Part 107 Waivers Explained (107.200): What Can Be Waived, and How

Updated August 2026 · Part 107 Quiz editorial team

Part 107 is a set of operating limits, and a Certificate of Waiver is the FAA's mechanism for setting one of those limits aside for a specific operator doing a specific thing. Section 107.200 creates that mechanism; section 107.205 lists exactly which rules it reaches. Between them they answer the question every commercial operator eventually asks: the rule says I can't, so how do I?

The exam tests this from two angles. It asks which rules are waivable, and — more often — it asks you to tell a waiver apart from an airspace authorization, because candidates confuse the two constantly and the FAA knows it.

A waiver is not an airspace authorization

These are different instruments that solve different problems, and getting them backwards is the single most common error on this topic.

An airspace authorization is permission to operate in controlled airspace, required by 107.41. Flying in Class B, C, D, or surface Class E without ATC permission breaks the rule; flying there with permission complies with it. You are not deviating from anything. Most authorizations come through LAANC in near real time, and the rest through the FAA DroneZone portal.

A waiver is permission to depart from an operating rule you would otherwise be breaking — flying beyond visual line of sight, flying two aircraft at once, exceeding 400 feet away from a structure. There is no LAANC equivalent. Every waiver goes through DroneZone, gets reviewed by a person, and comes back with conditions attached.

The test case that separates the two: a daylight flight at 300 feet AGL inside Class D, within visual line of sight. That needs an authorization and no waiver at all, because every operating limit is being respected — the only thing standing in the way is the controlled airspace itself. Our LAANC step-by-step guide covers the authorization side in detail.

What 107.205 allows the FAA to waive

Section 107.205 is a closed list. If a rule is not on it, no application will ever succeed, no matter how good the safety case is.

Two entries on that list deserve a note. The 107.29 night waiver is largely historical — since April 21, 2021 night flight is a standard privilege for any pilot with the right training and 3-statute-mile anti-collision lighting, as our night flying rules guide explains. And 107.41 appears here even though controlled-airspace access is normally handled as an authorization; the waiver route exists for operations an authorization cannot cover.

What cannot be waived

Everything absent from the 107.205 list, which includes some rules operators most wish were flexible:

• 107.36 — hazardous materials. Carriage is prohibited outright, and no waiver exists. This is a favourite exam question.
• 107.23 — careless or reckless operation. A catch-all the FAA can cite even when no numeric limit was exceeded.
• 107.19 — remote pilot in command responsibilities. Someone is always accountable.
• 107.9 — accident reporting. The 10-calendar-day obligation stands regardless of any waiver held.
• 107.49 — preflight inspection, and the certification and recurrent-training requirements in subpart C.

What a successful application contains

The standard in 107.200 is that the operation can be performed safely under the terms of the certificate. That wording matters. You are not arguing that the rule is unnecessary, and you are not arguing that you are a careful pilot. You are describing what will replace the protection the rule was providing.

So a beyond-visual-line-of-sight request has to answer the question the rule answers: without your eyes on the aircraft, how will you see and avoid other traffic? Ground observers, detect-and-avoid equipment, a segregated corridor, an altitude that keeps you clear — the FAA is looking for a mitigation that does the job the rule was doing.

Applications are submitted through the FAA DroneZone waiver portal, and the FAA asks for them at least 90 days before the planned operation. That is not a processing guarantee. Complex requests come back for rework, and each round trip costs weeks. Nothing is ever approved by default — an unanswered request is simply not a waiver, and flying on the assumption that silence means yes is a violation of the underlying rule.

The most common reason for rejection is vagueness. A request describing a general intention to fly beyond line of sight "in rural areas" gives the FAA nothing to evaluate. A request naming the area, the altitude, the aircraft, the crew, the detect-and-avoid method, and the abort criteria gives them something they can approve.

Living with the certificate you get

A granted waiver arrives with special provisions — conditions specific to your operation, and often narrower than what you asked for. They are not advisory. Operating outside them means operating without a waiver, which puts you back in breach of the rule you were relieved of.

Each certificate also carries its own effective and expiration dates, commonly up to four years for a standing waiver. There is no fixed term to memorise; read the dates on the document. And a waiver belongs to the operation described in the application, not to the pilot in general — a new site, a new aircraft, or a materially different profile may need a new one.

Test Yourself

Waiver questions on the Remote Pilot Certificate exam cluster around three things: which rules 107.205 covers, the waiver-versus-authorization distinction, and the safety standard in 107.200. Drill them in our Regulations practice questions, or take a full Part 107 mock exam to see how they mix with the rest of the test. The rest of our Study Guide covers the other FAA knowledge areas.

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