The paperwork
What the permissions actually mean, in plain English
Operator ID
HeldWhat it is
The registration that belongs to the person or business responsible for the aircraft. It is issued by the Civil Aviation Authority and it has to be displayed on the aircraft itself.
What it changes for your job
This is the number worth asking any firm for, because it is the one that ties an aircraft to somebody accountable. If a firm cannot produce one, that is the end of the conversation rather than the start of a negotiation.
Flyer ID
HeldWhat it is
The registration that belongs to the person actually flying, obtained after passing the CAA's online theory test. The Operator ID covers the aircraft, the Flyer ID covers the pilot.
What it changes for your job
On a one person operation the two sit with the same person. On a larger firm they may not, which is why it is worth asking who specifically is coming rather than whether the company is registered.
A2 Certificate of Competency
HeldWhat it is
A qualification above the basic Flyer ID, taken through a CAA recognised assessment entity. It covers additional theory and a declared practical assessment, and it exists so that a pilot can fly certain aircraft closer to people who are not involved in the flight than the basic registration allows.
What it changes for your job
In practice it widens the set of sites that can be flown lawfully. On a tight urban address, an A2 CofC is often the difference between a survey that can go ahead and one that cannot.
General VLOS Certificate
Not heldWhat it is
The GVC is the qualification that sits above the A2 CofC. It is the route to an operational authorisation from the CAA, which is what a firm needs before it can apply to work under permissions beyond the standard ones.
What it changes for your job
This is stated plainly rather than left off the list. It means a small number of sites, typically the most congested or the most constrained, are ones this operation will decline rather than fly. If your job is one of them you get told at the enquiry, not on the day.
Commercial insurance
HeldWhat it is
Specialist drone insurance through Coverdrone, covering commercial operations. It is a separate thing from any qualification and it is not implied by registration.
What it changes for your job
Ask for the certificate before you book, from anybody. It goes out by email on request here. A qualified pilot with no cover is a problem you inherit rather than one they carry.
Airspace permissions
Checked per jobWhat it is
Airspace restrictions are not a qualification, they are a property of where your building is. Parts of the South West sit under restrictions around airfields and other sensitive sites.
What it changes for your job
The check happens before the quote rather than on the morning of the visit. Where a restriction affects a job, it changes the plan, the timing, or occasionally the answer, and you hear about it either way.
The real constraint
The thing that actually constrains a flight
It is rarely the building. It is the people and the property around it who are nothing to do with the job and have not agreed to be part of it, and the rules are built around keeping the aircraft an appropriate distance from them.
That is why a detached house in a big garden is straightforward and a mid terrace with a school field behind it is not. The roof is the same job in both cases; the ground around it is completely different.
It is also why a firm that says yes to everything without asking about the surroundings is either not thinking about it or not telling you. The first question about any address here is what sits next to it.
Where a site cannot be flown within the permissions held, the answer is that it cannot be flown here. Sometimes that means an operator with a GVC and an operational authorisation is the right call, and saying so costs a job and keeps a reputation.
Due diligence
How to check any of this for yourself
Ask for the Operator ID
It is a specific number and it should be on the aircraft. Any firm that is vague about it is telling you something.
Ask which certificate is held
A2 CofC and GVC are different things and they are not interchangeable. A firm should be able to say which one, without hedging, and say who assessed them for it.
Ask for the insurance certificate
Before booking rather than after an incident. It should name the insurer, the policy period and the cover for commercial operations.
Ask who is actually coming
A company being registered says nothing about the individual arriving at your property. Get the name and check the name.
Go to the source
The Civil Aviation Authority publishes the rules for unmanned aircraft and the requirements for registration and qualifications. Where you need the detail to the metre, take it from them rather than from any operator's website, this one included.
Everything claimed on this page about Sam Hembury is set out again on the surveyor page, and the way a job runs from the first call to the report is on how a job runs.
See the credentials
Ask the awkward question first
If there is something on this page you want a straight answer about before you go any further, ask it. It is a better use of a phone call than a quote you are not sure about.