What the new SC drone law means for your construction site

South Carolina Governor signed H4679, the South Carolina Drone Regulation and Public Safety Act, on May 15, 2026. It takes effect January 1, 2027.

If you're a GC, developer, or construction manager using drone services on your job sites, here's what you need to know.

What H4679 does

The law codifies FAA Part 107 compliance requirements at the state level and adds several SC-specific provisions:

• Operators conducting commercial drone flights in South Carolina must hold an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
• New surveillance and privacy restrictions: drone operators cannot photograph or record private property in a way that constitutes surveillance without permission
• 1,000-foot exclusion zones around designated critical infrastructure (power plants, water treatment facilities, certain bridges)

These provisions apply to all commercial drone operators working in South Carolina, including anyone flying on your construction sites.

What it does not change for construction documentation work

Standard construction site drone work, progress photos, BMP inspections, roof documentation, mapping, is unaffected by H4679. A Part 107 certified operator flying over an active permitted construction site to document progress or inspect erosion controls is exactly the kind of work this law was written around, not against.

The critical infrastructure exclusion zones apply to specific designated facilities. Standard commercial and residential construction sites are not affected.

What GCs should do before January 1, 2027

One thing: confirm your drone vendor holds an active FAA Part 107 certificate and carries commercial liability insurance.

Any competent commercial drone operator should already have both. If your current vendor can't produce a Part 107 certificate on request, that's a problem regardless of H4679.

Upstate Drone Services holds an active FAA Part 107 certificate and carries commercial liability insurance. We've operated in compliance with these requirements since day one. H4679 doesn't change anything about how we work.

The short version

H4679 is good news for GCs who use vetted, certified drone vendors. It raises the floor on who can operate commercially in South Carolina and gives you clearer standing to require Part 107 certification from any drone vendor on your sites.

If you're already working with a certified operator in Upstate SC, January 1, 2027 is a non-event.