What should I require before anyone flies over my site?

Authority

14 CFR Part 107 — Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (107.7, 107.9, 107.12, 107.13, 107.41, 107.51, 107.65, 107.67) · 14 CFR Part 48 — Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft (48.100(c), 48.205(c)) · 14 CFR Part 89 — Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft (89.110) · 14 CFR 3.403 — Falsification, reproduction, alteration, or omission (effective 3 November 2025, Federal Register doc. 2025-16902; 14 CFR 107.5 is reserved) · 14 CFR 91.203(a)(2), reached through 14 CFR 107.13 · FAA JO 7400.11 — Airspace Designations and Reporting Points · Ley 68-2021 de Puerto Rico, codified at 1 L.P.R.A. secs. 931-937 · Codigo de Seguros de Puerto Rico, Ley 77-1957, Capitulo 9 — Arts. 9.050, 9.051, 9.060, 9.310 (26 L.P.R.A. secs. 949f, 949g, 949i, 952)

Sources

26 sources

14 CFR 107.7 — Inspection, testing, and demonstration of compliance · 14 CFR 107.9 — Safety event reporting · 14 CFR 107.12 — Requirement for a remote pilot certificate · 14 CFR 107.13 — Registration · 14 CFR 107.41 — Operation in certain airspace · 14 CFR 107.51 — Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft · 14 CFR 107.65 — Aeronautical knowledge recency · 14 CFR 107.67 — eCFR current text · 14 CFR 48.100 — Registration: general · 14 CFR 48.205 — Display and marking requirements · 14 CFR 89.110 — Operating requirements: standard remote identification unmanned aircraft · 14 CFR 91.203 — Civil aircraft: certifications required · 14 CFR 3.403 — Falsification, reproduction, alteration, or omission · Federal Register — Falsification, Reproduction, Alteration, Omission, or Incorrect Statements (doc. 2025-16902, published 3 September 2025, effective 3 November 2025) · FAA Order JO 7400.11M — Airspace Designations and Reporting Points (30 July 2026) · FAA — Part 107 Airspace Authorizations (LAANC and FAADroneZone) · Ley 68-2021, texto completo, OGP virtual library · Codigo de Seguros de Puerto Rico (Ley 77-1957), consolidated text, OGP virtual library · SkyWatch.AI FAQ — Is SkyWatch regulated? · SkyWatch.AI FAQ — Is SkyWatch.AI insurance available in all 50 States? · SkyWatch.AI FAQ — Does SkyWatch.AI provide worldwide coverage? · SkyWatch.AI FAQ — Where is SkyWatch.AI insurance active? · AirModo FAQ · Aerial Pak — Frequently Asked Questions · Thimble — Verifly Drone Insurance · AutoPylot — Drone Insurance

Verified

6 September 2026

Status

Current

What do I require in writing before anyone flies over my site?

Before a drone flies over a construction site in Puerto Rico, the site owner holds seven documents from the operator and signs one more: the remote pilot certificate, the recurrent training record, the aircraft registration, confirmation that Remote ID broadcasts, the airspace authorization for that date and that spot, the insurance certificate, the data handling terms, and the written consent that Puerto Rico law requires the property owner to give.Our reading¶

Collect them as one dated packet before the first flight and keep it with the project record. Each item is something the operator already holds or can produce the same day. An operator working to a standard hands the packet over in an afternoon. An operator who treats the request as unusual has told you something useful for free.Our reading¶

Ask for one more line: the name of the person who will be pilot in command on each flight date. Under 14 CFR 107.12(a)(2) a person without a certificate may work the controls under the direct supervision of a remote pilot in command who can take immediate control. That is a legal way to run a crew, and it means "the crew holds certificates" answers a different question than the one you asked.Our reading¶

1. Send the operator the list below as a single request, in writing, with your flight dates.
2. Collect the seven documents and read the dates on each one.
3. Sign the property owner consent as its own page.
4. Name the pilot in command for each flight date in the work order.
5. File the packet with the project record before the aircraft leaves the ground.

What proves the pilot and the aircraft are current?

Four documents: the remote pilot certificate; the dated record that keeps 14 CFR 107.65 currency alive — recurrent training for most working pilots, or the initial knowledge test for a pilot who passed it inside the last 24 calendar months; the current aircraft registration for that specific airframe; and confirmation that Remote ID broadcasts during the flight.Our reading¶

The plastic certificate is the easy half. The currency requirement under 14 CFR 107.65 is the half that goes stale, and for most working pilots it is met by a free online training course that produces a completion record with a date on it. Read that date against your flight date. An operator who still budgets for a paid test at a testing center every two years is working from an older version of the rule.Our reading¶

Aircraft registration under 14 CFR Part 48 expires three years after issue. Do not rely on a reminder reaching the right person — read the expiration date. Then look at the airframe: 14 CFR 48.205(c) requires the identifier to be legibly displayed on an external surface.Our reading¶

14 CFR 107.13 carries no obligation of its own; it points to 14 CFR 91.203(a)(2), which requires the registration document to be carried with the aircraft. On an aircraft this size that means the pilot carries it in the case. Ask to see it on site, not by email.Our reading¶

Remote ID broadcasts the aircraft's identity and position while it flies. 14 CFR 89.110(a)(1) requires that broadcast from takeoff to shutdown, and 89.110(b)(3) requires that the equipment and its functionality not be disabled. If your site rules ask the operator to limit an app's internet traffic, that is a separate setting: get it in writing that Remote ID keeps broadcasting when it is enabled.Our reading¶

1. Ask for the remote pilot certificate and the dated 107.65 currency record together.
2. Confirm that currency date falls within 24 calendar months of your flight date.
3. Read the registration expiration date against your flight date.
4. Look for the identifier on the exterior of the aircraft when the crew arrives.
5. Ask, in writing, that Remote ID broadcasts on every flight over your site.

How do I know the airspace was authorized for that date and that spot?

Ask for the authorization itself: a dated approval naming the location, the ceiling for that grid and the time window it covers. Airspace over one fixed point in Puerto Rico changes with the hour and with the direction you walk, so an approval for last month or for the next parcel over is a different document.Our reading¶

Two routes produce it, on very different clocks. LAANC returns most requests in minutes. A request that needs further coordination goes to the Air Traffic Manager who runs that airspace, and must be filed at least 72 hours before the requested start time — that is the floor for filing, and the answer comes when it comes. A DroneZone request runs on a much longer clock: the FAA asks that requests be submitted at least 60 days before the proposed operation date, and states that a request submitted less than 60 days ahead may result in cancellation or denial. The route decides your schedule: a site that needs further coordination cannot support a flight request raised the same week.Our reading¶

San Juan sits under Class C, and there is no Class B airspace anywhere in Puerto Rico. Ponce and Mayaguez sit under part-time surface Class E: while it is inactive that same point is Class G. Aguadilla, Isla Grande and Ceiba each carry their own answer, and Ceiba's surface Class D was designated in 2026 — read the current chart for the airport nearest your site rather than a printed guide. Temporary flight restrictions appear and expire on their own schedule on top of all of it.Our reading¶

If the operation crosses more than one grid, the lowest published ceiling of all of them governs the request, not the one over the launch point. And a grid showing 0 is a longer request rather than a closed door: a Part 107 operator may seek authorization above the published values, including 0, through further coordination.Our reading¶

B4UFLY is a situational awareness tool built for recreational flyers. Authorization for Part 107 work comes from LAANC or from DroneZone and arrives as a document with a number on it. That document is what goes in your packet.Our reading¶

One more rule worth knowing as an owner, because it saves a waiver request: within a 400-foot radius of a structure, 14 CFR 107.51(b) allows flight up to 400 feet above that structure's immediate uppermost limit. Documenting a crane or a tall building has a legal path at normal working altitude.Our reading¶

1. Give the operator the coordinates of the work area in decimal degrees, to five places.
2. Ask which grids the operation touches and what the lowest published ceiling is.
3. Ask which route was used — LAANC or DroneZone — and the date it was filed.
4. Collect the dated approval before the flight and read the time window on it.
5. Repeat for each flight date; the approval is good for the date printed on it.

What does Puerto Rico law make me sign before the flight?

Written consent. Absent a search warrant, Article 3 of Ley 68-2021 prohibits using an unmanned aircraft to keep specific persons or specific private properties under watch, to collect evidence or information about them, or to photograph or electronically record them, without their consent. On your own site you are the person who supplies that consent for the property.Our reading¶

Put the site, the dates, the scope and the signature on one page. A verbal go-ahead from a superintendent is the version that fails later, because the person who has to produce the consent is the operator and the person who benefits from its existence is you.Our reading¶

"It was visible from the road" is not the test the statute writes. The phrase about a reasonable expectation of privacy appears in the law's title and in its statement of motives; the operative prohibition in Article 3 reaches keeping specific persons or specific private properties under watch, collecting evidence or information about them, and photographing or electronically recording them without their consent. Read the article, not the headline version.Our reading¶

The statute reaches past the flight itself, and this is the part that surprises people. The second sentence of Article 3 provides that images of identifiable individuals captured by an unmanned aircraft may not be retained or shared unless there is reasonable suspicion that the image contains evidence of criminal activity or is related to an ongoing investigation or a criminal proceeding pending in the courts. Read what it turns on: the image, and whether a person in it can be identified. As written it does not limit itself to flights made without consent, so the consent you signed does not obviously answer it. An active site has people in almost every frame. Settle in the same document who receives the files, how long they are held, and how frames with identifiable individuals are handled — and have a licensed attorney in Puerto Rico read that sentence against your arrangement before either side signs.Our reading¶

Article 7 of the law directed the Police to publish guidance on it. As of 6 September 2026 no such guidance was located on their site. Treat the statute text as the only source, and treat any second-hand account of what the Police say as unconfirmed.Unverified¶

The consequences run in two directions. Violation is a misdemeanor under Article 5, and Article 6 gives the injured party a civil action with attorney's fees. The law is codified at 1 L.P.R.A. secs. 931 to 937, which is how a licensed attorney will cite it back to you in a meeting.Our reading¶

En ausencia de una orden de registro, ninguna persona, entidad o agencia estatal, utilizará un sistema aéreo no tripulado para llevar a cabo vigilancia de, recolectar evidencia o información acerca de, o fotografiar o electrónicamente grabar, personas o propiedades privadas específicas, sin su consentimiento.

In the absence of a search warrant, no person, entity or state agency shall use an unmanned aerial system to carry out surveillance of, collect evidence or information about, or photograph or electronically record, specific persons or private properties, without their consent.

Las imágenes de individuos identificables capturadas mediante la tecnología de un sistema aéreo no tripulado, no podrá ser retenida o compartida a menos que exista una sospecha razonable de que esa imagen contiene evidencia de una actividad criminal o está relacionada con una investigación en curso o pendiente de un proceso criminal en los tribunales.

Images of identifiable individuals captured through the technology of an unmanned aerial system may not be retained or shared unless there is a reasonable suspicion that the image contains evidence of criminal activity or is related to an ongoing investigation or one pending as a criminal proceeding in the courts.

Cualquier persona, o entidad que utilice un sistema aéreo no tripulado para llevar a cabo vigilancia de, recolectar evidencia o información acerca de, o fotografiar o electrónicamente grabar, personas o propiedades privadas específicas, sin su consentimiento, incurrirá en delito menos grave.

Any person, or entity, that uses an unmanned aerial system to carry out surveillance of, collect evidence or information about, or photograph or electronically record, specific persons or private properties, without their consent, shall incur in a misdemeanor.

Cualquier persona que sea perjudicada por la conducta prohibida bajo el Artículo 3, podrá: a) Tener una causa de acción civil en contra de la persona, entidad o agencia estatal que incurrió en dicha conducta prohibida. b) Tener derecho a recuperar de tal persona, entidad o agencia estatal el resarcimiento por los daños que haya sufrido, más los honorarios de abogado y costos adicionales incurridos durante dicha acción civil.

Any person who is harmed by the conduct prohibited under Article 3 may: a) Have a civil cause of action against the person, entity or state agency that engaged in such prohibited conduct. b) Have the right to recover from such person, entity or state agency compensation for the damages suffered, plus attorney's fees and additional costs incurred during such civil action.

1. Write the consent as its own signed page, separate from the work order.
2. Name the site, the dates, the scope of the flights, and who may receive the imagery.
3. Sign as the owner or as the occupant with authority to give consent.
4. Add the terms for images of identifiable individuals: recipients, retention, handling.
5. Have a licensed attorney in Puerto Rico read it before the first flight.

What has to be on the insurance certificate?

Six lines: the named insured spelled exactly as the entity that will actually fly, unmanned aircraft liability shown as a coverage, a policy period containing your flight dates, your entity added as additional insured, a written cancellation notice provision, and the territory the policy reaches. These six are contract practice rather than a rule with a number. A licensed broker in Puerto Rico confirms them against the actual policy.Unverified¶

The named insured is the line people skim. A certificate issued to a person while the contract is signed by a company, or to one company while a different company flies, leaves you holding paper about somebody else. Read it against the signature block of your own work order.Unverified¶

Additional insured status and the cancellation notice are the two items the operator has to request from the broker. Both take about a day. On a policy bought through a phone app, both are worth confirming in writing rather than assuming.Unverified¶

The sixth line, territory, is the one that fails quietly, and it has its own section below. Ask for it in the same breath as the other five so the answer arrives before the crew does.Our reading¶

1. Read the named insured against the signature block of your work order.
2. Read the policy period against your flight dates.
3. Confirm the coverage line names unmanned aircraft liability.
4. Require additional insured status for your entity, in writing.
5. Require written notice of cancellation.
6. Send the certificate to your own licensed broker in Puerto Rico before the first flight.

Does the policy actually reach a flight in Puerto Rico?

Only the carrier can answer that in writing, because it is really two questions and providers answer them on different pages: where the policy covers flying, and who the agency is licensed to sell to. On 6 September 2026 the published pages of three drone insurance providers answered those two questions in ways that do not line up for an operator domiciled in Puerto Rico. If the operator you hire is domiciled here rather than visiting, this is the question that decides whether a policy can be issued at all.Our reading¶

One provider's FAQ states its insurance is available to residents of all US states. A separate page from the same provider introduces the list of states where the agency holds a producer license. Counted on that page on 6 September 2026, the list ran to 50 states and the District of Columbia, with no Puerto Rico entry — and Puerto Rico also sits outside "all US states." A third page from the same FAQ states the insurance is available to residents and companies with permanent US addresses, a test a Puerto Rico address meets. Three pages, three answers, one provider. Read the list on the page yourself before you rely on the count.Our reading¶

The same provider states that its monthly and annual policies carry international coverage in selected territories, excluding flights that would breach United Nations sanctions. So on that FAQ the territory answer is broad and the licensing answer is the narrow one. Those are the two halves that get confused, and the licensing half is the one that decides whether a policy can be issued to you at all.Our reading¶

A second provider states its products are available for sale and distribution in the United States, with a footnote that policies are written on a surplus lines basis in the state of Louisiana. Its hourly product covers the United States only; its annual product carries worldwide coverage for a buyer who resides in the United States and holds a US mailing address. The words "Puerto Rico" appear on none of the pages read on 6 September 2026. Surplus lines placements are regulated jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Put the Louisiana placement in front of a licensed broker in Puerto Rico and ask, in writing, whether it is valid for a risk located here.Our reading¶

A third provider is the only one of the three that writes "Puerto Rico" on its own page: coverage is automatically available to US policyholders while operating within Canada and Puerto Rico. Read that sentence closely. It groups Puerto Rico with Canada as a place a policyholder flies, and the sentence before it speaks of professionals and individuals domiciled within the United States. An operator domiciled in Puerto Rico is a different question from a visiting policyholder, and it is worth asking in exactly those words.Our reading¶

This is a record of what three published FAQs said on one date, and pages change. The document that settles the question is the policy wording and the declarations page, confirmed in writing by the party carrying the risk, for the operator you are hiring, domiciled in Puerto Rico, with the municipality and postal code named in the question.Our reading¶

SkyWatch.AI insurance is available to residents of all US states.

Yes. SkyWatch Insurance Services, Inc. is regulated as an insurance producer (agency). The company is licensed in the following states:

The insurance is available for residents/companies with permanent US addresses. We also have options for clients in Canada. US coverage is available in annual, monthly and hourly (on-demand) variations.

Monthly and annual SkyWatch policies, underwritten by our partner Global Aerospace, provide international coverage in selected territories without an extra cost. Coverage is excluded for any flight into any country where such operation of the aircraft is in breach of United Nations sanctions.

The unmanned aircraft insurance products shown on this site and offered through the AirModo application, are available for sale and distribution in the United States. *Policies are written on a surplus lines basis in the state of Louisiana.

Unfortunately, AirModo hourly users are offered coverage in the United States only. AirModo annual users have worldwide coverage but must reside in the United States and have a valid mailing address in the United States to purchase coverage.

Aerial Pak is available to professionals and individuals domiciled within the United States. Coverage is automatically available to U.S. policyholders while operating within Canada and Puerto Rico. Worldwide coverage is also available.

1. Require the question in writing, addressed to the carrier or to a licensed broker in Puerto Rico.
2. Word it as the operator's domicile: an operator domiciled in Puerto Rico, at a named municipality and postal code.
3. Ask separately about territory of operation and about the licensing to issue the policy here.
4. For a surplus lines placement, ask whether it is valid for a risk located in Puerto Rico.
5. Keep the written answer stapled to the insurance certificate in your project packet.

Why doesn't the reseller's answer count?

Because on 6 September 2026 a reseller's page and the carrier's own page described the same product differently. The reseller states the carrier's policies provide coverage only within the United States and its territories, and that flights outside the US are not covered even if the policy was bought inside it. The carrier's own FAQ states that its monthly and annual policies provide international coverage in selected territories. Two claims about one product, from the page selling it and the page underwriting it.Our reading¶

The rule that follows is simple: what governs is the policy wording and the declarations page, in writing, from the party carrying the risk. A screenshot of a FAQ is a lead. An email from a salesperson is a lead. The declarations page is the answer.Our reading¶

Use one line as a freshness test on any drone insurance guide handed to you. One widely recommended drone insurance app now states on its own page that it no longer offers drone coverage, and that the page stands so former customers can view policy history. A guide that still recommends it was copied from older material — which tells you how much of the rest of it to check.Our reading¶

No. SkyWatch.ai policies currently provide coverage only within the United States and its territories. Flights conducted outside the U.S. are not covered under your policy, even if you purchased it while in the U.S.

Verifly Drone Insurance We no longer offer drone coverage through the Verifly app. You can still see your policy history by logging into Thimble using your Verifly credentials.

Who is allowed to tell me what the coverage means?

A person licensed for it in Puerto Rico. The Insurance Code requires a license to act — or to hold oneself out — as a producer, an adjuster, or an insurance consultant, and it attaches a fine and a misdemeanor to doing it without one.Our reading¶

The definition of adjuster turns on two verbs joined together. Article 9.050(1) describes the person who, for compensation, investigates and negotiates the adjustment of claims arising from insurance contracts, exclusively on behalf of the insurer or the insured. Producing a dated, georeferenced visual record of damage is documentation. Opinion on what a loss is worth, and conversation with the carrier about accepting or rejecting an offer, sits on the other side of that line.Our reading¶

Article 9.051(1) does not wait for the work to happen. Anyone who, through any advertisement or advertising medium, uses the title of insurance consultant, insurance specialist, insurance adviser, insurance analyst, or any other similar title is deemed an insurance consultant and must meet every requirement the Chapter sets for one. The title alone does it, on a web page, in a proposal, on a business card.Our reading¶

Read it in the direction that helps you as an owner. If a vendor's site or proposal calls the vendor an insurance specialist, or offers to handle your claim, that vendor carries a licensing problem in Puerto Rico and you inherit the argument at the worst possible moment. The clean arrangement is easy to write into a contract: the operator delivers a dated, georeferenced visual record, and a licensed person handles the claim.Our reading¶

There is one door the Code opens after a disaster, and it opens by application. Article 9.310(4) lets the Commissioner grant a special emergency adjuster permit to a person qualified to adjust losses resulting from a general catastrophe, upon filing the application in the form the Commissioner prescribes. That is a licensed route with a form, not an exception that arrives with the storm.Our reading¶

Ninguna persona actuará o se hará pasar en Puerto Rico como productor, representante autorizado, intermediario de reaseguro, agente general, solicitador, ajustador, o consultor de seguros, a menos que posea licencia para ello, de acuerdo con este capítulo y con los reglamentos aplicables que sean promulgados a su amparo.

No person shall act or hold themselves out in Puerto Rico as a producer, authorized representative, reinsurance intermediary, general agent, solicitor, adjuster, or insurance consultant, unless they hold a license to do so in accordance with this chapter and the applicable regulations promulgated thereunder.

Es la persona que, por compensación como empleado, contratista independiente o como empleado de un contratista independiente, por honorarios, comisión o sueldo, investiga y negocia el ajuste de reclamaciones que surjan de contratos de seguros, exclusivamente a nombre del asegurador o del asegurado. Disponiéndose que un ajustador público no podrá ser empleado de un asegurador.

It is the person who, for compensation as an employee, independent contractor, or employee of an independent contractor, by fee, commission or salary, investigates and negotiates the adjustment of claims arising from insurance contracts, exclusively on behalf of the insurer or the insured. Provided that a public adjuster may not be an employee of an insurer.

Cualquier persona que a través de cualquier anuncio o medio de publicidad use el título de consultor de seguros, especialista en seguros, asesor de seguros, analista de seguros, o cualquier otro título similar, será considerada como consultor de seguros y vendrá obligada a cumplir con todos los requisitos que a esos efectos se disponen en este Capítulo.

Any person who, through any advertisement or advertising medium, uses the title of insurance consultant, insurance specialist, insurance adviser, insurance analyst, or any other similar title, shall be deemed an insurance consultant and shall be obligated to comply with all the requirements provided to that effect in this Chapter.

La infracción de los párrafos (1), (2) ó (3) de este Artículo se considerará una violación a este Código sujeto a las sanciones dispuestas en este Capítulo. Además, dicha violación se considerará como un delito menos grave, castigable con una multa no menor de quinientos (500) dólares ni mayor de quince mil (15,000) dólares.

A violation of paragraphs (1), (2) or (3) of this Article shall be deemed a violation of this Code, subject to the sanctions provided in this Chapter. In addition, such violation shall be deemed a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred (500) dollars nor more than fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars.

El Comisionado podrá conceder permiso especial de ajustador de emergencia a cualquier persona capacitada para el ajuste de pérdidas resultantes de una catástrofe general, previa presentación de la solicitud de permiso especial en la forma prescrita para ello por el Comisionado. Tal permiso estará sujeto a que se cumpla con los requisitos y condiciones que establezca el Comisionado y al pago de los derechos correspondientes.

The Commissioner may grant a special emergency adjuster permit to any person qualified to adjust losses resulting from a general catastrophe, upon submission of the application for a special permit in the form prescribed for it by the Commissioner. Such permit shall be subject to compliance with the requirements and conditions established by the Commissioner and to payment of the corresponding fees.

How does the operator handle the data after the flight?

Settle four things in writing before the first flight: who owns the files, where they are stored, what happens when someone asks for a change, and what happens to the data when the project ends.Our reading¶

Ownership and custody are separate roles, and naming them separately is what protects you. The site owner owns the data; the operator holds it as custodian. Name both in the contract, and require the custodian to notify you the same day any preservation notice, subpoena or litigation hold arrives. A demand reaches whoever holds the data, so that notification clause is what puts you in the room instead of finding out afterward.Our reading¶

Ask directly what happens when someone asks for a flight to be left out of the record. The federal falsification rule moved on 3 November 2025: 14 CFR 107.5 is now reserved and the rule sits at 14 CFR 3.403, in a different part of the title, with one word the old text lacked. The current text at 3.403(c)(2) reaches a knowing omission of a material fact in a document kept, made, or used to show compliance. An operator who knows this will answer that the archive is append-only and that a correction is layered on top of the original rather than replacing it.Our reading¶

Set the safety event clock in the contract too. Under 14 CFR 107.9 a serious injury, a loss of consciousness, or damage to property other than the aircraft carries a 10 calendar day report to the FAA. The property leg turns on a floor: the report is required when the cost of repair, or the fair market value in a total loss, exceeds $500. Require same-day written notice to you, so that your project record and the federal report say the same thing.Our reading¶

Two more lines, both cheap on day one and expensive to add later. Ask how frames with identifiable individuals are handled, because Puerto Rico's statute reaches retention and sharing, not only the flight. And require an export log: what left the system, when, and to whom. That log is the control an owner actually wants, and it is the one that answers the hardest question anyone will ask about the record later.Our reading¶

Finish with the end of the project. Name a destruction event with a written record of what was destroyed, and a clause that stops all destruction on a preservation demand or a subpoena. A record with chosen gaps defends nobody, and the first person to say so will be the lawyer on the other side.Our reading¶

1. Name the owner of the data and the custodian in the contract, separately.
2. Require an append-only archive: corrections layered on top, originals kept.
3. Require an export log of every file that leaves the system, with date and recipient.
4. Set the retention period, the destruction event, and a clause that halts destruction on a preservation demand.
5. Require same-day written notice of any safety event, alongside the 10-day federal report.

What most people have wrong

Each of these is a thing said confidently in public that the rule does not support. The section number settles it.

1. The pilot showed a valid certificate, so the pilot is current.The card and the currency are two different clocks. 14 CFR 107.65 requires one of three things inside the previous 24 calendar months: the initial knowledge test, recurrent training, or the part 61 route. For most working pilots that means the free online recurrent course, which issues a dated completion record. Ask which route the pilot is on, then read the date — the plastic looks identical whether the currency behind it is fresh or three years old.14 CFR 107.65
2. Aircraft registration is one and done.Registration expires three years after issue, and the reminder, if one comes, goes to whoever registered the aircraft and not to you. On a fleet bought at different times, the expiration dates are staggered. Read the date on the document for the specific airframe that will fly your site.14 CFR 48.100(c)
3. Everyone touching the controls needs a Part 107 certificate.A person without a certificate may manipulate the controls under the direct supervision of a remote pilot in command who can take immediate control. That is legal and normal. It also means "the crew holds certificates" is not the answer you need — ask who the pilot in command is, by name, for each flight date.14 CFR 107.12(a)(2)
4. The app showed the site was clear, so the flight was authorized.B4UFLY is a situational awareness tool built for recreational flyers, and it authorizes nothing under Part 107. Authorization comes from LAANC or from a DroneZone application, and it exists as a dated document. Collect the document.14 CFR 107.41
5. A grid showing 0 means flying there is prohibited.A Part 107 operator may request authorization above the published grid values, including 0, through further coordination. The zero moves the request onto a path that must be filed at least 72 hours before the requested start time and is reviewed by the Air Traffic Manager who runs that airspace. That is a longer path with its own filing floor, and it ends in a document. A site that reads as a wall on the map can still have a legal path to the flight.14 CFR 107.41; FAA — Part 107 Airspace Authorizations
6. The big airport is Class B, and the small ones are Class D.San Juan is Class C, and there is no Class B airspace anywhere in Puerto Rico. Ponce and Mayaguez sit under part-time surface Class E — while it is inactive, the same point is Class G. The same coordinates can need authorization at 9 a.m. and none at 7 p.m., so the approval you collect is per point, per date, per window.FAA JO 7400.11
7. If the site is visible from the road, no consent is needed.The phrase about a reasonable expectation of privacy appears in the law's title and its statement of motives, not in the operative prohibition. Absent a search warrant, Article 3 reaches keeping specific persons or specific private properties under watch, collecting evidence or information about them, and photographing or electronically recording them without their consent. The defense of "you could see it from the street" is not written anywhere in the article.Ley 68-2021, Art. 3
8. Once the owner signs consent, the imagery question is closed.The second sentence of Article 3 provides that images of identifiable individuals may not be retained or shared unless there is reasonable suspicion that the image contains evidence of criminal activity or is related to an ongoing investigation or a criminal proceeding pending in the courts. As written, that sentence does not limit itself to flights made without consent — and on an active site there are identifiable people in almost every frame. Settle recipients, retention and handling in the same document, and have a licensed attorney in Puerto Rico read that sentence before either side signs.Ley 68-2021, Art. 3, second sentence
9. The insurance page says all US states, so Puerto Rico is covered.On 6 September 2026 that provider's own license page listed 50 states and the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico was on neither that list nor the states list. A third page from the same FAQ used a permanent US address test that a Puerto Rico address meets. Three answers in one FAQ is not a coverage confirmation — get it from the carrier in writing, worded as domicile.SkyWatch.AI FAQ, three pages read 6 September 2026; Codigo de Seguros, Art. 9.060(1) for why the licensing half is the one that decides
10. The seller of the policy confirmed the territory, so that settles it.On 6 September 2026 a reseller's page said the carrier covered only the US and its territories with nothing outside, while the carrier's own FAQ described international coverage in selected territories. Both cannot be right about one product. The policy wording and the declarations page govern, and a guide that still recommends an app whose own page says it no longer offers drone coverage is telling you how old its research is.AutoPylot FAQ against SkyWatch.AI FAQ, and the Thimble Verifly page, all read 6 September 2026
11. Calling yourself an insurance specialist is just marketing language.Using the title of insurance consultant, insurance specialist, insurance adviser, insurance analyst, or any similar title in any advertisement makes you an insurance consultant under the Code, and an insurance consultant needs a license. The work never has to happen. Doing it without the license is a misdemeanor with a fine of $500 to $15,000, on top of the Commissioner's administrative sanctions.Codigo de Seguros, Arts. 9.051(1), 9.060(1) and 9.060(5)
12. Leaving one flight out of the file is a scheduling detail.The federal falsification rule moved to 14 CFR 3.403 on 3 November 2025, and the current text reaches a knowing omission of a material fact in a document kept, made, or used to show compliance. Anyone searching 14 CFR 107.5 today finds a reserved section and concludes the rule went away.14 CFR 3.403

Where this goes next

• Do I need FAA permission to fly over my Puerto Rico job site?The airspace document in Section 3 comes from one of two routes with very different clocks. That page runs the routes airport by airport.
• Can I legally fly a drone over my job site in Puerto Rico?The consent you sign in Section 4 comes from Ley 68-2021. That page carries the article text and the five exceptions.
• What do I need to fly a drone on my own job site in Puerto Rico?The packet you collect is the same packet a law enforcement officer can ask the pilot to present during the work.
• What makes an aerial photo hold up when someone challenges it?Section 9 in contract form: custody, append-only archive, export log, and the destruction event.

Written by a FAA Part 107 Certified Remote Pilot in western Puerto Rico, and verified on 6 September 2026. Something out of date or wrong on this page? Write and say so — corrections are read and dated.