The Civil Aviation safety authority (CASA) have recently relaxed their regulations to reduce the cost and legal requirements around the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drones).
While there are currently more than 700 registered commercial drone operators, with approvals doubling each year, it’s thought that the result of this relaxation will lead to even further increases to that growth.
The new regulations mean drones may be used in commercial operations without the operator requiring a Remote Operators Certificate or Controllers Certificate, making them much more accessible.
Drones are proving to be increasingly useful as people find more ways to use them. Uses include:
- Roofing contractors carrying out roof inspections
- Real estate agents for aerial images
- Property developers showing prospective views of various multi-level units.
- The internal inspection of badly damaged or dangerous buildings
While the CASA changes allow greater accessibility and usage of drones, there are also significant risks associated with their use, in particular in relation to liability for injury or damage, arising out of their use.
The insurance industry has been slow to adapt to the growing popularity in the use of drones for both commercial and recreational usage, but there are some specific products, which have been developed to cater for this growing trend.
Due to the potential for causing damage or injury, it will still be valuable to undertake specific training, and for complete information surrounding these changes, make sure you visit the CASA website.
If you are interested to know more about insurance relating to drone use, talk to us to learn more.