145.A.10 Scope

LINE MAINTENANCE AND BASE MAINTENANCE

(a)‘Line maintenance’ refers to limited maintenance for the aircraft suitable to be carried out whilst the aircraft remains in the air operation environment. Line maintenance may include: trouble shooting; defect rectification; component replacement with use of external test equipment if required. Component replacement may include components such as engines and propellers; maintenance that will detect obvious unsatisfactory conditions/discrepancies/malfunctions, but does not require extensive in-depth inspection. It may also include internal structure, systems and powerplant items which are visible through quick opening access panels/doors/ports; repairs, modifications and other maintenance tasks which do not require extensive disassembly and can be accomplished by simple means.

(b)‘Base maintenance’ refers to any maintenance for the aircraft other than line maintenance.

(c)Organisations maintaining aircraft should have a procedure to determine whether the tasks or groups of tasks to be carried out fall under the line maintenance or base maintenance scope of the organisation, with due regard to the expected duration of the maintenance, number and type of tasks, shifts and disciplines involved, work environment, etc. For temporary or occasional cases, the organisation may also have a procedure which allows, subject to a task assessment (including all relevant aspects and conditions), to conduct a base maintenance task under line maintenance environment.

(d)In particular, maintenance tasks of aircraft subject to ‘progressive’ or ‘equalised’ maintenance programmes should be individually assessed in respect of such procedure to ensure that all the tasks within the particular check can be carried out safely and to the required standards at the designated line maintenance station.

SMALL ORGANISATIONS This Guidance Material (GM) provides guidance on how the following small organisations satisfy the intent of Part-145:

(a)Organisations that only employ one person, who carries out the certification function and other functions, and that are approved under Part-145 may use the alternatives provided below limited to the following terms of approval: Class A2 Base and line maintenance of aeroplanes of 5 700 kg maximum take-off mass (MTOM) or less (with piston engines only) Class A3 Base and line maintenance of single-engined helicopters of 3 175 kg MTOM or less Class A4 Aircraft other than A1, A2 and A3 aircraft Class B2 Piston engines with maximum output of less than 450 HP Class C Components Class D1 Non-destructive testing 145.A.30(b): The minimum requirement is for one full-time person who meets the Part-66 requirements for certifying staff and holds the position of ‘accountable manager, safety manager, maintenance engineer and is also certifying staff and, if applicable, airworthiness review staff’. No other person may issue a certificate of release to service and therefore if that person is absent, no maintenance may be released during such absence.

(1)The independent audit element of the compliance monitoring function of point 145.A.200(a)(6) may be subcontracted to an appropriate organisation approved under Part-145 or contracted to a person with appropriate technical knowledge and extensive experience of audits, working under the management system of the organisation, with the agreement of the competent authority. Note: ‘Full-time’ for the purpose of Part-145 means not less than 35 hrs per week except during vacation periods.

(2)145.A.35. In the case of an approval based on one person using an independent audit monitoring arrangement as referred to in point (1), the requirement for a record of certifying staff is satisfied by the submission to and acceptance by the competent authority of the MOE. With only one person, the requirement for a separate record of authorisation is unnecessary because the EASA Form 3 certificate defines the authorisation. An appropriate statement, to reflect this situation, should be included in the exposition.

(3)145.A.200(a)(6). It is the responsibility of the organisation or person referred to in point (1) to make a minimum of two on-site audits every year, and it is the responsibility of this organisation or person to carry out these activities on the basis of one pre-announced visit and one unannounced visit to the maintenance organisation. It is the responsibility of the Part-145 organisation to ensure that effective implementation of all corrective actions takes place.

(b)Recommended operating procedure for a Part-145 organisation based upon up to 10 persons involved in maintenance.

(1)145.A.30(b) and 145.A.30(c): The normal minimum requirement is for the employment on a full-time basis of two persons who meet the applicable requirements for certifying staff, whereby one holds the position of ‘maintenance engineer’ and the other holds the position of ‘compliance monitoring engineer’. Either person can assume the responsibilities of the accountable manager and safety manager provided that they can comply in full with the applicable elements of points 145.A.30(a) and 145.A.30(ca), but the ‘maintenance engineer’ is the certifying person in order to retain the independence of the ‘compliance monitoring engineer’ to carry out audits. Nothing prevents either engineer from undertaking maintenance tasks provided that the ‘maintenance engineer’ issues the certificate of release to service. This ‘maintenance engineer’ may also be nominated as airworthiness review staff to carry out airworthiness reviews and to issue the corresponding airworthiness review certificate for aircraft for which Part-ML applies in accordance with ML.A.903. The ‘compliance monitoring engineer’ should have similar qualifications and status to the ‘maintenance engineer’ for reasons of credibility, unless he/she has a proven track record in aircraft compliance monitoring, in which case some reduction in the extent of his or her maintenance qualifications may be permitted. In cases where the competent authority agrees that it is not practical for the organisation to nominate a person responsible for the independent audit of the compliance monitoring function, this element may be arranged in accordance with point (a)(1).