If you've ever hired someone to fly a drone for your business, you've probably seen the phrase "Part 107 certified" and nodded along without knowing exactly what it means. Here's the plain-English version.
What Part 107 is
Part 107 is the set of FAA rules that govern flying a drone commercially in the United States. To earn the certificate, a pilot passes an aeronautical knowledge exam covering airspace classes, weather, loading, emergency procedures, and the regulations themselves. It's not a formality — people fail it.
Why it matters when you hire
A certified Remote Pilot is legally cleared to operate over your property and, critically, knows how to read the airspace they're flying in. Near an airport, a stadium, or restricted airspace, that knowledge is the difference between a clean shoot and a grounded one — or worse, a violation that lands on you.
- They understand where they can and can't legally fly.
- They can request authorization to fly in controlled airspace.
- They know the weather and safety limits that keep a shoot legal.
The certificate isn't the point. The judgment behind it is. That's what you're actually hiring.
How to verify it
Anyone can claim a certificate. On Drone Your Own, every pilot's Part 107 is checked manually before they can take a single job — so you're not the one chasing down proof. When verification is the platform's job, hiring stops being a leap of faith.
