Anyone who flies a drone for a roofing company flies under the FAA’s Part 107 rule and has to hold a Remote Pilot Certificate. Each drone also needs its own Part 107 registration, which costs $5 and lasts three years.
For the drone itself, buy a model the FCC authorized before December 22, 2025, when it added new foreign-made drones, DJI’s included, to its Covered List. If you came looking for measurement software, Roof Measurement Reports Compared: EagleView, Hover, RoofSnap and Roofr compares the report services.
You earn the certificate by passing one in-person test
You have to be at least 16, able to read, speak, write and understand English, and fit to fly safely. First-time pilots take a knowledge test called Unmanned Aircraft General, Small (UAG) at an FAA-approved Knowledge Testing Center and bring a government photo ID. It covers regulations, airspace, weather, loading and performance, emergency procedures, radio procedures, drugs and alcohol, airport operations, preflight inspection and night operation.
The FAA lists the steps in this order:
- Create a profile in IACRA, the FAA’s online application system, to get an FAA Tracking Number.
- Book the test and pass it. Results can take up to 48 hours to show up in IACRA.
- File FAA Form 8710-13 in IACRA with the 17-digit exam ID from your test.
- Clear a TSA background check.
- Print the temporary certificate. The permanent card comes by mail.
Keep the certificate where you can reach it whenever the drone is in the air. To keep flying for the business, finish the free online refresher (Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent, ALC-677) every 24 calendar months, and put the due date on your calendar the day you pass.
A drone under 250 grams still needs the license once it works a roof
Someone on r/RoofingSales asked for a drone “under the weight limit because I don’t have the drone flying certification.” The FAA’s weight exemption covers only a drone of 0.55 lb (under 250 grams) or less flown purely for recreation. A drone registered as recreational can’t be flown under Part 107, so a light drone that inspects roofs for a business still needs a business registration and a certified pilot.
Every registered drone, business drones included, has to comply with Remote ID, and the registration form asks for its Remote ID serial number. Have that number in hand before you register.
A rep without his own certificate flies only under a certified pilot’s supervision
The rule lets an uncertified person work the controls only while a certified remote pilot in command supervises him directly and can take over immediately. A certified pilot back at the office doesn’t cover a rep who is alone on an inspection across town. Get each rep who flies his own certificate, or keep the drone with the person who holds one.
Four flight rules matter on a roof inspection
The altitude and speed caps sit far above anything a roof inspection needs. These four are the ones a job runs into:
- Keep the drone in sight. The pilot or a visual observer has to see the drone with unaided eyes (glasses are fine) for the whole flight. Flying around the back of the house off the controller screen breaks this rule, so walk around the house with it or bring a second person to watch.
- Keep it off people. You can’t fly over people who aren’t part of the operation unless they’re under a covered structure or in a stationary vehicle, or the drone qualifies under one of the operations-over-people categories. The lightest category requires 0.55 lb or less with no exposed rotating parts that could cut skin. Ask the homeowner to watch from the porch or the driveway, out from under the flight path.
- Check the airspace near airports. Flying in Class B, C or D airspace, or in the surface area of Class E airspace around an airport, needs prior authorization from air traffic control. Look up the address before you drive out to an inspection near an airport.
- Inspect the drone before each flight. The rule requires a check that the drone is in condition for safe operation every time.
Dawn and dusk jobs need one more step. Night flying requires a pilot whose test or training was completed after April 6, 2021, plus anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles. The same lighting applies during civil twilight, so put lights on the drone before you inspect at first or last light.
One adjuster blamed blurry zoom shots for rejected drone photos
A rep on r/RoofingSales wrote that the team at his company that deals with carriers told him “carriers will not accept images taken by drones for claims.” An adjuster then told the same rep the trouble was low-quality drones relying on zoom, which blurs the shot.
Shop for a camera that gets a sharp photo from close in, so you aren’t zooming from high up. On insurance work, take hand-held photos as well until you see how the carriers you deal with treat drone shots. How an Insurance Roofing Job Works, From Inspection to Final Check covers where those photos go in the claim.
Check four things before you buy a drone
The FCC’s Covered List now blocks equipment authorization for new foreign-made drones and their critical components, so new models can’t be imported or sold in the US without an exemption. The action isn’t retroactive, which is why a model authorized earlier, such as the DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise, is still legal to buy, own and fly. The FCC has since issued exemptions and clarifications, and DJI and Autel have challenges pending, so check the model’s status on the day you buy.
Before you pay, confirm that the drone:
- Was authorized for sale in the US before the Covered List action, or holds an exemption.
- Complies with Remote ID, with a serial number you can find for registration.
- Gets sharp roof photos from close range without leaning on zoom.
- Has anti-collision lighting, or can take it, if you plan to fly at dawn or dusk.
One person on Reddit asking which drone to buy wanted to stay in the $300 to $500 range. Put any model at that price through the same four checks.
Part 107 says nothing about flying strangers’ roofs to look for damage
A tile roofing owner with a Part 107 certified drone asked on r/Roofing whether flying over single-family neighborhoods to spot broken tile, then pitching repairs, was legal or ethical. Part 107 doesn’t address privacy. Read your state and city privacy and trespass laws before you fly any roof whose owner hasn’t asked you to.
Run through this list before the first paid flight
- Pass the UAG test, file Form 8710-13 and clear the TSA check.
- Register each drone under Part 107 ($5, three years) with its Remote ID serial number.
- Give every rep who flies his own certificate, or keep a certified pilot supervising him.
- Keep the drone in sight and off the homeowner.
- Check the airspace for addresses near airports.
- Buy a model authorized before the Covered List action that takes sharp photos without zoom.
- Put the 24-month refresher on the calendar.
Roof Inspection Report Template and Checklist gives you a place to put the photos once you have them.
A homeowner has to find you and call before the drone ever leaves the truck. Zentora’s free Google Maps heatmap lets you pick your Google profile and a search, and in a few minutes shows your rank at 49 points around your office.