Open, Specific and Certified drone categories explained

The UK regulates drone flying by risk. Every operation falls into one of 3 categories: Open, Specific or Certified. The category decides whether you need permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) before you fly, and how much you must prove to get it.

The rules come from Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as it applies in the UK. They are meant to be proportionate to the nature and risk of each operation. The more a job could endanger people on the ground or other aircraft, the higher its category and the more evidence the CAA needs.

The category belongs to each operation, not to your business. The same business can fly some jobs in the Open category and others under a Specific category authorisation.

The Open category is for lower-risk flying without permission

Open category flights need no prior authorisation from the CAA. In return, every flight must stay inside fixed limits on weight, height and line of sight. The drone must not carry dangerous goods or drop anything. If a job breaks any one of those limits, it is no longer an Open category flight.

Inside the Open category, 3 sub-categories separate flights by how close the drone comes to people who are not involved in your work. Heavier drones must keep further away, and flying near people needs extra pilot competence. The class mark on your drone, or its weight if it has no class mark, decides which sub-category you can use.

Class marks matter when you buy equipment for Open category work. An EU C-class drone counts as the matching UK class only until 31 December 2027. Before you rely on a drone, check its class and how long it will fit the sub-category you need.

Work outside the Open limits needs a Specific category authorisation

If a job breaks any one of the Open category conditions, it falls into the Specific category. You must have an Operational Authorisation from the CAA before any Specific category flight. To get one, you must show the CAA how you will control the risks of the operation.

The CAA gives these examples of Specific category work:

• dropping items from your drone
• flying beyond visual line of sight
• flying close to crowds
• swarm operations

There are 2 main routes to an Operational Authorisation. PDRA01 is a pre-defined risk assessment. The CAA has already set its limits and requirements, and you apply to work within them.

UK SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) is for operations PDRA01 does not cover. You carry out your own assessment of the operation and its risks on the ground and in the air. The assessment also sets out the measures you will use to reduce those risks. The CAA's method is adapted from the SORA 2.5 method used internationally.

Choosing between the 2 routes is a trade-off. PDRA01 costs less and asks less of you, but its limits are fixed. UK SORA covers more types of work. Its charge rises with the level of assurance the operation needs, and the assessment takes more preparation. An authorisation covers only the operations it describes, so changing the work you do can mean a variation or a new application.

Your Operational Authorisation states which certificate your remote pilots must hold. Plan pilot training around the authorisation you intend to apply for, not around Open category flying.

The Certified category covers the highest-risk operations

The Certified category applies where authorising the operation is not enough to manage the risk. Instead, the drone and the operator must be certified and, where it applies, the remote pilot must be licensed.

An operation is in the Certified category if the drone is certified and the operation:

• takes place over assemblies of people
• involves transporting people
• involves carrying dangerous goods that could cause high risk to third parties in an accident

The CAA can also place an operation in the Certified category. It does this when, after assessing the risk, it decides the risk cannot be adequately reduced without certifying the drone and the operator. If your plans meet any of these conditions, talk to the CAA before you commit to the work.

Why a crop-spraying drone is in the Specific category

There are currently no commercial authorisations for applying pesticides by drone in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) allows drone application only under a limited number of Extrapolated Trials Permits. These permits exist to produce data that supports a future application for commercial approval.

You also need an HSE Aerial Spraying Permit every time you intend to apply a pesticide from the air, including by drone.

On the flying side, spraying takes a drone out of the Open category because it drops material. A drone of 25kg or more is also outside the Open category, whatever it carries. PDRA01 does not allow dropping articles or carrying dangerous goods, so it cannot cover spraying. Unless the operation meets the Certified category conditions, a spraying drone needs a UK SORA-based Operational Authorisation.

If any product you carry counts as dangerous goods, you also need a separate CAA approval to carry it. This is in addition to your Operational Authorisation.

Decide which category your work needs

Work out the category for each type of job before you buy equipment, train pilots or quote for work. The answer shapes your costs and how soon you can start.

Check each job against:

• the weight and class mark of the drone you will use
• how close the drone will come to uninvolved people and built-up areas
• whether the pilot will keep the drone in direct sight
• whether the drone will drop or spray anything, or carry dangerous goods

If every job stays inside the Open limits, you need registration and pilot competence but no authorisation. If any job falls outside them, check first whether PDRA01 covers it, because it is the simpler route. If it does not, plan for a UK SORA application and allow time to prepare the risk assessment. You must hold the authorisation before the first flight it covers.

Rules on class marks, Remote ID and pilot certificates change on fixed dates up to 1 January 2028. Check the dates in the summaries above before you buy a drone or book pilot training.