Yes, you can film and post a client’s project, but only with the client’s written permission and a signed release from every person identifiable on camera. Copyright belongs to whoever shot the footage, not to the building’s owner, so the question is who agreed to be in it and where it can go.
We filmed seven months of weekly construction documentation on Feraform’s Elliston Park parkade, alongside builder Kalamoir, and every public frame was cleared before upload. If you want that handled, see our construction video production in Calgary. Below: whether you need permission, how to ask, what goes wrong without it, and how the paperwork runs.
Do you need permission to film and post a client’s project?
In almost every case, yes, and it is three permissions rather than one. You need the property owner’s permission to be on site with a camera, the client’s permission to show their project publicly, and consent from each individual who appears. Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) says an organization shall not collect, use or disclose personal information about an individual unless the individual consents, and a recognisable face in your Instagram reel is personal information.
Here is who has to say yes before a clip of a client’s project goes public.
| Who | What they are agreeing to | Form | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client or property owner | Camera access to the site, public use of images of the project | Clause in the contract, or a one-page permission letter | Before the first shoot day |
| General contractor (if you are a sub) | Site access, safety rules, filming other trades only with their OK | Email confirmation from the superintendent | Before the first shoot day |
| People on camera (crew, client’s staff, homeowner) | Use of their image and words for marketing | Signed release, written to PIPA | On the day, before the interview |
| Members of the public and neighbours | Nothing, because you keep them unidentifiable | Framing and blur in the edit | During the shoot and in post |
Copyright does not settle any of this. Under section 13(1) of the Copyright Act, “the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein”. If your foreman shoots the time-lapse on his phone, your company owns that file; if a production company shoots it, they own it until a signed assignment says otherwise. Owning the file and being allowed to publish the people and property in it are separate questions. Our guide to who owns the footage covers the first. This article covers the second.
Two situations call for extra care. Institutional and industrial projects often carry a confidentiality clause that bars photography without the owner’s consent, so read the prime contract first. Residential projects involve a family’s address and interior, so the homeowner’s permission should spell out what stays out of frame.
How do you ask a client for permission to film? (sample clause and email)
Ask at contract signing, in writing, with a clause that says what you will film, where it will be published and what you will not show. Clients say yes far more often when the ask is specific and when they get something back, usually a copy of the finished video for their own channels.
The six steps that make the ask easy to accept:
- Put it in the contract, not in a text message halfway through the job.
- Name the channels: website, social media, bid packages, trade shows, recruiting.
- Name the exclusions: street address, interior security details, contract value, anyone who has not signed a release.
- Offer the client the finished video for their own use.
- Give them an approval step before anything is published.
- File the signed clause, the releases and the approval email with the project records.
Sample clause (plain language, for your lawyer to adapt):
Project media. The Client permits [Contractor] to photograph and record video of the Project, including progress, completed work and drone footage, and to use that media in [Contractor]’s marketing: website, social media, proposals, bid packages, trade shows and recruiting. [Contractor] will not publish the Project’s street address, interior security features, contract value, or any person who has not signed a separate release. The Client may review any video before publication and request a reasonable change. The Client will receive a copy of the finished video for its own use. The Client may withdraw this permission for future publications by written notice; material already printed or submitted in a bid stays as submitted.
PIPA allows consent to be given “subject to any reasonable terms, conditions or qualifications” set by the individual (section 7(3)). A client who says “yes, but not the front of the house” has given you valid consent. Film to the condition and write it down.
The email that goes with the clause:
Subject: Filming the [project name] for our portfolio: quick OK?
Hi [name], we’d like to document the [project] on video: progress shots, a drone pass over the roof and a short clip of the finished work. We’d use it on our website, social media and in bid packages. No address, no interior security details, and nobody on camera without a signed release. You’d get the finished video for your own channels, and you see it before it goes live. If that works, I’ll add the attached clause to the contract. Thanks, [your name].
If you are a subcontractor, the general contractor’s written OK comes first, and other trades’ crews need their supervisor’s agreement plus individual releases. The site-safety side of bringing a camera onto an active job is covered in what to require from a film crew on a construction site.
What happens if you post worksite footage without consent?
You lose the client, and sometimes the footage and the money spent on it. Privacy regulators have already ruled on this. In a 2014 finding, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada told a videographer to take down a client’s wedding video he had posted to promote his business. His defence was a verbal deal on a discounted rate for portfolio use. It was undocumented, so it did not count as consent.
The same logic applies to a contractor’s reel of a client’s warehouse. The practical risks, in the order we see them:
| Risk | What it costs you | How to prevent it |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy complaint to the Alberta OIPC | Takedown, re-edit, a public finding with your company name on it | Signed releases and a written permission clause |
| Consent withdrawn mid-campaign | Reprinting, re-cutting, pulling paid placements | A clause that says what happens to material already published |
| Breach of a confidentiality clause on an institutional project | Loss of the contract, loss of future prequalification | Read the prime contract before the camera arrives |
| Drone footage over a neighbour’s property | Privacy complaint, plus Transport Canada fines of up to $15,000 for a corporation flying where it is not allowed | Licensed pilot, written flight plan, neighbours’ roofs cropped or blurred |
| A safety breach visible in the clip | Evidence in a dispute, a WCB or OHS conversation you did not plan for | Shot list reviewed by the superintendent before posting |
Under PIPA section 9(1), an individual may at any time, on reasonable notice, withdraw or vary consent, and section 9(2) requires you to tell them the likely consequences. That is why the sample clause above draws a line at material already printed or submitted. On the drone point, Transport Canada’s privacy guidelines for drone users say pilots are responsible for all personal information their drones collect, and that commercial use in Alberta falls under the provincial privacy law rather than PIPEDA. For the flight rules themselves, see drone videography regulations in Canada.
Footage you film for marketing is also footage that can be produced in a dispute, which cuts both ways; video evidence in construction disputes explains what to film and how to store it.
Filming in Calgary: how the studio handles the paperwork
When Storimatic films a project, the permission clause, the releases and the approval step are part of week 1 pre-production on the standard 3-week project, so nothing is chased on shoot day. We work from 118 Waterfront Ct SW in Calgary and shoot across Alberta, with no travel fee inside Calgary. Anything the owner excluded is simply not on the shot list.
What we bring to a client’s project, in order:
- A one-page permission letter for the property owner, or the clause above for your contract.
- Release forms written to PIPA, on paper and as e-sign, for everyone who will be identifiable. Our video testimonial release form guide explains what Alberta requires in each clause.
- Site orientation and PPE for the crew, and a shoot plan that does not slow the trades.
- For aerial work: Founder Jared Ho holds an advanced RPAS licence certified by Transport Canada, and airspace authorization is arranged before each flight where required.
- A private review link before anything is published, so the client’s approval is on record.
At a glance
- Typical length: 90-second hero film plus vertical cutdowns, from one shoot
- Shoot: most construction shoots run 1–2 days
- Timeline: standard project 3 weeks (week 1 pre-production, week 2 shoot, week 3 post-production and delivery)
- Paperwork: owner permission, PIPA releases, flight plan, approval link
- Drone: Founder Jared Ho holds an advanced RPAS licence certified by Transport Canada
One permission, written properly, covers more than the hero film. If the clause names owner updates and recruiting as channels, the same footage can become investor and stakeholder update videos and a construction recruiting video without going back to the client for a second signature.
Permission to film a client’s project: FAQ
Can I post video of a client’s project if the contract says nothing about it? Ask first. Under PIPA section 8(1) consent can be written or oral, so a clear “yes” by email is valid, but a contract clause is easier to prove. Silence is not permission.
Do I need a release from my own crew? Yes, if they are identifiable and the footage is for marketing. Being on payroll is not consent for promotional use. Anyone who declines is framed out or blurred.
Can a client withdraw permission after the video is live? Yes, on reasonable notice, under PIPA section 9(1). You must tell them the likely consequences, and your clause should say what happens to material already printed or submitted in a bid.
Does the client own the video because they paid for the project? No. The client paid for the building, not the footage. Copyright sits with the author of the work under section 13(1) of the Copyright Act, and only a signed written assignment moves it.
Do I need permission to fly a drone over the job site? You need the site owner’s permission, a pilot with the right certificate, and any airspace authorization the location requires. If a neighbour’s yard or roof is in frame, that is a privacy question, so crop it or blur it.
Send us the address
Book a free 15–30 minute call and tell us which project you want on camera. We will send the permission letter and release templates before the call so you can run them past the client the same week. Storimatic Studio is at 118 Waterfront Ct SW, Calgary, and shoots across Alberta. Start at contact us or read more about construction video production in Calgary.
