You may have heard that you need a licence if you fly a drone for commercial gain, but this isn’t true. The truth is, you do not require a licence for commercial work if you fly under the conditions of the excluded category. That’s good news!

You do not require a licence for commercial work if you fly under the conditions of the excluded category

See CASA Website

Even a small drone such as a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise can be just right for many commercial jobs, because its take-off-weight (TOW) is less than 2 kg which places it under the excluded category. The Enterprise can make thermal imagery, has a spotlight, speaker, and has a 2 X optical zoom.

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The excluded category has a set of rules (called the Standard Operating Conditions or SOC), which define where, and how you may fly.

You can learn more about these rules on the CASA Drone website .

CASA has a great resource called, Micro and Excluded Category RPA Plain English Guide, which you can download from here. It is well written and very helpful.

To see where you can fly, one of the best ‘apps’ is OK2fly. It will show you which areas conflict with manned aviation, and tells you if you are in an area which may require permission, such as a national park. 

There are some hefty fines if you break any of the SOC rules, so it pays to do it right if you want a future in the drone world.

Training for Commercial Excluded Operations

RPAS equip offers a one-day course which teaches you how to get the most out of the SOC.

This course provides you valuable instruction on how to fly your drone with control and safely manage those inevitable threats and emergencies which get many beginners in trouble. There are many stories out there of people who have lost drones, had batteries catch fire or flown illegally and ended up with a hefty fine ($ thousands). You don’t have to be one of them.

This course shows you how to obtain permissions for flying in areas which are allowed under the SOC. Many drone apps play conservative and do not tell you if you can obtain a permission. For example, an excluded operation is permissible in certain restricted areas if permission is granted by the controlling authority.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be issued with a certificate.

Insurance is easier to obtain with this certificate as most insurance companies want to see that you have been trained and assessed as safe to fly. 

What are the advantages of having a Remote Pilot Licence

So we have considered making a start under the excluded category, but what are the advantages of having a Remote Pilot Licence? To help answer that, click Advantages of obtaining a Remote Pilot Licence.