Can I fly a drone over a built-up area without registering?
No — in practice every consumer drone needs registration, and every flight a notification. Registering as an operator in FAUST, the system run by the CCAA (the Croatian civil aviation agency), is mandatory if the drone is heavier than 250 g, OR can transfer more than 80 J on impact, OR carries a camera or microphone — nearly every drone that is not a toy. And in Croatia every flight must be announced through the AMC Portal of Croatia Control, whatever the drone weighs. The myth "under 250 grams = no rules" fails: the 250 g line removes the exam and, if there is no camera, the registration — but not the 120 m ceiling, geo-zones, VLOS, the ban on flying over crowds or the data protection rules.
📋 The rules
- Operator registration (EU Regulation 2019/947 as applied by the CCAA): mandatory if the drone is heavier than 250 g, if it can transfer more than 80 J on impact, or if it carries a sensor that collects personal data (camera, microphone); you register on the FAUST platform and physically mark the drone with your operator number (form HRV123abc456defg — the part after the dash is left off).
- Pilot competence: online training and the A1/A3 exam on the CCAA's KATA platform (according to guides derived from the CCAA FAQ: free of charge, 40 questions, 75% pass mark — we could not confirm that detail directly on the CCAA site); drones over 900 g flown near people need the additional A2 exam, taken in person; a pilot flying on his own must be at least 16.
- Limits of the open category: at most 120 m above ground, the drone always in visual line of sight (VLOS), MTOM under 25 kg; A1 (<900 g) may fly close to, but not over, uninvolved people and never over a crowd; A3 (up to 25 kg) only well away from people and at least 150 m from residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas.
- Croatian geo-zones and flight notification: every operator and pilot, whatever the drone weighs, must announce the operation through the AMC Portal of Croatia Control — automatically through the AMC Portal Mobile app, or by form 7 days in advance for the standard procedure; the app also shows where flying is restricted (airport CTRs, cities, protected zones).
- Insurance: third-party liability cover is always mandatory from 20 kg MTOM (EU Regulation 785/2004); below 20 kg it becomes mandatory the moment you carry out any aerial work — filming, photography, advertising, surveillance — "whether for payment or not, for private or public purposes" (the wording used on gov.hr). Purely sport and recreational flying without filming needs no policy.
🔓 Exceptions
- Toys and drones without a camera and under 250 g (and below 80 J): no operator registration — but the 120 m ceiling, the geo-zones, the AMC Portal notification, VLOS and the privacy rules apply in full.
- Camera drones under 250 g in class C0 (the DJI Mini series, for example): registration IS mandatory, the A1/A3 exam is not, and they may overfly individual uninvolved people — never a crowd.
- "Legacy" drones with no EU class mark: since 1.1.2024 they may fly only under A3 conditions (at least 150 m from populated areas), unless they are lighter than 250 g. Anything outside the open category (BVLOS, over a crowd, above 120 m) needs a specific-category authorisation (STS/PDRA/SORA), and publishing aerial footage may also require approval from the State Geodetic Administration.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Misdemeanour fines are set by the Air Traffic Act, and the CCAA publishes the amounts in its FAQ — which we pass on with a caveat, because the CCAA site blocks direct fetching, so we could see the figures only second-hand, as specialist guides reproduce them: from warnings and fines of about 700 EUR upwards, all the way to temporary or permanent withdrawal of pilot certificates and operator registration. The dearest example from the same source: an operator registered as sport and recreational who is caught doing aerial work without the mandatory insurance faces 2,652–26,520 EUR. The layer nobody counts on: without a policy for filming you are personally liable for damage to third parties, and published footage of identifiable people opens separate liability under the GDPR.
📎 Official sources
- gov.hr · the central government portal, guide to operating unmanned aircraft →
- Croatian Civil Aviation Agency (CCAA) · drone rules and operator registration →
- Croatia Control · the AMC Portal for notifying flights →
❓ Frequently asked
Does a drone under 250 grams need registration?
It does if it has a camera or a microphone, because a sensor collecting personal data triggers the operator registration on its own. Without a camera and below 80 J no registration is needed, but every other flying rule still applies.
Do I have to notify every flight?
Yes — in Croatia every operator and pilot, whatever the drone weighs, must announce the operation through Croatia Control's AMC Portal. The automatic route runs through the app, while the standard one needs a form seven days in advance.
Do I need insurance to film with a drone?
Below 20 kg a policy becomes mandatory the moment you do aerial work — filming, photography, advertising or surveillance — whether you are paid for it or not. Purely sport and recreational flying without filming needs no policy.
How big are the fines for flying unregistered?
The CCAA publishes the amounts in its FAQ, and they run from warnings and fines of about 700 EUR up to withdrawal of certificates and of the operator registration. We pass those figures on with a caveat, because the CCAA site blocks access and we could not verify them first-hand.
Can I fly over people in a city?
Never over a crowd, and class A1 drones may fly close to but not over uninvolved people. For A3 operations the rule is a distance of at least 150 metres from residential and commercial areas.
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