A remote pilot is hired to document the exterior of a commercial building under construction. A photographer from the architecture firm is also on site taking ground-level photos and will be moving around the building perimeter during the flight window. What is the remote PIC's correct approach?
Why →The FAA reads direct participation narrowly. Direct participants are people performing a function necessary to the small UAS operation, such as the remote PIC, a person manipulating the controls, a visual observer, or crew assigned and briefed by the remote PIC. A client's photographer taking their own ground photos is not performing a function for the drone operation, so a briefing alone does not make them a participant. The practical approach is to coordinate positions and plan the path so the aircraft does not fly over them, unless the aircraft qualifies for an Operations Over People category.
The trap →The briefed-and-consenting option is the tempting one, but consent does not create participant status; performing a function for the operation does. The 25-foot option invents a distance rule that does not exist in Part 107.
Field note →When in doubt, treat anyone not working the drone operation as a non-participant and plan the flight so you are never in sustained flight over them. On most job sites, coordinating positions is easier than qualifying for an over-people category.