Part 107 waivers, explained
What can be waived, what a real application contains, and why most of them are refused.
Researched from published specifications and verified owner reviews · updated 2026
The short answer
A Part 107 waiver permits an operation that departs from a specific waivable operating rule, such as flying beyond visual line of sight or operating multiple aircraft with one pilot. It is applied for through the FAA DroneZone portal, assessed as an individual safety case, and the FAA advises allowing about 90 days. It is distinct from an airspace authorization, which permits flight in controlled airspace and is usually granted in seconds through LAANC.
A waiver is the mechanism by which the FAA permits an operation that would otherwise break a specific Part 107 operating rule. It is not a loophole and it is not a formality. The premise is that each of those rules exists to manage a hazard, and that if you can demonstrate you will manage the same hazard by another means, the rule can be set aside for your operation under stated conditions.
Two things follow from that premise and they explain almost everything about the process. First, an application is a safety case rather than a request, which is why most refusals are for applications that described an intention instead of a mitigation. Second, the conditions attached to an approval are part of the waiver: operating outside them is operating without one.
ASA
ASA Standard UAS Operator Logbook
Paper logbook, flight and maintenance
Waiver applications ask about your operation, your procedures and your experience, and an evaluator responds better to specifics than to assurances. A documented flight history is the cheapest way to have those specifics, and reconstructing one from photo timestamps after the fact is neither quick nor convincing.
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Waiver or authorization? They are different things
| Airspace authorization | Waiver | |
|---|---|---|
| What it permits | Flight in controlled airspace | Departure from a specific operating rule |
| How you apply | LAANC through an approved app, or DroneZone | DroneZone portal, individually assessed |
| Typical turnaround | Seconds to minutes in supported areas | Allow around 90 days, often longer |
| What is assessed | Location and altitude against a published grid | Your safety case, procedures and mitigations |
| How often granted | Routinely, within the grid | Selectively, and often after questions |
Most operators never need a waiver at all. Controlled airspace, which is the thing people actually run into most often, is handled by authorization, and that process is covered on LAANC airspace authorization.
What can be waived
The regulation publishes the list of waivable sections. In practice the ones that come up commercially are these.
Beyond visual line of sight. The single most requested and most difficult waiver, because the rule it displaces is the primary means by which a remote pilot sees and avoids other aircraft. An application has to describe a credible alternative, which usually means detect-and-avoid technology, ground observers positioned along the route, airspace deconfliction procedures, or some combination, described concretely.
Operating multiple aircraft. One remote pilot may not operate more than one aircraft at a time under the standard rule. Waivers exist for choreographed operations and require a serious account of how a single pilot maintains awareness and control of several airframes.
Operating from a moving vehicle. Restricted under the standard rule outside sparsely populated areas, and waivable, typically for linear infrastructure survey work.
Operations over people and moving vehicles. Now largely governed by the four-category system based on the aircraft rather than by waiver, which was a substantial improvement. Waivers remain relevant for operations that fall outside the categories.
Yielding right of way and the visual observer provisions. Both waivable, and both almost always appearing as part of a larger beyond-visual-line-of-sight case rather than alone.
Night operations used to dominate this list and no longer do, because night flying is permitted under the current rule with the required training and anti-collision lighting visible for three statute miles. That lighting is a performance requirement, so buy something whose manufacturer states the figure, such as a STARTRC anti-collision strobe lights (2 pack) ($23), rather than assuming a bright light qualifies.
What a strong application actually contains
The FAA publishes guidance on what it looks for, and applications that follow it read very differently from applications that do not. Four elements do most of the work.
A specific, bounded description of the operation. Where, when, what aircraft, what crew, what altitudes, what duration. An application that asks for open-ended permission across unspecified locations gives an evaluator nothing to assess and is refused on that basis alone. Narrow scope is easier to approve, and approved narrow scope is how operators build a track record toward broader privileges.
Identification of the hazard the rule addresses. State plainly what could go wrong if the rule simply did not exist. For visual line of sight that is a mid-air collision with a manned aircraft and an inability to see and avoid. Naming the hazard correctly signals that you understand what you are asking for.
Concrete mitigations, tied to that hazard. This is where applications succeed or fail. Not "the pilot will be vigilant", but the specific personnel, equipment, procedures, airspace coordination, abort criteria and communications that replace the function of the rule. Every mitigation should be verifiable by someone who was not there.
Evidence you can execute it. Crew qualifications, documented procedures, maintenance practice and flight history. This is the part where a real ASA Standard UAS Operator Logbook ($10) and a written preflight routine stop being tidiness and start being evidence. Our own version of that routine is the preflight checklist.
How long it takes, honestly
The FAA advises allowing about 90 days, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight applications routinely take longer, particularly when the evaluator comes back with questions. In practical terms a request for more information restarts your planning clock even where it does not formally restart the process.
The operational consequence is simple and worth stating clearly: never quote a job that depends on a waiver you do not already hold. Either scope the job so it fits inside the standard rules, or apply for the waiver well before the work exists, or decline. Operators who assume approval and then fly anyway are the reason the process is not more permissive.
Living with an approved waiver
A waiver is issued with conditions and limitations, and those are the operative document rather than the rule you were exempted from. Read them carefully, because they commonly restrict locations, altitudes, aircraft serial numbers, personnel, weather minima and reporting obligations. Flying outside any of them is flying without the waiver.
Keep the waiver with your other flight documents so that it can be produced on request, along with your certificate, aircraft registration and identification. Diarise the expiry, since a waiver is issued for a period rather than permanently. And note that a waiver never removes the need for an airspace authorization, nor for compliance with Remote ID, nor for state, local and property rules, none of which the FAA controls.
When the answer is to redesign the job instead
A surprising number of jobs that look like they need a waiver do not. A survey that seems to need beyond visual line of sight often fits inside the rules if it is flown as several shorter missions from repositioned launch points, which costs a little time and no approval. An inspection that seems to need a flight over people can frequently be flown from a different angle, or at a different hour, or with the area briefly cleared with the site manager's help.
That redesign is usually cheaper than a three-month approval process, and it is what an experienced operator reaches for first. The mission-planning arithmetic that makes multi-launch surveys practical is on the mapping mission planner and how to plan a mapping mission.
Confirm everything against the source
This page describes how the waiver process works in general terms and it is researched guidance rather than legal advice. The list of waivable sections, the application portal, the guidance on what constitutes an acceptable safety case, and the processing timelines are all published by the FAA and all change. Start at faa.gov/uas, and if the operation is commercially significant, take professional advice rather than relying on any website, including this one.
Questions people ask
+ What is the difference between a waiver and an airspace authorization?
An airspace authorization permits a flight in controlled airspace and is routine, often returned in seconds through LAANC up to a published altitude grid. A waiver permits an operation that departs from a specific operating rule, such as flying beyond visual line of sight, and is assessed individually as a safety case. Authorizations are common and quick. Waivers are neither.
+ Which Part 107 rules can be waived?
The regulation lists the waivable sections, and they include operation from a moving vehicle, operations at night in the older framework, visual line of sight, the visual observer requirement, operating multiple aircraft, yielding right of way, operations over people, operations in certain airspace and several of the general operating limitations. Some core provisions are not waivable at all.
+ How long does a waiver take to approve?
The FAA advises allowing about 90 days, and complex applications take longer. Beyond visual line of sight applications in particular are assessed carefully and frequently come back with requests for more information, which restarts the clock in practical terms. Do not build a client deadline around an unapproved waiver.
+ Why do most waiver applications get denied?
Because they describe what the applicant wants to do rather than how the risk will be mitigated. A waiver application is a safety case: it has to identify the hazards the rule normally addresses, and explain the specific alternative means by which those hazards will be managed, with enough detail that an evaluator can verify it. Vague assurances about being careful fail immediately.
+ Do I need a waiver to fly at night?
Not any more, in general. Night operations are permitted under the current rule provided the remote pilot has completed the required training and the aircraft carries anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles. That replaced the older situation where night flying was one of the most commonly requested waivers.
+ Can a waiver cover a single job or does it cover my whole operation?
Either, depending on how it is written. A waiver is issued with specific conditions and limitations, which may name locations, altitudes, aircraft, personnel and timeframes. A narrowly scoped application for one site is easier to justify and easier to approve than an open request, which is why an operator building toward broad privileges usually starts narrow.
