Section 107.7 requires the remote pilot in command, the owner, or the person manipulating the flight controls to carry the remote pilot certificate and identification, and to present them when the officials named in the rule ask. The same section lets the Administrator inspect and test the aircraft and the people operating it. The company that owns the drone and wrote the schedule does not become the person §107.19 holds directly responsible for the flight.
What you carry, and who may see it
While exercising the privileges of the remote pilot certificate, the remote pilot in command, the owner, or the person manipulating the controls must have the remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating, and identification, in that person's physical possession and readily accessible. On request, that person presents the certificate and identification for inspection. The identification must contain the information listed at §107.67(b)(1) through (3): a photograph, a signature, and a date of birth.
The people who may make that request are the Administrator, an authorized representative of the National Transportation Safety Board, any Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer, and an authorized representative of the Transportation Security Administration. The same people who must carry the certificate must also make available, upon request, to the Administrator any document, record, or report required to be kept under the regulations.
Inspection goes further than paper. The remote pilot in command, the visual observer, the owner, the operator, or the person manipulating the controls must, upon request, allow the Administrator to test or inspect the small unmanned aircraft system, the remote pilot in command, the person manipulating the controls, and, if one is used, the visual observer, to determine compliance. A temporary certificate is still the certificate you are exercising while it is valid. How long that temporary certificate lasts is on the temporary certificate page.
The company does not take the violation
A construction firm employs a certificated remote pilot and provides the drone, the flight plan, and the schedule. If the operation violates a Part 107 rule, §107.19(b) holds the remote pilot in command of that flight directly responsible. The firm owns the aircraft and directed the work. That ownership does not move the responsibility. The rule also does not split the violation into equal shares between the firm and the pilot. The pilot remains the final authority as to the operation, which is why an inspector's questions land on the person who was designated remote pilot in command. Those duties are spelled out on the remote pilot in command page.
Refusing the inspection is its own problem. The presentation and the aircraft examination are duties in §107.7, not favors. A separate refusal rule covers alcohol testing. That one is on the alcohol test refusal page and should not be confused with a document check.
Who may maintain the aircraft an inspector is looking at
For a small UAS operated under Part 107, the owner or operator may perform maintenance by following the manufacturer's instructions. An FAA-certificated airframe mechanic is not required. The manufacturer's factory is not the only place the work can be done. When an inspector asks who changed a propeller, "the operator, using the manufacturer's procedure" is a complete answer. "Only a certificated mechanic may touch it" invents a requirement Part 107 does not contain.
What the records are, for an aircraft that is not Category 4
AC 107-2A, paragraph 7.3.5, describes recordkeeping as a recommended practice for any small UAS because the records document repairs, component time in service, and inspection history used to decide whether the aircraft is safe to launch. That recommendation is not the same thing as the Category 4 record rules. Section 107.140(c) duties, including life-limited parts and the retention periods written for Category 4, apply to Category 4 aircraft. They do not apply to every Part 107 operation. Part 107 does not create one universal logbook retention period for every small UAS.
Maintenance records are not prohibited, and an FAA mechanic's signature is not a condition of keeping them. If a specific rule requires a record, §107.7(a)(3) says to make that record available to the Administrator on request. For a typical aircraft outside Category 4, the useful log is the one that shows what was repaired and when it was inspected, so the remote pilot can decide the aircraft is fit to fly.
The trap is to treat the employer as the certificate holder, the mechanic's license as a Part 107 prerequisite, or the Category 4 log as a rule for every quadcopter. Carry your certificate and identification. Present them to the officials the section names. Let the Administrator see the aircraft. Stay the person responsible for the flight you commanded.
Work these items in the free practice test. Document and responsibility lessons in the course are at pricing.