A Part 107 waiver lets you operate outside the standard limits of the small unmanned aircraft rules. It is not permission to ignore the rules—it is a documented, FAA-approved alternative that demonstrates your operation is safe despite deviating from the default. The application is free, submitted online, and the quality of your safety case determines the outcome far more than the specific rule you are asking to deviate from.
Only the rules on the FAA's list can be waived. Part 107 lists them explicitly:
- Operating from a moving vehicle or aircraft - Anti-collision lighting for night and civil-twilight flight - Visual line of sight, for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations - Visual observer requirements - Operating more than one drone at a time - Yielding the right of way to other aircraft - Operations over people - Operations over moving vehicles - Operation in controlled airspace - The operating limits: altitude, groundspeed, visibility and cloud clearance
Anything not on the list cannot be waived, however strong the application. One limit applies even to listed rules: no waiver of the moving-vehicle rule or the visual-line-of-sight rule will allow carrying another person's property for hire.
Before applying, check whether you need a waiver at all. Night flight has not needed one since 2021, provided you have completed the updated knowledge test or training and the drone has anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles. Many flights over people are allowed without a waiver when the drone qualifies for one of the operating categories. Airspace access is normally handled by an authorization through LAANC or DroneZone rather than a waiver.
The FAA's waiver page at FAA: Part 107 Waivers explains the process.
Apply before you need the waiver. You cannot operate under a pending application.
Processing times vary. A simple, well-documented request can be decided in weeks; complex operations such as beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight can take months. The FAA does not expedite for commercial deadlines, so allow several months for anything unusual. There is no fee.
The application is submitted online through FAA DroneZone; the FAA's waiver page at FAA: Part 107 Waivers explains the steps. The form asks for your details, the specific provision you are requesting a waiver from, and then the substance: your operational plan.
This is where most applications fail. The FAA is not asking you to restate the rule. They are asking you to explain why your specific operation is safe despite deviating from it. A strong application includes:
1. A clear description of the operation. Where, when, what aircraft, what payload, what altitude, what line of sight arrangement, what weather conditions you expect, what the environment looks like.
2. The specific deviation you need. Be precise. 'I need to fly beyond visual line of sight along this 2-mile pipeline corridor, with these detect-and-avoid measures' is a far better request than 'I need a BVLOS waiver.'
3. Your safety case. This is the core. What mitigations are in place? Redundant systems? Pre-flight checklists? Geofencing? Weather minimums you will enforce? Personnel qualifications? What happens if a system fails mid-operation? The more you can show that you have thought through failure modes, the more credible the application.
4. Your operational history. If you have flown this type of operation before without incident, say so. If you have a safety record, mention it. If this is your first time, be honest and lean harder on the mitigations.
5. Supporting documentation. Photos of the site, maps, diagrams of the flight path, aircraft specifications, crew qualifications. Attach what you can.
The FAA reviews each application on its merits. There is no checklist that guarantees approval. Two identical requests for the same deviation can produce different outcomes depending on the quality of the safety case presented.
After you submit, the FAA reviews the request and may ask for more information. That is normal and does not mean you are being denied; answer quickly and completely, because each round adds time.
If approved, you receive a Certificate of Waiver setting out the exact conditions you must operate under. They are binding: if it limits you to a particular altitude, area or time of day, that is your operating envelope.
If denied, the FAA explains why. You can apply again, but a new application needs to address the stated reasons; resubmitting the same request will get the same answer.
An approved waiver is a separate Certificate of Waiver, not an addition to your remote pilot certificate. It states its own effective period; check it, and do not operate under it after it expires.
Operational requirements under a waiver:
- The waiver applies to the specific operation described. If you change the site, the aircraft, the time window, or the crew structure in a way that affects safety, you may need a new waiver. - You must comply with all conditions listed in the waiver document. These are as binding as the standard rules. - If something goes wrong—an incident, a near-miss, a system failure during the operation—you must report it to the FAA within 10 calendar days if it meets the reporting threshold (serious injury, loss of consciousness, or damage to property other than the drone costing more than $500 to repair or worth more than $500 if destroyed). - The FAA can revoke a waiver at any time if they determine the safety basis is no longer valid.
Keep a copy of the waiver document accessible to your crew during operations. If you are operating with a visual observer or a safety officer, they should know what the waiver covers and what it does not.
Common reasons applications fail:
- Vague operational descriptions. 'I fly for a construction company' is not an operational plan. The FAA needs to picture the specific flight: the field, the altitude, the line of sight geometry, the weather envelope.
- Copying a generic template. The FAA reviews hundreds of applications. A boilerplate safety case that could apply to any operation in any location reads as though no one actually thought about this specific flight.
- Asking for more than you need. If you need to fly at 200 ft AGL instead of 400, ask for 200. Do not ask for 400 'just in case.' The narrower the deviation, the easier the safety case is to make.
- Ignoring the environment. If you are applying to fly over a populated area, the FAA expects you to have addressed what happens to people on the ground if the aircraft fails. If you are asking to fly without standard anti-collision lighting, they expect you to explain how other aircraft will still see the drone.
- Not addressing the specific concern the rule exists to prevent. Every rule exists because of a hazard. Your safety case must show that you have identified that hazard and mitigated it. If you are asking for a VLOS waiver, the FAA wants to know what happens if the aircraft is lost, fails, or enters uncontrolled flight. Generic 'we have redundant systems' is not enough—specify the redundancy.
How long does a Part 107 waiver take to approve?
There is no fixed timeline. Simple, well-documented applications for common deviations can be approved in a few weeks. Complex operations or those requiring multiple rounds of clarification can take several months. The FAA does not expedite for commercial deadlines. If your operation has a hard date, apply as early as possible and build buffer time into your schedule.
Can I fly while my waiver application is pending?
No. A pending application is not authorization. You must have the approved waiver document in hand before you operate outside the standard rules. Flying under a pending application is operating without authority and carries the same enforcement risk as any other unauthorized operation.
What is the difference between a waiver and an airspace authorization?
A waiver is a deviation from a specific operational rule (night lighting, VLOS, altitude, etc.) and is granted by the FAA's waiver office. An airspace authorization (for Class B, C, D, or surface-area Class E) is permission to operate in a specific volume of airspace and is obtained through LAANC or FAA DroneZone. They are separate processes, separate systems, and you may need both for a single operation.
Do I need a waiver to fly over people?
Often not. Since 2021, many flights over people are allowed without a waiver if the drone qualifies for one of the four operating categories and you meet that category's conditions. If your operation does not fit a category, operations over people are on the list of rules that can be waived, so you can apply for a waiver.
Can I get a waiver to fly at night if my drone doesn't have anti-collision lighting?
If your aircraft lacks the required lighting, you cannot legally fly at night or during civil twilight under the standard rules. A waiver for this scenario would need to demonstrate an alternative means of ensuring the aircraft is visible to other traffic and to the control station. This is a high bar. The more common and practical path is to equip the aircraft with compliant lighting (visible for at least 3 statute miles, intensity may be reduced for safety but not turned off) and then, if needed, apply for a waiver to reduce that intensity below 3 statute miles for a specific operational reason.
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This page was corrected after review.