Classless, home-built or ageing drones in your fleet? Status of each aircraft, classes C0 to C6, legacy drones, kits, Remote ID, maintenance log, what EASA proposes next, a table by mission and 7 templates.
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C-DRONE GUIDE · 13 SEPTEMBER 2026
Privately built drones in professional use: FPV, kits and the 2027 question
A privately built drone is a drone assembled or manufactured by its builder for their own use; it flies in the open category without a class mark, in A1 under 250 g (and below 19 m/s) and in A3 up to 25 kg. Two misconceptions keep circulating: that a ready-to-assemble kit bought in a shop counts as one — it does not, the regulation expressly excludes it — and that this regime ends on 1 January 2027 — no such date appears in the European regulations. FPV pilot building a frame, operator assembling a custom carrier, engineering firm building a payload platform: here is what the text says, and what to take from it.
Published on 13 September 2026, updated on 21 October 2026 — regulations in force as of September 2026.
Editorial lead: Jean-Claude Fatemian
The exact definition: built for yourself, retail kits excluded
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (Article 2, point 16) and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 (Article 3, point 22) give the same definition: a privately built UAS is "a UAS assembled or manufactured for the builder's own use, not including UAS assembled from sets of parts placed on the market as a single ready-to-assemble kit". Two practical consequences follow. An FPV frame built from separately bought parts (frame, motors, flight controller, video transmitter) is privately built. A kit sold complete and ready to assemble is not: it is a product placed on the market, subject to Regulation 2019/945 just like a drone sold ready-made.
Nor should privately built be confused with a "legacy" drone: an industrially manufactured aircraft without a class mark, placed on the market before 1 January 2024 (Article 20 of Regulation 2019/947). Our guide to the professional drone without a C class covers that case, and our guide to 2026 drone regulations covers the class system as a whole. These three statuses (class C0 to C6, privately built, Article 20) are the only ones that open the open category (Article 4(1)(a)).
What a self-built drone can do: A1, A3, never A2
The annex to Regulation 2019/947 sets two cases. In A1 (point UAS.OPEN.020), a privately built drone must weigh less than 250 g including payload and have a maximum operating speed below 19 m/s — an often forgotten condition that many FPV micro-drones exceed. In A3 (point UAS.OPEN.040), it must weigh less than 25 kg; the flight takes place where no uninvolved person is endangered, at least 150 m from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas, by a pilot who has completed the online training and passed the theory exam. Sub-category A2 stays closed to it: it requires a class C2 aircraft.
For an FPV pilot this maps onto a familiar reality: most home-built racing or freestyle frames exceed 250 g and are therefore flown in A3, with a spotter for immersive flight — our guide to FPV immersion flying covers the spotter's role and the move to the specific category for a shoot in a populated area. For a custom-built agricultural carrier, beware: Article 4 forbids dropping any material in the open category. Spraying, seeding or releasing capsules therefore always takes the flight out of the open category, privately built or not. On the training side nothing changes compared with a classed drone: see our guide to A1/A3 training and the A2 certificate.
The 1 January 2027 deadline: what the texts actually say
A date keeps circulating: the privately built drone regime would end on 1 January 2027. This page repeated it until 21 October 2026. Checked against the consolidated versions of Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945 published by the EU Publications Office (up to date as of 1 May 2025, the latest available on 21 October 2026), no 2027 date appears. The conditions for privately built drones are written into the annex to Regulation 2019/947, with no end date. The only switch-over dates in the text concern other aircraft: the Article 22 transitional period, closed on 31 December 2023, and unclassed drones placed on the market before 1 January 2024 (Article 20).
A rule can always change: any change would come through an amending regulation published in the EU Official Journal, listed on the EUR-Lex page for Regulation 2019/947. The thresholds themselves are debated by researchers: a 2025 study in the journal Drones by Tamer Savas re-examines the 250 g threshold using human-injury criteria (kinetic energy, the Blunt Criterion, the Abbreviated Injury Scale) (see the study). That is a scientific debate, not a regulatory deadline.
What a professional should do now
The first move is to sort your fleet into three columns. Aircraft carrying a C0 to C6 class. Unclassed aircraft bought ready-made, legacy if placed on the market before 1 January 2024 (A1 under 250 g, A3 up to 25 kg). Aircraft genuinely assembled by the operator from separate parts, privately built (A1 under 250 g and 19 m/s, A3 up to 25 kg). A retail kit assembled in-house falls into the first or second column depending on its marking and market date, never the third; unclassed and sold after 1 January 2024, it can only fly in the specific category. To run that sort aircraft by aircraft with the proofs to keep (declaration of conformity, market-placement date, build file), keep remote ID and the maintenance log in order and plan renewals, our guide to drone fleet compliance: classes C0 to C6, legacy and privately built drones gives a table by type of mission and seven templates, including the fleet inventory.
For an activity that depends on a home-built FPV frame or a custom carrier, the framework is stable today; just keep an eye out for amending regulations. Choosing between a home-built and a classed aircraft is weighed like any fleet investment — our guide to depreciation and tax on a professional drone helps fold it into an investment plan, and our guide to professional liability insurance recommends declaring each aircraft precisely to the insurer.
For an FPV shoot in a populated area, or a mission that requires a classed aircraft, calling on an equipped provider remains the fastest route: request a quote stating the type of shoot or mission and how close it comes to people or buildings.
Frequently asked questions
Does the privately built drone regime end on 1 January 2027?
No, not under the texts in force. The consolidated versions of Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945 published by the EU Publications Office (up to date as of 1 May 2025, checked on 21 October 2026) contain no 2027 date. The conditions specific to privately built drones sit in the annex to Regulation 2019/947 (points UAS.OPEN.020 and UAS.OPEN.040), with no end date. Only other regimes had a date: the Article 22 transitional period (ended 31 December 2023) and unclassed drones placed on the market before 1 January 2024 (Article 20). A future amendment remains possible: it would come as a new regulation published in the EU Official Journal.
Is a drone built from a kit a privately built drone?
No, if the kit was placed on the market by a manufacturer as a single ready-to-assemble kit: the definition (Article 2, point 16, of Regulation 2019/947 and Article 3, point 22, of Regulation 2019/945) expressly excludes it. Such an aircraft is a commercial product: to fly in the open category it needs a C0 to C6 class, or must fall under Article 20 (placed on the market before 1 January 2024). Otherwise it can only fly in the specific category. An aircraft assembled from separately bought parts (frame, motors, flight controller) does remain privately built.