Before paying for any «official drone certification course,» know this: the actual federal requirement to fly commercially in the US is a single knowledge exam administered by the FAA, and passing it requires no mandatory paid training of any kind. Plenty of companies sell Part 107 prep courses, and some are genuinely useful study aids — but none of them are the official certification process itself. That process runs entirely through the FAA and its contracted testing centers, and it’s worth understanding exactly what’s required before you spend money on anything beyond the test fee.
What Part 107 Actually Is
14 CFR Part 107 is the FAA regulation governing commercial small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) operations in the United States. Any drone flight conducted for compensation or business purposes — mapping, surveying, inspection, real estate photography, agricultural monitoring — legally requires the pilot in command to hold a Remote Pilot Certificate issued under this rule. Recreational flying operates under separate, lighter rules (the free TRUST test), but the moment drone work generates business value, Part 107 applies, no exceptions.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for a Remote Pilot Certificate, an applicant must:
- Be at least 16 years old.
- Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.
- Be physically and mentally fit to safely operate a drone.
That’s the entire eligibility bar — there’s no minimum education requirement, no mandatory flight hours, and no requirement to complete any specific training program before sitting the exam.
The Certification Process: Five Steps
- Get an FAA Tracking Number (FTN) through the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) system — a free online registration step that generates the identifier you’ll use throughout the process.
- Schedule and pass the knowledge test — officially the «Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG)» exam — at an FAA-approved testing center. The FAA contracts with PSI Exams Online to administer this test at hundreds of locations nationwide; you’ll need a government-issued photo ID and your FTN on test day.
- Submit FAA Form 8710-13 through your IACRA account once you’ve passed the knowledge test.
- Pass a TSA security background check — the Transportation Security Administration reviews every applicant before certification is finalized.
- Receive your certificate — once the background check clears, the FAA mails a permanent Remote Pilot Certificate.
Most candidates complete this entire sequence within 60 days of starting, with the knowledge test itself being the only part requiring in-person attendance.
The Exam: What It Actually Covers
The knowledge test consists of 60 multiple-choice questions, and you need a score of 70% or higher to pass, drawn from a larger question bank so each test instance differs somewhat between candidates. Topics span:
- Airspace classification and operating requirements
- Weather interpretation as it affects drone operations
- Regulations and operational procedures under Part 107
- Loading and performance considerations for small unmanned aircraft
- Emergency procedures and aeronautical decision-making
Most candidates dedicate roughly 20–40 hours of self-study using free FAA materials — the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C) and the official Part 107 study guide — before sitting the exam, and the test fee is commonly cited around $175, paid directly to the testing center rather than the FAA.
What’s Actually Optional: The Prep Course Question
This is the parallel worth drawing explicitly for anyone comparing certification systems internationally: there is no mandatory paid course anywhere in the Part 107 process. Third-party prep providers — Pilot Institute, UAV Coach, Drone U, and others — sell structured study courses that many candidates find genuinely helpful for organizing 20–40 hours of self-study into a shorter, more focused timeline, and some report scoring 90%+ on practice material before sitting the real exam using these courses. That’s a legitimate value proposition. But it’s optional, not a requirement — nothing in 14 CFR Part 107 requires completing a paid course before scheduling the knowledge test, and passing on self-study alone using the FAA’s own free materials is entirely valid.
After Certification: No Expiration, But Recurrent Training Required
The Remote Pilot Certificate itself does not expire. However, maintaining active privileges requires completing recurrent training every 24 months — and unlike the initial certification, this recurrent requirement is satisfied through free online training with no test, a meaningfully lower bar than the original knowledge exam. This is a genuinely different renewal model from many other professional certifications, and worth knowing so you don’t let it lapse unnecessarily or, conversely, don’t overpay for a paid renewal course that isn’t required.
Standard Operating Limitations
Once certified, standard Part 107 operations without a waiver are limited to:
- 400 feet above ground level (AGL) maximum altitude
- Daylight or civil twilight hours (twilight operations require anti-collision lighting)
- Visual line of sight (VLOS) — the pilot or a visual observer must be able to see the aircraft
- Maximum takeoff weight under 55 pounds, including everything onboard
Operations outside these limits — night flight without lighting, flight over people, or beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) — require a specific FAA waiver, submitted and tracked through the DroneZone portal, demonstrating an equivalent level of safety to the standard rule.
What’s Changing: Part 108 and BVLOS
The most significant regulatory development on the horizon is Part 108, the FAA’s forthcoming rule specifically addressing routine BVLOS operations — currently one of the biggest operational limitations for drone-based surveying and infrastructure inspection work, since corridor and large-site mapping frequently benefits from flights beyond what a visual observer can track. Anyone building a professional drone-mapping practice should watch this rule’s finalization closely, since it directly affects which projects can be flown without a case-by-case waiver application.
Why This Matters for a Surveying or Geomatics Career
If you’re building toward the drone-based photogrammetry or LiDAR surveying work covered in our drone buying guide and our geomatics career outcomes coverage for the US, Part 107 certification is the baseline legal requirement, full stop — no engineering firm can legally deploy you on a commercial mapping flight without it. Unlike the multi-tier European system (open category, specific category, standard scenarios), the US model is comparatively simpler: one certificate, a knowledge-only exam, and a waiver system for anything beyond standard limits. Budget the $175 test fee and roughly 20–40 hours of self-study time into your career preparation, and treat any paid prep course purchase as an optional accelerant, not a required expense.
Final Verdict
The US certification model is more straightforward than many international equivalents: no mandatory paid training, no in-person flight test, and a single federal certificate that doesn’t expire once earned. What actually costs money is the $175 exam fee and, optionally, a prep course if you’d rather follow a structured study plan than assemble one yourself from free FAA materials. Know this distinction before you shop for a «Part 107 course» — the certification itself is a knowledge test you can prepare for entirely with free resources, and anything beyond that is a convenience purchase, not a legal requirement.
Certified and ready to spec out your equipment? Our topographic survey and photogrammetry drone buying guide breaks down platform options by project scale and budget.