Guides for roofing companies making their own footage

Drone rules for roofing photos and video

What it answers: does your shoot need a certified pilot, and which certificate?

The drone rules guide summarises Transport Canada's official pages in plain language: weight classes, the difference between Basic and Advanced operations, the sheltered operations category added in November 2025, where you cannot fly, and the fines for getting it wrong. It ends with a list of questions to ask a pilot before you book.

What you will learn:

• why the 250 g line matters so much
• why the 30 m rule pushes many residential roof shoots into Advanced operations
• what a pilot should be able to show you before take-off

The roof project shot list

What it answers: what exactly should the crew film, and when?

The shot list guide breaks a roof replacement into six natural stages, from the walkaround before materials arrive to the matching after shots at clean-up. It lists every frame in order and shows how a single job becomes a project film, aerial before-and-after pairs and a month of short clips.

What you will learn:

• how to take before-and-after pairs that actually match
• which details (flashing, membranes, deck repairs) sell quality best
• how to keep filming safe and quick for the crew

Homeowner photo consent basics

What it answers: do you need permission to post photos of a client's roof, and how should you ask?

The consent guide covers Transport Canada's privacy guidelines for drone users, the federal and provincial privacy laws in the background, a practical six-step consent routine and a template consent text with placeholders. It also covers neighbours, crew members and removal requests.

What you will learn:

• when and how to ask, and how to record the answer
• what to blur before publishing
• why a "no" is cheaper than a forced "yes"

Who the guides are for

The guides assume no film or aviation background. They are written for:

• Owners deciding whether video and drone photos are worth the effort, and what the rules mean for their business
• Office managers who will run the consent routine and keep the photo library tidy
• Crew leads who will capture footage on site and need a list they can follow without stopping work
• In-house drone pilots who want a quick view of how their flying fits into a marketing plan

Each guide stands on its own, so you can hand one page to the person who needs it.

How to use them as a team

A simple way to start: the owner reads the rules guide and decides who will fly; the office manager adopts the consent routine and a template message; the crew lead keeps a printed copy of the shot list in the truck. After three or four jobs, sit down together and look at the footage. You will see quickly which shots are missing and which steps slowed the crew down, and you can adjust from there.

How the guides connect to our services

The guides describe the routines we set up for clients. The rules guide underpins our drone photo programs, the shot list drives our project films, and the consent routine is built into the photo library. You can run all three yourself; if you would rather someone plan and edit for you, the services overview explains the options.

Questions the guides do not answer

Some questions belong to other professionals. Whether a particular flight is legal at a particular address is for the certified pilot, using Transport Canada's tools. Whether a particular privacy law applies to your company is for a lawyer. How to install a roof is for your crew. Our job is the marketing: making the footage good, safe to publish and useful at the estimate. If you have a question about that, get in touch.