Part 107 uses two different FAA permissions, and the test treats them as opposites. An airspace authorization lets you enter Class B, C, D, or surface Class E under §107.41. A certificate of waiver lets you deviate from a specific operating rule listed in §107.205, if you can show an equivalent level of safety. Neither one replaces a remote pilot certificate. Neither one registers the aircraft.
When a waiver is actually required
You need a waiver only when the flight would break a waivable rule and you want the FAA to approve that deviation. If the flight already complies, there is nothing to waive. You do not file a waiver because the job is commercial, because the site is within some old "5 miles of an airport" habit, or because the client asked for "FAA approval of the mission."
Section 107.205 is the list. Operations that still need a waiver, because the rule has no routine compliance path, include operating more than one small unmanned aircraft at a time (§107.35) and flying beyond visual line of sight (§107.31). One pilot flying three aircraft is still a §107.35 deviation. A night flight that meets both §107.29 conditions does not need a waiver: an initial test or §107.65 training after April 6, 2021, and anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles. The light requirement itself, §107.29(a)(2) and (b), remains on the waiver list, so flying at night or in civil twilight without that light is still a waiver case. The training half of the night rule is not met by waiving the light. A Category 1, 2, or 3 flight that meets the operations-over-people rules, or a brief transit over a moving vehicle that meets §107.145, is not a waiver event either. Those paths have existed without a waiver since April 21, 2021, when their conditions are met.
The 400-foot limit in §107.51 is on the waiver list. A survey that needs 550 feet AGL over open terrain, with no structure to use the 400-foot radius exception, cannot ignore the limit because the site is Class G. The company may apply for a waiver of §107.51. LAANC will not grant that altitude, and Class G does not erase it.
Part 108 beyond-visual-line-of-sight rulemaking is pending final-rule review and is not in effect as of October 2026. Study current Part 107. Beyond visual line of sight still means a waiver of §107.31 unless and until a different rule actually applies.
How to apply
The FAA's Part 107 waivers page sends new operational waiver applications to the Aviation Safety Hub. The application describes the operation, the risks, and the mitigations. The FAA's stated goal is a decision in about 90 days. That is a target, not a promise that day 91 is an approval. Emailing a FSDO and expecting an answer in 10 business days is not the current process. Registering the drone does not approve a waiver, even if the drone has Remote ID.
If the FAA asks for more detail and you do not answer, the application does not sit approved by silence. Respond to the request. A waiver of the visual-observer rules in §107.33, like any other waiver, is granted on the mitigations you actually propose, not on a request that says "trust us."
Previously submitted waivers stay in FAADroneZone. Do not confuse "old file lives in DroneZone" with "new applications start in DroneZone."
Authorizations are the other door
Airspace authorizations use LAANC for a near-real-time yes or no against the UAS Facility Maps, or FAADroneZone when you need the manual process. A LAANC grid ceiling of 200 feet means 200 feet, not 400. The LAANC page covers that tool. Authorizations do not waive see-and-avoid, cloud clearance, or operations over people.
Restricted-area permission under §107.45 is a third conversation, with the using or controlling agency. It is not a waiver and it is not LAANC.
Keep the three sentences straight. Complying flight: no waiver. Deviation from a listed rule: Aviation Safety Hub waiver, with mitigations. Controlled-airspace entry: LAANC or FAADroneZone authorization, up to the approved altitude.