145.B.310 Initial certification procedure

VERIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE

(a)In order to verify the organisation’s compliance with the applicable requirements, the competent authority should conduct an audit of the organisation, including interviews of the personnel, and inspections carried out at the organisation’s facilities.

(b)The competent authority should only conduct such an audit if it is satisfied that the application and the supporting documentation, including the results of the pre-audit performed by the organisation, are in compliance with the applicable requirements.

(c)The audit should focus on the following areas:

(1)the detailed management structure, including the names and qualifications of personnel as required by points (a), (b), (c) and (ca) of point 145.A.30, and the adequacy of the organisation and its management structure;

(2)the personnel:

(i)the adequacy of the number of staff, and of their qualifications and experience with regard to the intended terms of approval and the associated privileges;

(ii)the validity of any licences and/or authorisations, as applicable;

(3)the processes used for safety risk management and compliance monitoring;

(4)the facilities and their adequacy regarding the organisation’s scope of work;

(5)the documentation based on which the certificate should be granted (i.e. the documentation required by Part-145):

(i)verification that the procedures specified in the MOE comply with the applicable requirements; and

(ii)verification that the accountable manager has signed the exposition statement.

(d)If an application for an organisation certificate is refused, the applicant should be informed of the right of appeal that exists under national law.

AUDIT

(a)The competent authority should determine how and by whom the audit shall be conducted. For example, it will be necessary to determine whether one large team audit, a short series of small team audits, or a long series of single inspector audits is most appropriate for the particular situation.

(b)The audit may be structured so as to verify the organisation’s processes related to a product line. For example, in the case of an organisation with Airbus A310 and A320 ratings, the audit should concentrate on the maintenance processes of one aircraft type only for a full compliance check, and depending upon the result, the second aircraft type may only require a sample check against those aspects that were seen to be weak regarding compliance for the first type.

(c)In determining the scope of the audit and which activities of the organisation will be assessed during the audit, the privileges of the approved organisation should be taken into account, e.g. their approval to carry out airworthiness reviews.

(d)Competent authority auditing inspectors should always ensure that they are accompanied throughout the audit by a senior member of the organisation, who is normally the compliance monitoring manager. The reason for being accompanied is to ensure that the organisation is fully aware of any findings raised during the audit.

(e)At the end of the audit, the auditing inspector should inform the senior member of the organisation of all the findings that were raised during the audit.

There may be occasions when the competent authority inspector is unsure about the compliance of some aspects of the organisation applying for the initial issue of a certificate. If this occurs, the inspector should inform the organisation about the possible non-compliance at the time, and about the fact that the situation will be reviewed within the competent authority before a decision is made. If the review concludes that there is no finding, then a verbal confirmation to the organisation should suffice.

(a)The audit should be recorded using the audit report EASA Form 6 (Appendix II to AMC2 145.B.310(c)).

(b)A review of the EASA Form 6 audit report form should be carried out by a competent independent person nominated by the competent authority. A satisfactory review of the audit report should be indicated by a signature on the EASA Form 6.

(c)The audit reports should include the date when each finding was closed, together with a reference to the closure actions.

All findings should be confirmed in writing to the applicant organisation within 2 weeks of the on-site audit.