Real estate drone: authorizations to sign

A real estate drone shoot lasts one hour. The weather window lasts two days, and the drone arrives by carrier the day before. In this tight schedule, the only thing that cannot be made up for is a piece of paper: the declaration required for a paid flight over public space in an urban area is submitted ten days before the flight. So this is the first thing to deal with — even before choosing your rental dates.

Theft to sell property is not recreational theft

In the open category, European regulations no longer distinguish between leisure and professional: it is the mass of the aircraft and the location of the flight that govern. One point, however, escapes this logic, and it is precisely that which concerns real estate: remuneration. The DSAC open category guide provides that a paid flight - wedding, real estate, construction site - flying over public space in an urban area is possible after declaration to the prefecture, by AlphaTango or by the CERFA 15476 form, filed ten days in advance.

If the entire flight takes place in the private space of the property – takeoff, trajectory, landing – this declaration does not apply. It is the flight over the street, sidewalk or square that triggers it. In other words: a house with a garden on the outskirts is simple; a building whose facade overlooks the public highway, it is ten days of delay. We have collected these rules, each with its official source and date, in our drone appendix.

The four authorizations, in calendar order

1. D-10 — the declaration to the prefecture, if the flight is paid and flies over public space in an urban area. This is the only incompressible deadline in the file.
2. Before any flight — operator registration on AlphaTango. Free and immediate. It is obligatory even for our DJI Mini weighing less than 250 g, because they carry a camera: it is the camera which triggers the obligation, not the mass. During the rental, you are the operator: the number is in your name, you affix it legibly on the device and you enter it in the electronic report of the DJI application. We never put ours on it.
3. The written agreement of the occupant of the premises, to take off, land and fly in the private space. The owner for a house; the trustee or the union council as soon as the take-off takes place from the common areas of a co-ownership.
4. Broadcast authorization.Publishing is not filming, and this is where most disputes take place.

Neighborhood: the limit that sends you to court

Flying over private property is not free: it cannot be carried out in conditions which would hinder the exercise of the owner's rights (transport code, article L6211-3). In practice, the DSAC guide sets out a simple rule, called 1 for 1: do not go higher than the distance which separates you from the property line. A zenith plane 80 m above a 20 m wide plot necessarily extends onto the neighbors.

Publishing, then, assumes the agreement of recognizable people – faces, license plates – with the GDPR in the background as soon as the use is professional. Violation of privacy is punishable by one year of imprisonment and a fine of €45,000 (penal code, article 226-1). For an ad, the translation is clear: the wide plan of the neighborhood, yes; the neighbors' terrace, their swimming pool and their guests in close-up, no — or blurred in editing.

What the owner’s authorization must contain

No official form exists for this: it is a mutual agreement, and it takes one page. What he should say:

• the identity and status of the signatory — owner, agent, trustee;
• the exact address of the property and, if the land is large, the plot reference;
• the object: aerial shots intended for the marketing of the property;
• authorization to take off and land on the plot, with the agreed date or period;
• authorization to distribute the images, naming the media: ad portals, agency website, social networks — and for how long;
• date and signature.

For an agency, the most effective is to integrate this image clause into the mandate itself, at the time of signature. On the day of the shoot, with the drone already on site and the light turning, it is too late to negotiate anything.

Two calendar traps, and a map to consult

• Paris. All external flights are prohibited, even from a private space. For a Parisian property, there is no editing: the answer is no, and it is better to know this before promising a video to the seller.
• The night begins earlier than you think. Aeronautical night begins 30 minutes after sunset. The twilight shot, lights on, which sells so well is therefore shot in a very short window: a flight launched forty minutes after bedtime is a night flight, prohibited.
• The map, the same day. The restrictions can be consulted on the Geoportal, the only opposable reference. Many of the colored zones are not prohibitions but ceilings lowered to 30 or 50 m — which is more than enough for a house, but changes the identification.

Insurance: what the law does not require and what the contract requires

French law does not require civil liability insurance for a drone of this size — Regulation (EC) 785/2004 excludes model aircraft weighing less than 20 kg from the aviation insurance obligation. Our rental contract requires it: you declare valid civil liability, certification of which may be requested. If you are a real estate agent, check that your professional liability covers the use of a drone: many contracts explicitly exclude it. The precaution is not theoretical, because the liability of the remote pilot for damage caused to people and property on the ground is automatically incurred (transport code, article L6131-2), without any fault having to be proven.

The equipment, and what it costs for a mandate

The two drones in the park are in class C0, under 250 g: the simplest regime that exists. The DJI Mini 4 Pro is €49.72 per day and €112.90 per week, with a deductible of €150. The DJI Mini 5 Pro , 1-inch sensor and 50 Mpx, costs €61.16 per day and €148.72 per week, excess of €250. Both come in a Fly More pack: three batteries, charging hub and RC 2 radio control with integrated screen, so no smartphone to plug in.

Two details that count on a shoot. The set of three ND filters offered with the Mini 5 Pro, at €2 for the entire rental, is what separates a clean video from a jerky video in the midday sun. And don't add the high-capacity battery for a mandate: it takes the device above 250g, which takes you out of class C0 privileges and makes A1/A3 online training mandatory. On the return side, any pair of propellers used is withheld €10 from the excess, whatever the reason.

Once these four papers are taken care of, the filming itself is the easy part. We have detailed elsewhere the movements that really add value to a property, in our guide on aerial photography of real estate.

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