What to Know About Proper Drone Usage

By Cayden Wemple. 

Adams and Reese Attorney Susan Eccles discusses proper drone usage and the legalities in this episode of Roofing Road Trips.  

It is an exciting time to be in the roofing industry because of the increased use of drones. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and on a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips Heidi J. Ellsworth meets with Susan Eccles, special council for Adams and Reese to give some insight on what precautions should be taken and what regulations need to be met when operating a drone.  

Just like driving a car, a drone needs a licensed operator. Operating a drone without a license can lead to several violations and makes other concerns arise. Susan explained that if there isn’t a licensed drone pilot operating the machine, “Not only do we have an FAA violation, but [it begs the question] was that drone even calibrated properly? Was the software up to date? Those are some concerns that you have there.” 

Some bigger contracting companies are starting to recruit their own drone pilots. “[After] you've grown more, it becomes more cost effective to have your own drone pilot, and it's not very expensive to put someone through drone pilot school. A lot of local vo-tech schools have [courses] and you can even earn your drone certificate online.”  

You certainly want to avoid getting fined at all costs and having a run-in with law enforcement would not be a good look for your company either. “It is worth that time, energy, and money to get [an employee] the drone certificate. You do not want to get fined by the federal government for flying a drone or get caught flying in an airspace that you should not be in. [These] are things that you need to know to fly drones properly.” 

Listen to the full conversation to learn more about drone regulations.