Drone Services, Surveying, and Free Speech: The Dilemma

Professional engineering and surveying registration boards are being challenged to balance the need to protect life, safety, and welfare against the work that has traditionally been conducted by licensed professionals. Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) capabilities have increased dramatically and have disrupted the surveying sector. These systems provide high-resolution images and enable the collection of accurate data. Today, many aerial photography firms utilize UASs to conduct flyovers, capturing images that can be further processed to produce a desired output for their customer. The scope of services varies depending on the customer, who at times requests the identification of their own parcels with metadata, including coordinates derived using Global Navigation Satellite Systems. In addition, by processing the data with appropriate software one can approximate the volume of materials on site, approximate parcel boundaries, and related information such as utilities. The challenge for registration boards is to determine if these tasks, as well as others, are required to be performed by licensed personnel. Over the past several years boards have been challenged in interpreting the tasks requiring licensure. The intent of this article is to present a review of relatively recent cases that have caused consternation among the surveying community. The question to answer is whether professional registration boards can require licensing to perform these and other similar tasks and, at the same time, prevent a company from disseminating its work. One case relies on statutory interpretation whereas the two other cases rely on the right to free speech protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.