Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945Show full title

CHAPTER I U.K. General provisions

Article 1 U.K. Subject matter

1. This Regulation lays down the requirements for the design and manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems (‘UAS’) intended to be operated under the rules and conditions defined in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 and of remote identification add-ons. It also defines the type of UAS whose design, production and maintenance shall be subject to certification.

[F1 2. It also establishes rules on making UAS and accessories kit and remote identification add-ons available on the market F2 ....]

3. This Regulation also lays down rules for third-country UAS operators, when they conduct a UAS operation [F3 in the United Kingdom].

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1058 of 27 April 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as regards the introduction of two new unmanned aircraft systems classes.

F2 Words in Art. 1(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 3(2)

F3 Words in Art. 1(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 3(3)

Article 2 U.K. Scope

[F1 1. Chapter II of this Regulation applies to the following products:

(a) UAS intended to be operated under the rules and conditions applicable to the ‘open’ category of UAS operations F4 ... pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/947, except privately built UAS, and bearing a class identification label as set out in Parts 1 to 5, 16 and 17 of the Annex to this Regulation indicating to which of the seven UAS classes referred to in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 it belongs;

(b) class [F5 UK5] accessories kits as set out in Part 16;

(c) remote identification add-ons as set out in Part 6 of the Annex to this Regulation.

2. Chapter III of this Regulation applies to UAS operated under the rules and conditions applicable to the ‘certified’ and ‘specific’ categories of UAS operations pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 F6 ....]

3. Chapter IV of this Regulation applies to UAS operators that have their principal place of business, are established, or reside in a third country, if the UAS are operated in the [F7 United Kingdom].

4. This Regulation does not apply to [F8 —

(a) UAS designed to be exclusively operated in areas which are wholly or mainly enclosed;

(b) UAS with an MTOM of less than 100 g.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1058 of 27 April 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as regards the introduction of two new unmanned aircraft systems classes.

F4 Words in Art. 2(1)(a) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 4(2)

F5 Word in Art. 2(1)(b) substituted (1.1.2026) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 6(a)

F6 Words in Art. 2(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 4(3)

F7 Words in Art. 2(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 4(4)

F8 Words in Art. 2(4) substituted (1.1.2026) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106), regs. 1(2), 5(1)

Article 3 U.K. Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1)

‘unmanned aircraft’ (‘UA’) means any aircraft operating or designed to operate autonomously or to be piloted remotely without a pilot on board;

(2)

‘equipment to control unmanned aircraft remotely’ means any instrument, equipment, mechanism, apparatus, appurtenance, software or accessory that is necessary for the safe operation of a UA other than a part and which is not carried on board that UA;

(3)

‘unmanned aircraft system’ (‘UAS’) means an unmanned aircraft and the equipment to control it remotely;

(4)

‘unmanned aircraft system operator’ (‘UAS operator’) means any legal or natural person operating or intending to operate one or more UAS;

(5)

‘open’ category' means a category of UAS operations that is defined in Article 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947;

(6)

‘specific’ category means a category of UAS operations that is defined in Article 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947;

(7)

‘certified’ category means a category of UAS operation that is defined in Article 6 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947;

(8)

F9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(9)

‘accreditation’ means accreditation as defined in paragraph 10 of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;

(10)

‘conformity assessment’ means the process demonstrating whether the specified requirements relating to a product have been fulfilled;

(11)

‘conformity assessment body’ means a body that performs conformity assessment activities including calibration, testing, certification and inspection;

(12)

F10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(13)

‘manufacturer’ means any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under their name or trademark;

(14)

‘authorised representative’ means any natural or legal person [F11 established in the United Kingdom] who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on his behalf in relation to specified tasks;

(15)

‘importer’ means any natural or legal person [F12 established in the United Kingdom] who places a product from a third country [F13 on the market];

(16)

‘distributor’ means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the market;

(17)

‘economic operators’ means the manufacturer, the authorised representative of the manufacturer, the importer, and the distributor of the UAS;

(18)

‘making available on the market’ means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use in the [F14 United Kingdom] in the course of a commercial activity, whether in exchange of payment or free of charge;

(19)

‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product [F15 in the United Kingdom];

(20)

F16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(21)

‘technical specification’ means a document that establishes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process or service;

(22)

‘privately built UAS’ means a UAS assembled or manufactured for the builder's own use, not including UAS assembled from a set of parts placed on the market by the manufacturer as a single ready-to-assemble kit;

(23)

[F17 ‘market surveillance authority’ means an authority prescribed in accordance with Article 3B;]

(24)

‘recall’ means any measure aimed at achieving the return of a product that has already been made available to the end-user;

(25)

‘withdrawal’ means any measure aimed at preventing a product in the supply chain from being made available on the market;

(26)

F18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(27)

‘remote pilot’ means a natural person responsible for safely conducting the flight of a UA by operating its flight controls, either manually or, when the UA flies automatically, by monitoring its course and remaining able to intervene and change its course at any time;

(28)

‘maximum take-off mass’ (‘MTOM’) means the maximum UA mass, including payload and fuel, as defined by the manufacturer or the builder, at which the UA can be operated;

(29)

‘payload’ means any instrument, mechanism, equipment, part, apparatus, appurtenance, or accessory, including communications equipment, that is installed in or attached to the aircraft, and is not used or intended to be used in operating or controlling an aircraft in flight, and is not part of an airframe, engine, or propeller;

(30)

‘follow-me mode’ means a mode of operation of a UAS where the unmanned aircraft constantly follows the remote pilot within a predetermined radius;

(31)

‘direct remote identification’ means a system that ensures the local broadcast of information about a UA in operation, including the marking of the UA, so that this information can be obtained without physical access to the UA;

(32)

‘geo-awareness’ means a function that, based on the data provided by [F19 the CAA], detects a potential breach of airspace limitations and alerts the remote pilots so that they can take effective immediate and action to prevent that breach;

(33)

‘sound power level L_WA’ means the A-weighted sound power in dB in relation to 1 pW as defined in EN ISO 3744:2010;

(34)

‘measured sound power level’ means a sound power level as determined from measurements as laid down in Part 13 of the Annex; measured values may be determined either from a single UA representative for the type of equipment or from the average of a number of UA;

(35)

‘guaranteed sound power level’ means a sound power level determined in accordance with the requirements laid down in Part 13 of the Annex which includes the uncertainties due to production variation and measurement procedures and where the manufacturer, or his authorised representative F20 ... , confirms that according to the technical instruments applied and referred to in the technical documentation it is not exceeded;

(36)

‘hovering’ means staying in the same geographical position in the air;

(37)

‘assemblies of people’ means gatherings where persons are unable to move away due to the density of the people present [F1 ;]

(38)

[F21 ‘command unit’ (‘CU’) means the equipment or system of equipment to control unmanned aircraft remotely as defined in point 32 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 which supports the control or the monitoring of the unmanned aircraft during any phase of flight, with the exception of any infrastructure supporting the command and control (C2) link service;

(39)

‘C2 link service’ means a communication service supplied by a third party, providing command and control between the unmanned aircraft and the CU;

(40)

‘night’ means the hours between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight as defined in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012.](1)

(41)

[F22 ‘market surveillance’ means the activities carried out and measures taken by public authorities to ensure that products comply with the requirements set out in any relevant enactment and do not endanger health, safety or an any other aspect of public interest protection;

(42)

F23 ...

(43)

‘designated standard’ has the meaning provided in Article 3A;

(44)

‘approved body’ means a conformity assessment body which has been approved F24 ... under Article 18;

(45)

‘UK marking’ means a marking in the form published in accordance with Article 30(1) of RAMS;

(46)

‘RAMS’ means Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) 339/93;

(47)

‘the CAA’ means the Civil Aviation Authority;

(48)

‘third country’ means any country or territory other than the United Kingdom;]

(49)

[F25 ‘relevant restricted areas’ means—

(a)

geographical zones designated by regulations under Article 15 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947,

(b)

areas in which flying a UA is prohibited, restricted or subject to conditions under regulations made under article 239 of the Air Navigation Order 2016,

(c)

areas which are flight restriction zones of protected aerodromes within the meaning of article 94A(7) of the Air Navigation Order 2016,

(d)

areas which are protected space sites within the meaning of article 94BA of the Air Navigation Order 2016, and

(e)

places in the UK designated as prohibited places by regulations made under section 8(1) of the National Security Act 2023.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1058 of 27 April 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as regards the introduction of two new unmanned aircraft systems classes.

F9 Art. 3(8) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(2)

F10 Art. 3(12) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(2)

F11 Words in Art. 3(14) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(3)

F12 Words in Art. 3(15) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(4)(a)

F13 Words in Art. 3(15) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(4)(b)

F14 Words in Art. 3(18) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(5)

F15 Words in Art. 3(19) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(6)

F16 Art. 3(20) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(7)

F17 Art. 3(23) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(8)

F18 Art. 3(26) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(9)

F19 Words in Art. 3(32) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(10)

F20 Words in Art. 3(35) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(11)

F21 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1058 of 27 April 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as regards the introduction of two new unmanned aircraft systems classes.

F22 Art. 3(41)-(48) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 5(12)

F23 Art. 3(42) omitted (23.12.2022) by virtue of The Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1235), regs. 1(2), 10(2)

F24 Words in Art. 3(44) omitted (1.1.2026) by virtue of The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106), regs. 1(2), 5(2)(a)

F25 Art. 3(49) inserted (1.1.2026) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106), regs. 1(2), 5(2)(b)

[F26 Article 3A U.K. Designated Standards

1. For the purposes of this Regulation, a “designated standard” is a technical standard—

(a) which is adopted by the British Standards Institution for repeated or continuous application; and

(b) which has been designated by the Secretary of State by publishing its reference number in a manner the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

2. In this Article, a “technical standard” means a document that prescribes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process, service or system and which lays down one or more of the following—

(a) the characteristics required including—

(i)

levels of quality, performance, interoperability, environmental protection, health, safety or dimensions, and

(ii)

requirements applicable as regards the name under which a product is sold, terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking or labelling and conformity assessment procedures;

(b) production methods and processes where these have an effect on the characteristics of a product.

3. When considering whether the manner of publication of a technical standard under paragraph 1(b) is appropriate, the Secretary of State must have regard to whether that manner will draw sufficient attention to the standard to all persons who may have an interest in it.

4. The Secretary of State may remove the reference number of a technical standard from publication and where such a reference is removed, the technical standard is no longer a designated standard.

F27 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

Textual Amendments

F26 Art. 3A inserted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 6

F27 Art. 3A(5) omitted (23.12.2022) by virtue of The Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1235), regs. 1(2), 10(3)

[F28 Article 3B U.K. Market Surveillance Authorities

1. The Secretary of State may prescribe by regulations one or more public authorities as market surveillance authorities for the purposes of this Regulation.

2. Regulations made under this Article are to be made by statutory instrument.

3. Regulations made under this Article may—

(a) make different provision for different purposes or areas;

(b) include supplementary, incidental or consequential provision;

(c) make transitional, transitory or saving provision.]

Textual Amendments

F28 Art. 3B inserted (31.12.2020) by The Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1593), regs. 1(2), 7

(1)

[F21 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 of 26 September 2012 laying down the common rules of the air and operational provisions regarding services and procedures in air navigation and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1035/2011 and Regulations (EC) No 1265/2007, (EC) No 1794/2006, (EC) No 730/2006, (EC) No 1033/2006 and (EU) No 255/2010, ( OJ L 281 13.10.2012, p. 1 ).]

Textual Amendments

F21 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1058 of 27 April 2020 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 as regards the introduction of two new unmanned aircraft systems classes.