Crowded Space Drones granted inaugural IQ Verify UAS Operations Gold certification in alignment with requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019

BS ISO 21384‑3:2019 outlines the requirements for unmanned aircraft (UA) operational procedures which, when applied together with any other current and future standard, forms a robust UA safety and quality standard. It applies to all commercial drone operations regardless of size, categorisation, application or location and represents international Best Practice for the safe operation of all types of drone use and missions.

Owing to the breadth of consideration within any UAS operation, these requirements fall within a number of key areas including safety and security, data Protection, cyber security, operator documentation and insurance, operations (from planning to operation and journey logs), maintenance and privacy.

Through a comprehensive audit process which includes the review of previous deployments and a live flight assessment, UAS organisations now have the opportunity to be independently verified against the highest industry standards. It’s perhaps for this reason that two major insurers within the sector, namely Coverdrone and Moonrock, have already confirmed that they will offer discounts to those organisations certificated by IQ Verify to UAS Operations Gold.

Laurie Clarke, director of IQ Verify, stated: “As an independent and international certification body, IQ Verify is extremely proud to be able to offer this route of recognised certification for UAS organisations looking to meet the latest operational standards. In any industry, and particularly so one that’s expanding as rapidly as the drones market, the opportunity to showcase organisational compliance above and beyond the competition is extremely valuable both at an operational and commercial level.”

Clarke continued: “Having already received a number of applications from interested parties, it’s exciting to see that the industry is responding so positively to this unique opportunity for formal certification. We congratulate Crowded Space Drones on its benchmark achievement as the very first organisation to have been independently verified and certificated against the requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019.”

Andrew McQuillan of Crowded Space Drones responded: “As soon as ISO 21384-3 was published, we looked to obtain certification as we know that, in other sectors, certification of compliance to International Standards is crucial for demonstrating quality and winning competitive tenders and quotes with clients. This scheme from IQ Verify comprehensively audited our entire operations and has given our clients additional confidence that they’re using the leading drone services company in the UK.”

McQuillan concluded: “Having recently been certificated by IQ Verify to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, it was encouraging to see the alignment between this standard and the privacy etiquette requirements of BS ISO 21384‑3:2019, thereby creating an ecosystem of complementary accreditations and certifications which customers can rely on as the first independent quality standards for the industry.”