so a local construction company found me somehow ? i think through instagram ? and they want drone footage for a project they're working on, like progress documentation every couple weeks over several months. sounds amazing in theory but im not sure im ready for this

they asked me to send over my rates and a certificate of insurance and i kind of just said 'sure no problem' and then immediately came here because i have neither of those things figured out lol. i have my 107 and ive done plenty of flying but ive never had a real commercial client before

how fast can you actually get insurance sorted, like is this a same-day thing or does it take weeks. and for a recurring gig like construction documentation what should i even be charging ? is it better to do a per-visit rate or try to get them on some kind of monthly retainer type deal

skywatch and verifly you can get coverage in like 20-30 minutes honestly, just download the app and you can buy flight-specific insurance on the spot. its not the cheapest per-job compared to an annual policy but for right now it'll get you a certificate of insurance which is what they're asking for. just make sure the coverage amount is enough ? construction clients sometimes want 2 million in liability so check what they require before you buy

for pricing on something like regular construction documentation i'd lean toward a per-visit rate rather than a retainer at first, mainly because scope can change and you dont want to get locked into something thats underpaying you if the job gets more complex. somewhere in the $300-500 per visit range is pretty normal depending on your area and how long each shoot takes, though big commercial clients sometimes have higher budgets than you'd expect so dont lowball yourself trying to win the job

construction documentation is actually one of the better recurring gig types, they usually stick with whoever they hire for the whole project length which could be a year or more of steady work. definately push for a per-visit rate with a minimum number of visits per month written into a simple agreement so they cant just call you whenever it suits them. also worth asking early on if they need any specific deliverables like orthomosaic maps or just standard video ? if its just standard footage thats straightforward, if they want mapping data you might need to check your equipment can handle it