When you are setting up a new commercial drone operation under FAA Part 107, the documentation requirements can look overwhelming at first. Part 107 references operating limitations, certificate requirements, and aircraft registration across dozens of rule sections, and advisory circulars add additional layers of recommended practice. But the core document set a new operator actually needs is more manageable than the regulatory text suggests.
This guide walks through the foundational documents, what each is for, and how they relate to each other. It is written for new operators and for established operations that are trying to build a more systematic documentation structure rather than the folder-of-miscellaneous-records approach many started with. This is not legal advice; it is a practical description of how compliant operations generally structure their records.
The Foundation: Certificates and Registration
Every commercial UAS operation under Part 107 starts with two foundational items: the remote pilot certificate for each pilot, and FAA registration for each aircraft.
Remote pilot certificates are issued to individuals, not to the operating entity. Each person who will act as remote pilot in command needs their own Part 107 certificate. The certificate number needs to be captured in your pilot roster so you can link specific flights to specific certificate holders. You also need the test date, because Part 107 requires recurrent testing every 24 calendar months. A pilot whose certificate is current today may not be current in 18 months if they do not complete the recurrent knowledge test.
Aircraft registration under the FAA's UAS registration system (using the FAA DroneZone portal) is required for any aircraft 0.55 lbs or over. Commercial operations always register at the aircraft level rather than using the hobbyist blanket registration. Each aircraft gets its own registration number that must be marked on the aircraft exterior. Capture the registration number, the FAA-assigned serial number or owner-supplied serial, and the registration expiration date (registrations renew every 3 years) in your fleet register.
The Fleet Register
A fleet register is not explicitly required by Part 107, but it is the document that makes everything else manageable. A fleet register is a per-aircraft record that captures:
- Aircraft make, model, and serial number
- FAA registration number and expiration date
- Remote ID compliance status and method (standard or module, with module serial if applicable)
- Current airframe hours (updated from flight logs)
- Maintenance history summary with service dates and events
- Any equipment modifications or sensor payloads that affect the aircraft's operating envelope
For a fleet of three to six aircraft, this can be a well-structured spreadsheet. For larger fleets or operations where aircraft are assigned across multiple crews, a database-backed system is more practical. The key requirement is that it be current: a fleet register that is six months out of date on airframe hours is providing false assurance.
The Pilot Roster
Parallel to the fleet register is a pilot roster: a per-pilot record that captures certificate number, certificate date, recurrency test date, and the next recurrency deadline. If your operation uses visual observers, they should also be on a roster with their role and any relevant training documentation.
A pilot roster is particularly important for multi-pilot operations where different pilots may fly different aircraft on different days. An auditor reviewing six months of flight records and finding five different pilots' certificate numbers needs to be able to match each one to a certificate and confirm currency at the time of each flight. Without a maintained pilot roster, this is a manual reconstruction task. With one, it is a lookup.
Per-Mission Flight Records
For each mission, a compliant Part 107 operation needs a flight record that can demonstrate the flight complied with Part 107 operating rules. The record should capture:
- Date of flight and approximate time window
- Location: takeoff coordinates or address sufficient to confirm the airspace class and any authorization
- Aircraft serial number or registration mark
- Remote pilot in command: certificate number and name
- Airspace authorization if operating in controlled airspace: LAANC authorization number or Part 107 waiver reference
- Visual observer(s) if used
- Any operational deviations, anomalies, or incidents
- Total flight time
Flight logs from the aircraft provide most of the location and time data automatically. The challenge is that flight logs do not carry pilot certificate numbers or waiver references; those have to come from your operational records. The per-mission flight record is the document that combines both.
Some operators handle this with a preflight form that pilots fill out before the mission. Others use dispatch records from a scheduling system that captures aircraft assignment and pilot assignment. The form or format matters less than the habit: every flight should generate a completed record before or immediately after the mission, not reconstructed after the fact.
Airspace Authorization Records
For flights in Class B, C, D, or surface E airspace, Part 107 requires prior authorization. The most common mechanism is LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability), which provides automated authorization through apps like AirMap, Aloft, or ForeFlight. LAANC authorizations include a specific authorization ID, the authorized altitude ceiling, and a time window.
Keep copies of LAANC authorization records associated with the flights they covered. An authorization ID by itself is useful; a copy of the authorization document showing the facility, coordinates, ceiling, and time window is more defensible in a review. If you are flying on a Part 107 waiver rather than LAANC authorization, keep the waiver document itself and note the waiver number in each flight record that operated under it.
The Maintenance Log
As discussed earlier, a maintenance log per aircraft is the record that demonstrates the aircraft was maintained in a condition for safe operation. At minimum, it should show service dates, the service performed, parts replaced, and the airframe hours at the time of service. For operations following manufacturer service intervals, the log should also show which interval triggered the service.
The maintenance log belongs in the fleet register or alongside it. It is an ongoing record that grows with each service event. An aircraft with six months of operation and no maintenance log entries is a flag. An aircraft with a complete service history showing regular maintenance at appropriate intervals is an asset in any documentation review.
Operating Procedures Documentation
Part 107 does not require a written operations manual, but having one serves two purposes: it establishes a consistent operational standard for your pilots, and it provides the documentation framework that everything else fits into. A basic operations manual for a small commercial operation covers:
- Preflight checklist procedure
- Airspace authorization process
- Emergency procedures
- Aircraft maintenance schedule and grounding criteria
- Incident reporting procedures
- Contact information for the designated responsible person
This document does not need to be long. Two to four pages of actual procedure, written for how your operation actually works, is more useful than a fifty-page document that nobody reads. The goal is that any pilot on your roster can execute a mission within the documented framework without improvising the compliance-relevant parts.
Building the System Before You Need It
The common failure pattern for new operators is deferring documentation until the volume of flights makes retroactive reconstruction painful, or until an event forces the issue. Building the document structure before the first commercial flight is meaningfully easier than building it after twelve months of operations.
The fleet register, pilot roster, and a flight record template are all documents you can set up in a day. The maintenance log starts with the aircraft's initial service state. The airspace authorization records accumulate with each job. The result, six months later, is a coherent documentation package rather than a pile of disparate records.
We designed NVdrones to automate the parts of this that come from log data. Aircraft serial numbers, flight times, and location data all parse from the flight logs automatically. The parts that require human input, pilot certificate numbers, waiver references, and service events, still need to come from the operator. But the combination of automated log parsing and structured records produces documentation that is both easier to maintain and more complete than either approach alone.