FAA Part 107

Key Takeaways

• Shooting aerial photos or video to market a listing is a commercial operation, so it falls under FAA Part 107 rather than the recreational drone rules.
• The remote pilot in command must hold an FAA remote pilot certificate with a small unmanned aircraft systems rating.
• Flying in Class B, C, or D airspace, or in the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, requires prior authorization from air traffic control.
• The pilot must keep the aircraft in unaided visual line of sight for the whole flight.

What It Means

FAA Part 107 is the federal rule set, found at 14 CFR Part 107, that governs commercial operation of small drones. Shooting aerial stills or video to market a property is commercial use, so a listing flight sits under Part 107 even when the drone is small and the flight lasts two minutes.

The rule puts one person in charge, the remote pilot in command, and requires that person to hold a remote pilot certificate with a small unmanned aircraft systems rating. Someone else may work the controls only under the direct supervision of that certificated pilot. Part 107 then sets operating limits. The pilot has to keep the aircraft in unaided visual line of sight throughout the flight, and has to obtain prior authorization from air traffic control before operating in Class B, C, or D airspace or within the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport.

Aerial media earns its cost on acreage, waterfront, view, and rural listings, where a photo from the driveway cannot show the parcel lines or the shoreline. The same certificate rule covers a drone roof inspection.

How It Works in Washington

Part 107 is federal, so Washington does not license drone pilots. What Washington regulates is what you do with the footage. The moment a drone shot lands in a flyer, a listing page, or a social post, it is Advertising for brokerage services, and WAC 308-124B-210 applies: all advertising and solicitations for brokerage services, including internet-based advertising, web pages, email, and other visual media, must include the firm name or an assumed name as licensed.

Supervision runs through the firm too. RCW 18.85.275(1) makes the Designated Broker or managing broker responsible for supervising broker conduct for compliance with chapter 18.85 RCW, chapter 18.235 RCW, and RCW 18.86.030. RCW 18.86.030 is the duties statute, and it requires a broker to exercise reasonable skill and care and to deal in good faith with all parties. That is the hook for hiring a certificated operator rather than a neighbor with a hobby drone, and for getting the seller's written permission before the flight and filing it with the transaction. The Department of Licensing publishes advertising guidelines covering internet, print, and social media, and our walkthrough of Washington advertising requirements covers what has to appear on the finished piece.

Example

Tanya lists a 14 acre view property outside Sequim at $1,150,000. Ground level photos cannot show the pasture line or the water view, so she budgets $475 for aerial stills plus a 60 second video. Her first quote comes from a photographer who says he flies a drone but holds no certificate. She passes on him.

She hires Olympic Aerial instead, whose remote pilot in command holds an FAA remote pilot certificate with a small unmanned aircraft systems rating. The parcel sits inside controlled airspace near a regional airport, so the pilot requests air traffic control authorization and has it in hand before the shoot. Tanya adds a signed line to the Listing Agreement authorizing aerial photography of the property, notes the flight date, and files the vendor's certificate number with the transaction. The finished video carries her firm's licensed name in the closing frame and in the post caption.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Recreational drone rules do not cover a listing shoot. Marketing a property is a commercial purpose, which puts the flight under Part 107.
• The certificate belongs to the remote pilot in command, not to the brokerage and not to the aircraft. Registering the drone is a separate step from certifying the pilot.
• Seller permission is not airspace authorization. A seller can consent to a flight that air traffic control has not cleared.
• Aerial media is advertising. It carries the firm name requirement in the same way a yard sign or a web page does.