DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Working commercially in the UK with DJI Mini 2

jsb78

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2021
Messages
6
Reactions
1
Age
46
Location
united kingdom
So I’m in the UK and have seen people on YouTube saying you can work commercially with the Mini 2 because of it’s weight and that it’s in the open category. But when I look on the CAA website it says any paid work must be given permission by them. I’m confused how it appears to be possible but very hard to confirm. Hope someone can help
 
@jsb78 ,being able to fly your Mini and sell your pics and videos ,is not the same as doing commercial work
you need special insurance cover for a start ,and you have to keep logs and hold the GVC certificate
commercial work is flown under much stricter rules even if it is in the open category ,because you are mainly flying in restricted urban airspace areas which pose a greater risk
and only if the flight can be done in the open category ,most of the flights therefore are done in the specific category ,due to the risks

















...........
 
@jsb78 ,being able to fly your Mini and sell your pics and videos ,is not the same as doing commercial work
you need special insurance cover for a start ,and you have to keep logs and hold the GVC certificate
commercial work is flown under much stricter rules even if it is in the open category ,because you are mainly flying in restricted urban airspace areas which pose a greater risk
and only if the flight can be done in the open category ,most of the flights therefore are done in the specific category ,due to the risks


So to be clear on this, say I was to take an aerial photo of a new house for an estate agent and sell it to them, surely that would be commercial?
 
@jsb78 the word commercial has been basically removed from the regs, and replaced by weight of the drone, and the risk it and the flight are likely to have on uninvolved people ,so yes you could fly a Mini2 briefly over people and housing or factories ,but you still need to follow the drone code ,before the new rules were brought in then in order to obtain any sort of monetary reward flying your drone you had to have a PFCO (permission for commercial operation ) certificate
 
What you are likely to find is that most places commissioning work will ask to see your level of PL insurance cover and the minimum I've found they accept is £1m but they often ask you to have £5m in place. They also usually ask if you have your PfCO. This has obviously now been replaced, which then involves explaining what you do have. Generally they are concerned that you just a drone owner wanting to earn some cash without actually having any form of training / experience. It took me 18months before I was allowed to do the filming at a NT property near me, with the staff pushing as they wanted it done. They checked qualifications, insurance etc.
 
What you are likely to find is that most places commissioning work will ask to see your level of PL insurance cover and the minimum I've found they accept is £1m but they often ask you to have £5m in place. They also usually ask if you have your PfCO. This has obviously now been replaced, which then involves explaining what you do have. Generally they are concerned that you just a drone owner wanting to earn some cash without actually having any form of training / experience. It took me 18months before I was allowed to do the filming at a NT property near me, with the staff pushing as they wanted it done. They checked qualifications, insurance etc.
Thanks for your reply. Is there much money to be made from this? What kind of rates would you charge?
 
Thanks for your reply. Is there much money to be made from this? What kind of rates would you charge?
Currently not making much from NT. Doing more for portfolio of work and the enjoyment of flying a NT garden. It has however lead to me being 'employed' by my current employer to record the restoration of a listed garden. All hours flying / editing are counted as part of my contracted hours.
Quite a few of the venues I did have work planned for went out of business during Covid, of the ones that are left they are still struggling financially, but have asked if I'm still available at a later date
 
am finding everyone sees the rules differently, and even drone instructors i have spoken to can only say thats a gray area!!
My company are not renewing our licence and instead have bought a few Mini 2s. we are working under that we require take off/land zone permission continue logs and have insurance, we dont require the licence to do commercial work since CAA have confirmed their is no difference anymore.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,182
Members
159,596
Latest member
da4o98