All PDRA01 Operational Authorisation (OA) holders are required to maintain an Operations Manual to comply with UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947. The CAA conducts targeted compliance assessments of PDRA01 OA holders which may occur at any time during the 12-month validity period of the authorisation. This provides assurance that PDRA01 OA holders have an Operations Manual and are keeping logs and records of their flying activity.
If you are selected for compliance checking, you will receive a notification from us to the email address registered to your Operator ID. From this point, you will have 28 calendar days to respond and provide the requested evidence. If we do not receive the required evidence from you within this time, your OA will be suspended.
Your notification will include a request to provide an evidence pack. We will require you to respond via email with the items listed below as attachments, named accordingly:
- Your Operations Manual
- GVC qualification and currency details for the Remote Pilot(s) for the last three flights conducted under the PDRA authorisation before our request
- Operator ID
- Flyer ID(s)
- Site Surveys for the last three flights conducted under the PDRA authorisation before our request
- Flight Logs for the three flights conducted under the PDRA authorisation before our request. Flight log means an ‘Operator log’ or a ‘Remote Pilot log’
- Your Maintenance log
We’ve outlined below what each of these pieces of evidence should include. We have provided templates for your assistance, and although it’s not mandatory to use them, they show the minimum amount of information expected to be assured of compliance with UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947. If using your own documentation, please ensure you provide at least the same level of information as seen in the templates.
All assessments are carried out against the Operator name outlined in the Operational Authorisation that has been issued and all documentation should be submitted in that name.
If the Operator name does not correspond with the documentation submitted, the Operational Authorisation will be suspended until addressed.
To apply and have an PDRA01 Operational Authorisation in the name of your organisation, you must use the Organisation Operator ID when accessing the PDRA01 application via the My registration area.
Operations Manual
An Operations Manual provides the required detail to satisfy the regulatory requirements to obtain an Operational Authorisation to operate in the Specific Category. These minimum requirements are set out in Regulation 2019/947 and CAP722A.
For PDRA01, the CAA has already completed the risk assessment. We have outlined what you need to include in your Operations Manual to ensure it contains sufficient details for a PDRA01 Operational Authorisation holder.
We have provided a template for your assistance. Although it’s not mandatory to use it, if you do, it will ensure that all the appropriate information is provided to us to verify your compliance.
If the CAA template is not used, CAP722A should be followed to create an Operations Manual, which outlines the minimum requirements. Volume 1 (Operations Manual) and Volume 2 (Systems) are applicable for a PDRA01 Operations Manual. Please only provide the latest version of each.
GVC and currency details
A General VLOS Certificate (GVC) must be used to demonstrate competence for PDRA01 operations. A GVC is issued after passing an assessment at a Recognised Assessment Entity (RAE). The GVC for the Remote Pilot(s) for the last three flights conducted under the PDRA01 authorisation before you received your notification of assessment should be attached as evidence of competence.
You should also provide a Remote Pilot or Operator log that shows entries for the last three flights conducted under your PDRA01 before you received your notification of assessment. This should demonstrate a minimum flight time of two hours in the three months before each of the last three flights. You can gain currency by flight time logged in either the Open or Specific Category.
Site surveys
Site surveys should be provided for the last three flights conducted under your PDRA01 before you received your notification of assessment. To allow us to assess routine compliance, we expect you to provide us with site surveys for flights conducted on different dates rather than for multiple flights conducted on the same day under the same site survey document.
The following additional information is required to satisfy the requirements of the PDRA01 oversight process:
- Name of the Remote Pilot
- UAS type, make and model
- MTOM
- Date of flight
Please refer to Annex 2 of CAP2606.
Flight logs (Remote Pilot or Operator logs)
Flight logs should be provided for the last three flights conducted under the PDRA authorisation before our request.
As a minimum, we expect the following information to be recorded for each flight to satisfy the requirements of the PDRA01 oversight process:
- Date
- Operator name
- Operator ID
- Remote Pilot name
- Flyer ID
- Operating category or authorisation
- Operating location
- Start time
- End time
- UAS type
- UAS make and model
- UAS serial number
- UAS take-off mass
- PDRA01 Authorisation number
- Flight time for this flight
- Cumulative flight time
Maintenance logs
Your maintenance log should record all maintenance activity conducted on the UAS in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.
A maintenance log for each UAS involved in the last three flights made before our request should be provided, even if it contains no recorded maintenance activity.
Assessment Outcomes
Upon completion of our assessment, you will be issued with an oversight report. This will contain details of any Findings and Observations.
Compliance
We will let you know if our assessment shows your operations are compliant with UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947.
Observations
If our assessment identifies areas that may be improved on to enhance flight safety, we will advise you on best practices through ‘observations’. No response is required, but consider adapting your existing processes to match best practice guidelines.
Non-compliance
If our assessment contains areas of non-compliance against UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (Findings), you will be given a target date for when these need to be addressed. Corrective action should be reported back to us, supported by an explanation of modified policies, procedures, and documents. In your communications with us, please reference the Findings using the associated reference number and clearly explain the corrective actions you suggest or have already taken.
Level 2 Findings are not an immediate safety concern but represent an area that could become one. These should be addressed as above before the target date.
Level 1 Findings are an immediate safety concern. Any Level 1 Findings will result in the instant suspension of your Operational Authorisation. We will provide you with guidance on how to address Level 1 Findings.
If all Level 1 Findings are closed within the target date, the PDRA01 may move from suspension to being reactivated.
Should any Level 1 Findings remain unresolved, the OA suspension will align with the expiry date of the Authorisation.
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