M.B.702 Initial approval

1.‘Formally indicate in writing’ means that an EASA Form 4 (Appendix X to AMC M.B.602(a) and AMC M.B.702(a)) should be used for this activity. With the exception of the accountable manager, an EASA Form 4 should be completed for each person nominated to hold a position required by M.A.706(c), (d) and M.A.707.

2.In the case of the accountable manager, approval of the continuing airworthiness management exposition containing the accountable manager’s signed commitment statement constitutes formal acceptance, once the authority has held a meeting with the accountable manager and is satisfied with its results.

1.The competent authority should indicate approval of the continuing airworthiness management exposition in writing.

2.Contracts for sub-contracting continuing airworthiness management tasks by CAMOs should be included in the continuing airworthiness organisation exposition. The competent authorities should verify that the standards set forth in AMC M.A.711(a)(3) have been met when approving the exposition.

3.The competent authority while investigating the acceptability of the proposed subcontracted continuing airworthiness management tasks arrangements will take into account, in the subcontracted organisation, all other such contracts that are in place irrespective of state of registry in terms of sufficiency of resources, expertise, management structure, facilities and liaison between the CAMO, the subcontracted organisation and, where applicable, the contracted maintenance organisation(s).

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

2.The audit may be carried out on a product line type basis. For example, in the case of an organisation with Airbus A320 and Airbus A310 ratings, the audit is concentrated on one type only for a full compliance check. Dependent upon the result, the second type may only require a sample check that should at least cover the activities identified as weak for the first type.

3.When 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. approval to carry out airworthiness reviews.

4.The competent authority auditing surveyor should always ensure that he/she is accompanied throughout the audit by a senior technical member of the organisation. Normally this is the quality manager. The reason for being accompanied is to ensure the organisation is fully aware of any findings during the audit.

5.The auditing surveyor should inform the senior technical member of the organisation at the end of the audit visit on all findings made during the audit.

1.Findings should be recorded on an audit report form with a provisional categorisation as a level 1 or 2. Subsequent to the audit visit that identified the particular findings, the competent authority should review the provisional finding levels, adjusting them if necessary and change the categorisation from ‘provisional’ to ‘confirmed’.

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

3.There may be occasions when the competent authority finds situations in the applicant's organisation on which it is unsure about compliance. In this case, the organisation should be informed about possible non-compliance at the time and 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 will suffice.

1.The audit report form should be the EASA Form 13 (Appendix VII).

2.A quality review of the EASA Form 13 audit report should be carried out by a competent independent person nominated by the competent authority. The review should take into account the relevant paragraphs of M.A. Subpart G, the categorisation of finding levels and the closure action taken. Satisfactory review of the audit form should be indicated by a signature on the EASA Form 13.

The audit reports should include the date each finding was cleared together with reference to the competent authority report or letter that confirmed the clearance.