Flying a drone in France? The complete 2026 guide in English: how to read the zone map, register on AlphaTango step by step, and the rules for cities and Paris.
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C-DRONE GUIDE · 13 OCTOBER 2026
Drone service quote template: mandatory details and standard lines
A drone service quote carries the details of any business quote — company identity, description of the service, price excluding VAT, VAT and total, validity period, payment terms — and adds what your client does not know to ask for: your operator number, the planned flight framework, the formalities and their lead time, insurance, the postponement rule in bad weather, precise deliverables and image rights. Here are the details line by line, with the French texts that require them where they exist. The professional operator guide adds the compliance file to hand to the client, the logs and the operations manual.
Published on 13 October 2026 — regulations in force as of September 2026.
The complete guide to French drone regulations 2026 — procedures, checklists and templates · €10 →
The details common to any business quote
French law does not require a quote for a drone service, but as soon as you issue one it must stand up as a business document:
- Your identity: name, legal form, address, SIREN number; for a sole trader, the name preceded or followed by "entrepreneur individuel" or "EI" (Law No. 2022-172 of 14 February 2022).
- The client: company name and address, or the individual's name.
- The service: place, date or period, purpose of the flight, deliverables.
- The price: amounts excluding VAT, VAT rate and amount, total including VAT; under the small-business VAT exemption, the wording "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI".
- Offer validity and payment terms (deposit, due date).
- Between businesses: the late-payment penalty rate and the €40 fixed recovery fee (Commercial Code, articles L441-10 and D441-5), also shown on the invoice.
Two special cases. If you are a micro-entrepreneur or craftsman subject to compulsory professional insurance, article 22-2 of Law No. 96-603 requires you to show on quotes and invoices the insurance taken out, the insurer's details and the geographical cover. And a consumer who signs at a distance or away from your premises has 14 days to withdraw (Consumer Code, article L221-18): if the job must take place earlier, have them expressly request early performance (article L221-25).
The drone-specific lines
These are what set an operator's quote apart from a photographer's. Your client will look for them, because they also answer for it if they fly an unregistered or uninsured contractor.
| Line | What it must say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | UAS operator number issued on AlphaTango registration | It is the identifier the client can check, and the one shown on the drone |
| Flight framework | Open category (A1, A2 or A3), declared standard scenario (STS-01, STS-02) or authorisation (reference) | The framework sets the ground area to secure, distances and lead time |
| Formalities | Préfecture declaration in a populated area (at least 10 working days ahead), owner, site manager and nearby aerodrome agreements; who handles them | The flight date depends on it: the lead time must be clear |
| Insurance | Insurer, policy number, activities covered, certificate attached or on request | The operator is strictly liable for damage on the ground (Transport Code, article L6131-2) |
| Weather and postponement | Wind, rain and visibility thresholds; postponement free of charge or with travel costs; number of postponements before cancellation | The first cause of disputes after the deliverable |
| Deliverables | Formats, resolution or GSD, accuracy and how it is checked, deadline, number of revisions, raw data retention period | "Photos and video" is not enough to compare two quotes |
| Image rights | Rights transferred one by one, uses, territory, duration (Intellectual Property Code, article L131-3) | Without limits, the transfer is fragile |
| Personal data | Identifiable people or number plates: blurring, retention period | The client publishes the images and answers for them |
| Site safety | Prevention plan or site safety plan where required, hours, contact person | See drones on building sites and safety coordination |
Price lines: a template to adapt
A readable quote splits the price into items the client can compare. The template below deliberately contains no amounts: your prices depend on your equipment, your region and the flight framework. Market ranges are in the drone service price grid.
| Item | Unit | To specify in the wording |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation and formalities | Flat fee | Site analysis, préfecture declaration, agreements, flight plan |
| Travel | Flat fee or per km | Starting point, tolls, possible overnight stay |
| On-site mobilisation | Half day or day | Remote pilot, observer or ground assistant if the framework requires one |
| Acquisition | Flat fee, hectare, m² or number of shots | Sensor (visible, thermal, LiDAR), number of flights |
| Processing | Flat fee or hectare | Software, check points, accuracy report |
| Deliverables | Flat fee | List, formats, deadline, revisions included |
| Options | Unit | Video edit, annotated report, extra visit, extended archiving |
Add at the foot of the quote the weather postponement rule, the deposit, the offer validity and the image-rights transfer wording. For a recurring job (site monitoring, periodic inspections), a price per visit and a committed number of visits are clearer than an overall flat fee.
What the client reads first
Business clients rarely compare the total alone. The survey by Gilles Albeaino and Masoud Gheisari of 56 construction professionals in the United States, published in 2021 in the Journal of Information Technology in Construction, ranks saving time, access to hard-to-reach areas and lower costs as the top expected benefits of drones, with progress monitoring, site planning and surveying among the most common uses (see the study). A quote that states the delivery time, names a usable deliverable and says what the drone replaces (cherry picker, scaffolding, a day of surveying) answers these expectations directly.
On compliance, the grid your clients use to compare three quotes is set out in the guide comparing professional drone quotes: reread your own quote against it. And if you are starting out, the full path (training, status, budget) is in becoming a professional drone pilot in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is a quote mandatory for a drone service?
Not in general: no French text requires a quote for drone filming or an inspection. However, a business client may demand your general terms of sale (Commercial Code, article L441-1), a consumer must know the price including VAT before committing, and a signed quote is the only simple proof of what was ordered: deliverables, deadlines, weather postponement.
Should the préfecture declaration be billed separately?
It is not compulsory, but it is the clearest practice: a "preparation and formalities" line shows the client real work (a declaration at least 10 working days before a flight in a populated area, owner and site manager agreements, risk assessment) and avoids burying it in the flight price. Also state who handles the formality and by when.
What should be said about image rights?
Exactly what the client may do with them: article L131-3 of the French Intellectual Property Code requires each right transferred to be stated separately and its scope of use to be defined by extent, purpose, place and duration. "All rights transferred" without detail protects neither party well.