proposed on August 7, 2025, has no final rule.
14 CFR 107.205; FAA Part 107 Waivers page; 90 FR 38212
Up to 400 feet above the ground; within a 400-foot radius of a structure, up to 400 feet above its “immediate uppermost limit”. In Class G airspace this needs no prior coordination with air traffic control.
14 CFR 107.51(b); AIM 11-4
Flight visibility from the control station of at least 3 statute miles; 107.51 can be waived.
14 CFR 107.51(c), 107.205(i)
Only over people directly taking part, under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle, or under a category of subpart D. Category 3 allows a closed or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice, with a drone declared and labeled for Category 3.
14 CFR 107.39, 107.125
Over people in moving vehicles, in Categories 1 to 3, only inside a closed or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice, or with no sustained flight over moving vehicles.
14 CFR 107.145(b)
Only over a sparsely populated area, and not while carrying another person's property for hire; never from a moving aircraft.
14 CFR 107.25
The operating environment: local weather, local airspace and flight restrictions, people and property on the surface, and other ground hazards.
14 CFR 107.49(a)
Class B, C or D airspace, or the surface area of Class E airspace at an airport, needs prior authorization from air traffic control; LAANC automates the application and approval, which can come in near-real time.
14 CFR 107.41; FAA UAS Data Exchange (LAANC)
Part 107 pilots must comply with the restrictions of 14 CFR 91.137 to 91.145 and 99.7. Drones are prohibited over designated national security sensitive facilities, such as certain nuclear power plants, from the ground up to 400 feet; the AIM says flights may be permitted in limited circumstances, after reviewing NOTAMs and seeking authorization.
14 CFR 107.47; FAA Critical Infrastructure and Public Venues; AIM 11-4-6 e
At night: the initial test or recurrent training taken after April 6, 2021, and anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles. In civil twilight: the same lighting.
14 CFR 107.29
Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 requires a process. The FAA proposed it as part 74 on May 6, 2026, and comments closed on August 5, 2026. It is a proposal: there is no final rule and no part 74 in the eCFR.
FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, section 2209 (a note to 49 U.S.C. 44802); 91 FR 24650; eCFR
Proposed, not law: under the May 6, 2026 proposal, only in a standard restriction, broadcasting Remote ID, crossing “in the shortest amount of time practicable”, as a Part 107 operation with an airman certificate, after notifying the site manager.
Proposed 14 CFR 74.250, 74.255 (91 FR 24650)
No, under the May 6, 2026 proposal: a restriction would not authorize detection or mitigation technology. Airport counter-drone coordination is a separate law, 49 U.S.C. 44810, which ceases to be effective on September 30, 2028.
91 FR 24650 preamble; 49 U.S.C. 44810
States may generally regulate outside aviation safety and airspace efficiency if their laws do not conflict with FAA rules; state or local laws affecting commercial drone operators are more likely to be preempted. The state laws have their own table below.
FAA and DOT fact sheet, July 14, 2023
No. The phrase “1:1 rule” does not occur in Part 107.
14 CFR part 107, full text
The drone's serial number or a session ID, the position and altitude of the control station and of the drone, its velocity, a UTC time mark and its emergency status.
14 CFR 89.305
No. The FAA's registration and Remote ID rules go by weight, purpose and equipment, not by maker. The FCC Covered List, which has listed DJI and all other foreign-produced drones since December 22, 2025, is a separate matter and revokes no existing authorization.
14 CFR 48.15, part 89; FCC DA 25-1086
Before each flight the remote pilot checks that the small unmanned aircraft system is in a condition for safe operation. The final rule of November 10, 2026 on inspection programs, effective January 11, 2027, covers unmanned aircraft under parts 91 or 135 and amends no part of Part 107.
14 CFR 107.15; 91 FR 72397
This guide sets out what the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ask of a drone inspection at a roof, a tower, an industrial site or a pipeline, with the section of the rule that says so. Two rules inspectors hear about, for flights beyond visual line of sight and for no-drone zones over facilities, are only proposed, and the page marks them so, with their dates. Directories list drone inspection companies and drone inspection services; this page covers the rules that commercial drone inspections fly under. It gives no rates, no inspection methods and no pick of a best drone.
In the FAA's own list, yes: its examples of non-recreational operations under the FAA's Part 107 rule include “roof inspections”.
The recreational rules of 49 U.S.C. 44809 and Part 107 stay separate:
The FAA's Advisory Circular 91-57D says recreational purposes leave out flights “related to or in furtherance of a business”.
Not for businessPay alone does not decide. The FAA says compensation, or the lack of it, “is not what determines” whether a flight is recreational.
Part 107The FAA's advice is “When in doubt, assume Part 107.”
Assume Part 107Someone inspecting their own roof is a case no FAA page we read names. What the FAA does say is above: roof inspections in its list of Part 107 examples, Advisory Circular 91-57D on flights in furtherance of a business, and its advice when in doubt.
A Part 107 flight needs a remote pilot in command who holds a remote pilot certificate, the FAA's name for what is often called a drone license; inspection listings that say “FAA Part 107 certified” refer to it.
You must be at least 16 and pass the FAA's knowledge test (14 CFR 107.12, 107.61).
To act as remote pilot in command you must have passed the test or finished recurrent training within the previous 24 calendar months (14 CFR 107.65).
Under Part 107 every drone is registered, whatever it weighs, at $5 per drone for three years.
The drone must meet the Remote ID rule.
Part 107 sets no insurance requirement: the word “insurance” does not occur in its text.
Our drone license guide covers the certificate step by step, the drone registration helper answers for your own drone, and the Remote ID guide covers the broadcast rule.
Under 14 CFR 107.31, the remote pilot in command, any visual observer and the person at the controls must be able to see the drone with their own eyes, corrective lenses allowed, throughout the flight.
The rule says what that sight is for: to know where the drone is, its attitude, altitude and direction of flight, to watch the airspace for other traffic and hazards, and to see that the drone does not endanger anyone's life or property.
A visual observer, under 107.33, must stay in effective communication with the remote pilot and be able to see the drone in the same way.
107.31 and 107.33 are on the list of sections a certificate of waiver can cover (14 CFR 107.205).
WaivableNo waiver of 107.31 is issued to carry another person's property for compensation or hire.
LimitWaiver applications go through the FAA's Aviation Integrated Safety (AIS) Services, while airspace authorizations stay in FAADroneZone.
AIS ServicesThe FAA aims to decide a waiver request within 90 days and says the time varies with how complex and complete the request is.
90 daysThe altitude rule has an exception written for structures.
Under 14 CFR 107.51(b), a drone may fly no higher than 400 feet above the ground, unless it flies within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 feet above the structure's “immediate uppermost limit”. So next to a tall tower, stack or building, the drone can fly up to 400 feet above its top.
The FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual adds that in Class G airspace a Part 107 pilot may fly up to 400 feet, and within 400 feet of a structure, without prior coordination with air traffic control. Flight visibility from the control station must be at least 3 statute miles (107.51(c)), and 107.51 is one of the sections a waiver can cover. Our guide How high can a drone fly? gives the altitude rules in full.
For industrial drone inspections with workers on the ground, the rule is 14 CFR 107.39: a drone may fly over a person only if that person takes part directly in the operation, is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle, or the flight meets one of the categories of subpart D.
Flight over people is allowed inside a closed or restricted-access site where everyone has been told a drone may fly over them, never over an open-air assembly, and only with a drone listed on an FAA-accepted declaration of compliance for Category 3 and labeled for it (107.125).
Closed siteOver people in moving vehicles, in Categories 1 to 3, only inside a closed or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice, or with no sustained flight over moving vehicles (107.145(b)).
Not sustainedFrom a moving land or water vehicle only over a sparsely populated area, and not while carrying another person's property for hire; never from a moving aircraft (107.25).
Sparse areasThe remote pilot assesses the operating environment: local weather, local airspace and flight restrictions, people and property on the surface, and other ground hazards (107.49).
Every flightClass B, C or D airspace, or the surface area of Class E airspace at an airport, needs prior authorization from air traffic control (14 CFR 107.41).
LAANC automates the application and approval in the apps of FAA Approved UAS Service Suppliers, and an approval can come in near-real time. Our guides to LAANC and airspace classes cover both.
A Part 107 pilot must also comply with temporary flight restrictions and the other NOTAM-designated restrictions of 14 CFR 91.137 through 91.145, and with the Special Security Instructions of 99.7 (107.47). The FAA says drones are prohibited over designated national security sensitive facilities from the ground up to 400 feet, for all types and purposes of flight; its examples include national landmarks and “certain critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants”. The Aeronautical Information Manual says operations in these areas may be permitted in limited circumstances, and that operators review NOTAMs and seek authorization first.
At night the remote pilot needs the initial test or recurrent training taken after April 6, 2021, and the drone needs anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles; in civil twilight the same lighting is required (107.29).
Look up the airspace, flight restrictions and security-sensitive sites over the inspection site first.
Check the site before the flightToday a Part 107 flight beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) needs a certificate of waiver of 107.31, and of 107.33 where it applies, as set out above.
No BVLOS rule is in force:
The FAA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) proposed BVLOS rules as a new part 108, “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations” (90 FR 38212, docket FAA-2025-1908). Comments closed on October 6, 2025; a request to extend that period was denied on September 29, 2025.
ProposedOn electronic conspicuity and right-of-way, until February 11, 2026 (91 FR 3695); a request to extend that was denied (91 FR 5880).
On November 14, 2026 the Federal Register lists four documents for the proposal's RIN 2120-AL82, and the eCFR has no part 108.
Not in forceThe summary of the August 7, 2025 proposal names package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic interest, training, demonstration, recreation and flight testing; it does not use the word “inspection”.
An older law names inspection work. Section 2210 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 told the FAA's application process to let a person apply to fly beyond visual line of sight, by day or night, for critical infrastructure work: activities “to inspect, repair, construct, maintain, or protect” pipelines, electric energy facilities, oil or gas facilities and other critical infrastructure as 18 U.S.C. 2339D defines it. Within Part 107 itself, the route is the waiver of 107.31.
Section 2209 of the same 2016 Act tells the FAA to set up a process for fixed site facilities to ask it to prohibit or restrict drone flights close to them.
Only these may count as fixed site facilities: critical infrastructure (energy production, transmission and distribution facilities, railroad facilities); oil refineries and chemical facilities; amusement parks; and State prisons. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 added two deadlines to the section: a proposed rule within 90 days of that Act's enactment, and a final rule within 16 months after the proposal.
The FAA's proposal came on May 6, 2026 (91 FR 24650, RIN 2120-AL33, docket FAA-2026-4558): a new part 74 of “unmanned aircraft flight restrictions” (UAFR). Comments on the proposal were due July 6, 2026, and the period was extended to August 5, 2026. Everything in this list is proposed, not law:
A restriction's lateral boundary could not exceed the facility's property boundary.
ProposedThe ceiling would be up to 400 feet above the ground; where the facility's tallest component tops 300 feet, up to its height plus 100 feet, rounded up to the next 50 feet.
ProposedInside a standard restriction, a drone could fly only if it broadcasts Remote ID, crosses “in the shortest amount of time practicable” and is one of the listed operation types; a Part 107 operation with an airman certificate is one of them.
ProposedAnyone flying under proposed 74.250 in a restriction would notify the facility's site manager, giving the pilot, the certificate number, the Remote ID serial number, the registration number and more.
ProposedCritical infrastructure as 42 U.S.C. 5195c(e) defines it, including the 16 designated critical infrastructure sectors.
ProposedBreaking a standard restriction could lead to civil enforcement, and breaking a special restriction to civil or criminal enforcement; under the proposal a restriction would not authorize detection or mitigation technology.
ProposedThe proposal cites Executive Order 14305 (90 FR 24719, June 11, 2025). On November 14, 2026 the Federal Register lists only the proposal and the extension for RIN 2120-AL33, and the eCFR has no part 74: the proposal is not a final rule.
Counter-drone technology at airports is the subject of a different law. 49 U.S.C. 44810, “Airport safety and airspace hazard mitigation and enforcement”, has the FAA work with federal agencies so that their drone detection and mitigation systems do not interfere with safe airport operations, navigation, air traffic services or “the safe and efficient operation of the national airspace system”; it ceases to be effective on September 30, 2028. Under section 383, the FAA picked five airports on March 2, 2021 to test detection and mitigation technologies.
States may generally regulate outside aviation safety and airspace efficiency if their laws do not conflict with FAA rules, a 2023 FAA and DOT fact sheet says; the same fact sheet says state or local laws affecting commercial drone operators are more likely to be preempted.
Each statute below names its own list of facilities. Some reach flight over or near a listed facility itself; others reach photographing, recording or data collection about it, or flights made to further a crime or cause harm.
Our state law table holds 16 rows on critical infrastructure; the 14 below bear on inspection flights, each read in the state's own code. A row with parts of the law not read in full says so. Every other state drone law is on drone laws by state.
| State and law | What it says | Read |
|---|---|---|
| ArizonaAriz. Rev. Stat. 13-3729(B) | Photographing or loitering over or near a critical facility (refineries, utilities, prisons, courts, some hospitals) to further a crime is a class 6 felony. | November 14, 2026 |
| ArkansasArk. Code 5-60-103(b), as amended by Act 597 of 2025 | Using a drone to watch, record or collect information about critical infrastructure without the owner's prior written consent is an offense. | November 14, 2026 |
| FloridaFla. Stat. 330.41(4) | Flying over, touching or disturbing a listed critical infrastructure facility (power, water, ports, airports, prisons and more) is a third-degree felony, with exceptions. | November 14, 2026 |
| LouisianaLa. R.S. 14:337(A)(1)(a), (B)(6) | Using a drone to surveil or record a targeted facility (refineries, chemical plants, schools, critical infrastructure) without written consent is a crime. | November 14, 2026 |
| Mississippi2021 H.B. 974, Mississippi Unmanned Aircraft Systems Protection Act of 2021, Sections 15-19 | Using a drone to surveil or record critical infrastructure or a prison without written consent is an offense. | November 14, 2026; read in the 2021 bill; its codified section numbers were not read |
| MissouriRSMo 577.800.1(3)-(4) | Using a drone inside a critical infrastructure facility's boundary, or within 400 feet above it to further a crime, is an offense. | November 14, 2026 |
| NevadaNev. Rev. Stat. 493.109 | No drone within 500 feet across or 250 feet above a critical facility without consent, or within 5 miles of an airport without authorization. | November 14, 2026 |
| New YorkN.Y. Penal Law 280.00(5), 280.05(2) | Unapproved drone flight within 500 feet of listed sites (airports, prisons, critical infrastructure, schools, gatherings of 500 or more and others) is a class A misdemeanor. | November 14, 2026 |
| OhioOhio Rev. Code 4561.50(A), 4561.51(C) | No photographing, recording or loitering near a critical facility (including prisons, courts, police stations, some hospitals) to cause harm or tamper with it. | November 14, 2026 |
| OregonOr. Rev. Stat. 837.372 | Flying at or below 400 feet over a fenced or posted critical facility (power, water, refineries, prisons) or touching it is a Class A violation. | November 14, 2026; the exceptions in 837.372(3) were not read in full |
| TexasTex. Gov't Code 423.0045 | Flying at or below 400 feet over a fenced or posted critical facility, touching it, or disturbing its operation is an offense. | November 14, 2026 |
| VirginiaVa. Code 18.2-121.3(A)(ii), (B) | Unauthorized flight over utilities, critical infrastructure or federally covered maritime facilities is a Class 4 felony. | November 14, 2026; the exceptions after subsection (B) were not read in full |
| West VirginiaW. Va. Code 61-16-2(b) | Over a targeted facility, no dropping objects, surveilling to cause harm, or gathering trade secrets or protected information by drone. | November 14, 2026; the definition of “targeted facility” in 61-16-1 was not re-read |
| WyomingWyo. Stat. 19-13-503 | No photographing or loitering by drone over or near critical infrastructure (including prisons, courts, hospitals). | November 14, 2026; read in the 2025 enrolled act; the compiled Title 19 was not read |
14 state laws on drones near critical infrastructure, each as read in the state's own code, with any part not read in full.
Four aircraft built for inspection work, each as its maker describes it on its own pages, read on November 14, 2026.
No prices and no pick: the FAA's registration and Remote ID rules go by weight, purpose and equipment, not by maker.
Up to 40 minutes of flight and an IP55 rating. Its VT300-Z sensor package pairs a 64 MP narrow camera, a 48 MP telephoto (190 mm equivalent) and a radiometric thermal camera at 640×512 pixels; Skydio lists two other sensor packages. Skydio, headquartered in San Mateo, California, says the X10 is “Designed, assembled, and supported in the U.S.”, and its technical specs say “FAA & EASA remote ID compliant”.
1.1 lb (500 g), 32 minutes of flight, IP53, a FLIR Boson thermal sensor and “Digital zoom: 32x”, as Parrot's product sheet prints them. The sheet says “Made in the USA.”, and the FAA's list of Remote ID declarations of compliance holds the ANAFI USA (RID000000068).
Wide, medium tele and telephoto cameras of 48 MP each, an uncooled VOx thermal imager at 640×512 and up to 49 minutes of flight with standard propellers, as DJI's Matrice 4 Series specs print them.
A collision-tolerant caged drone for indoor and confined-space inspection, with payloads for visual and thermal inspection, ultrasonic thickness, radiation, gas detection and surveying. Flyability says findings captured in flight are mapped onto a 3D model of the asset. Flyability SA, founded in 2014 as an EPFL spin-off, is headquartered in Paudex, Lausanne.
U.S. status, as the FCC states it: DJI drones and all other foreign-produced drones have been on the FCC Covered List since December 22, 2025; models authorized earlier may still be imported and sold, and existing authorizations are not revoked. Flyability names its headquarters but not where the Elios 3 is produced, so this page does not call it foreign-produced or domestic. An FCC proposal of July 21, 2026 (DA 26-758) would end imports and sales of some previously authorized drones on the list; its categories include thermal imaging and LiDAR, and as of the Covered List's November 6, 2026 update no such proposal is a final order. Imported drones with thermal imagers carry a 100 percent section 232 duty from September 3, 2026.
Our DJI ban page covers the FCC listing in full, and American-made drones covers aircraft made in the U.S. Drone mapping and 3D models, thermal drones and drones for construction and infrastructure work are planned as guides of their own.
The certificate, where you can fly, state laws, and the other guides to drone work.
Part 107 has no “1:1 rule”: the phrase does not occur in its text. The figures Part 107 does set here are 400 feet above the ground, higher only within 400 feet of a structure, and a flight visibility of at least 3 statute miles.
Standard Remote ID broadcasts what identifies the drone, its serial number or a session ID, and the position and altitude of the control station and of the drone, its velocity, a UTC time mark and its emergency status (14 CFR 89.305). The FAA's registration and Remote ID rules set their conditions by weight, purpose and equipment, not by manufacturer. The FCC's listing of DJI and other foreign-produced drones since December 22, 2025 is a separate matter, covered on our DJI ban page.
Before each flight the remote pilot must check that the small unmanned aircraft system is in a condition for safe operation, and must stop flying once it is not (14 CFR 107.15). A final rule of November 10, 2026 on inspection programs, effective January 11, 2027 (91 FR 72397), amends parts 91, 125, 135, 137 and 145, not Part 107; it describes its unmanned aircraft change as one for aircraft under parts 91 or 135, excluding Part 107 aircraft.
No FAA page we read rules on someone inspecting their own roof. The FAA lists “roof inspections” among its examples of Part 107 flights; Advisory Circular 91-57D leaves out of recreational flying any flight “related to or in furtherance of a business”; and the FAA says: “When in doubt, assume Part 107.”
For a flight under Part 107, yes: the remote pilot in command holds a remote pilot certificate, which takes being at least 16 and passing the FAA's knowledge test, with the test or recurrent training current within 24 calendar months. Our drone license guide sets out the steps.
Photos: DJI press images. Product photos by Parrot, Skydio and Flyability. Wikimedia Commons: Grendelkhan (CC BY-SA 4.0).