Agricultural drones are new enough that most farmers have no reference point for judging an operator. There is no equivalent of asking how many seasons someone has run a sprayer. What there is instead is a short list of questions where the answers are either clear or they are not, and the difference tells you almost everything.
None of these are trick questions, and none of them require you to know the regulations. An operator who has their house in order will answer all nine easily and will probably volunteer half of them before you ask.
1. Who is the UAS operator of record for my job?
This is the single most useful question, and almost nobody asks it. UK rules separate the business legally responsible for the flight, called the UAS operator, from the person actually flying, called the remote pilot. Plenty of UK agricultural drone businesses fly application work under another company's authorisation, as authorised pilots within a network. That is entirely normal and not a black mark. What matters is that they know the answer and will say it out loud.
A good answer sounds like
Application work is flown under AutoSpray Systems' operational authorisation, OA UAS 14429. We are an authorised pilot within their network. Our own survey work is flown under our PDRA01.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We are fully CAA approved, or a vague reference to being licensed with nothing specific behind it.
There is more on how these arrangements work in our guide to agricultural drone pilot networks.
2. Does that authorisation cover an aircraft this size?
Application drones are heavy. A DJI Agras T50 or an XAG P100 Pro is well over 25kg once loaded, which puts it outside the standard PDRA01 permission and into bespoke authorisation territory, assessed by the CAA through a Specific Operations Risk Assessment. A survey drone permission does not cover a spray drone.
A good answer sounds like
Yes, the authorisation is written for this aircraft at its operating weight, and here is the reference.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We hold a GVC, offered as though the qualification itself were the permission. A GVC is a pilot qualification, not an operational authorisation.
3. What exactly is going in the tank, and what permits it to be applied by drone?
This is the question that decides whether the job can legally happen at all, and it is a completely separate regime from anything the CAA does. A flight permission is not permission to apply a product.
Applying a plant protection product from the air counts as aerial spraying, which is prohibited in the UK unless the Health and Safety Executive grants a permit against an approved application plan. As things stand there are no commercial authorisations for drone applied pesticides, only a small number of trials permits. Fertiliser, biostimulants, water-based products, seed and granular products are a different matter and are what most UK drone work actually is.
A good answer sounds like
This is a foliar feed, so it is not a plant protection product and the aerial spraying rules do not bite. If you want a pesticide applied, here is where that currently stands.
Worth a second thought if you hear
Any suggestion that a CAA authorisation covers pesticide application, or that the rules are a grey area. They are not a grey area.
The full picture is in is drone spraying legal in the UK.
4. Can I see your insurance certificate, and does it cover this activity?
Commercial drone operations require insurance meeting the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 785/2004, but the certificate existing is not the same as the certificate covering what is about to happen on your ground. General business cover does not necessarily extend to aerial application, and the sum insured should be proportionate to the aircraft and the site.
A good answer sounds like
Here is the certificate. It names aerial application, the aircraft and the limits, and it runs to this date.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We are fully insured, with no document offered, or a certificate that only mentions general public liability.
5. Who is actually flying on the day, and what do they hold?
The person who quotes is not always the person who flies. Expect a General VLOS Certificate as the baseline for this kind of work, and for anything involving pesticide application, HSE expects PA1 and PA6 certification. It is a reasonable question and it should not cause any awkwardness.
A good answer sounds like
I am flying it myself, I hold a GVC and PA1 and PA6, and there will be a second person on site for the ground marshalling.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We will see who is free that week.
6. How will you handle drift, buffers and my watercourses?
Drift is the thing your neighbours, your assurance scheme and the Environment Agency care about. A drone flies lower and slower than a conventional aerial application, and a good operator will talk fluently about nozzle choice, droplet size, boom height, flight speed and the buffer they will leave around watercourses, hedgerows, ponds and boundaries. If you have sensitive neighbours, organic ground next door or a designated site nearby, say so early.
A good answer sounds like
We will fly the headland passes inward, leave this buffer from the ditch, and stop if the wind moves outside these limits.
Worth a second thought if you hear
Drift is not really an issue with drones. It is less than a conventional aerial application, but it is not nothing.
7. What weather stops you, and what happens to my booking then?
Application drones have real operating limits on wind, rain and temperature, and the days when conditions are right are the days everyone wants. The answer you are listening for is a specific limit and a specific plan, not optimism.
A good answer sounds like
Above about this wind speed we do not fly. If we lose the day, you go to the front of the queue for the next window and we will tell you by the previous evening.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We will play it by ear on the day.
8. What records will I get afterwards?
You should end up with a record you could hand to an assurance scheme inspector without embarrassment: date and time, field and area treated, product, rate and batch, weather at the time of application, who flew it, and the operator of record and authorisation the work was flown under. Some operators provide this through a customer portal, others as a PDF. Either is fine. Nothing is not.
A good answer sounds like
You will get a job record within 24 hours with the application details, the weather and the maps of what was actually covered.
Worth a second thought if you hear
We can put something together if you need it.
9. If something goes wrong, who am I dealing with?
The unglamorous question, and the one that matters at the worst possible moment. If a tank is misapplied, a neighbouring crop is affected or an aircraft comes down, you want to know now who carries it. Where the operator flies under a network, responsibility for the flight sits with the operator of record rather than the business that quoted you, so this connects straight back to question one.
A good answer sounds like
For the flight itself, the operator of record carries it, and here is who to contact. For the application decisions, that is us, and here is our process.
Worth a second thought if you hear
It has never happened, offered as the whole answer.
If you only ask three
Ask one, three and four. Who is legally responsible, what is going in the tank and under what permission, and whether the insurance covers this specific work. An operator who answers those three clearly has almost certainly thought the rest through as well. An operator who is vague on any of them is telling you something useful.
What a good quote looks like
A useful quote sets out the scope, the price, the exclusions, who is responsible for what, the timing, and the information the operator still needs from you. If a quote is a single number with no detail and no questions asked about your ground, ask for the breakdown before you commit. If you want a sense of whether a number is in the right region before you speak to anyone, our cost calculator gives a range based on published UK rates.
Related guides
- Agricultural drone pilot networks: who holds the authorisation
- Is drone spraying legal in the UK?
- Agricultural drone insurance in the UK
- How much does drone spraying cost?
FAQs
What should I ask a drone spraying contractor before booking?
Start with who is legally responsible for the flight, what is actually going in the tank and under what permission, and whether their insurance covers that specific work. Those three answers tell you most of what you need to know. Records, weather policy and liability follow.
Is the company I hire always the one responsible for the flight?
No. Many UK agricultural drone businesses fly application work under another company's CAA operational authorisation, as authorised pilots within a network. The company holding the authorisation is the UAS operator and carries the responsibility for the flight. Ask who that is.
Can a drone operator legally spray pesticides on my land?
Not as a routine commercial service. Applying a plant protection product from the air is aerial spraying, which needs a permit from the Health and Safety Executive against an approved application plan. There are currently no commercial authorisations for drone applied pesticides in the UK, only a small number of trials permits.
What records should I get after a drone application?
The same detail you would expect from any contractor: date and time, field and area treated, product, rate and batch, weather at the time, the pilot and the operator of record, and the authorisation the work was flown under. If you are in an assurance scheme you will need this anyway.
Does a cheap quote mean a problem?
Not by itself, but a single number with no scope, no exclusions and no questions asked about your ground usually means the operator has not thought the job through. A good quote comes with questions attached.
Sources
- HSE: Aerial spraying permit arrangements
- CAA: Specific category overview and operational authorisations
- CAA: PDRA01 operational authorisation
- Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 on insurance requirements
Checked in September 2026. Permissions and product approvals change, so confirm the current position with the operator, the CAA and HSE before work is arranged.