(4) Availability—How will the repair station ensure that the current manual(s) are available for all shifts?
b. Disk. If the manual is maintained on a disk, the following concerns must be addressed in the procedures:
(1) How will the manual and any subsequent revisions be distributed? How will receipt of the revision be documented?
(2) Is the software used for writing the manual compatible with the software used by all manual holders, including the FAA?
(3) Are all of the manual holders trained on the procedures necessary to access the manual at their workstations?
(4) How can station personnel verify if the disks are current before they use them?
NOTE: Federal law prohibits agencies from making the use of electronic media more difficult or from requiring additional steps or procedures for users of electronic media. Therefore, all repair station document submissions, regardless of the media used, must be accompanied by a cover letter that describes the submission and is signed by an appropriate manager. FAA inspectors will either accept or reject the manual revision.
The FAA inspector will, by letter, inform the repair station of acceptance or rejection. The letter will address the manual title, manual date, and revision number. If the manual is rejected, the FAA inspector will provide a detailed explanation of the deficiencies and advise the repair station not to perform maintenance if the rejected manual procedures are in use.
Par 2-3 Page 13 (and 14)
CHAPTER 3. REPAIR STATION ORGANIZATION CHART
3-1. ORGANIZATION CHART.
a. Reference. Section 145.209(a).
b. Authority. The organization chart identifies (by title only) each management position with authority to act on behalf of the repair station. If the repair station performs work for air carriers or air operators under part 145, § 145.205, and is performing RII, the FAA suggests that the chart reflect the separation between the maintenance and inspection departments.
EXAMPLE EXAMPLE Complex Repair Station Small Repair Station
c. Procedure Details. Ensure that the following concerns are addressed in the manual procedures.
(1) Are the titles and reporting structure for the organization chart appropriate for the facility?
(2) Are the titles for the positions the same throughout the manual?
(3) Is each management position with authority to act on behalf of the repair station identified?
(4) Is an accountable manager designated?
General Manager Repair Station Manager Machinist Supervisor/ Repairman Shipping/ Receiving Quality Manager/Accountable Manager President Human Resource Manager Purchasing Comptroller Inspectors Chief Inspector Owner/President Accountable Manager Technician Chief Inspector Par 3-1 Page 15
3-2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
a. Organization. This section may be combined with the organization chart as one section/chapter of a manual system. If the repair station documents its procedures in a format that includes a Responsibility section in each procedure, it will not need to have a separate Duties and Responsibilities section (see Chapter 1, Sample Procedure Formats 2 and 3).
b. Area of Responsibility. This section includes the area of responsibility assigned to each management position and the duties, responsibilities, and authority of each management position. The repair station must ensure that the duties and responsibilities are appropriate and that the positions exist within the company. Although not required by the regulation, many repair stations choose to include duties and responsibilities beyond the required management personnel. Positions described in the organizational chart should be included in the duties and responsibilities section to ensure consistency.
c. Additional Responsibilities. Duties and responsibilities that are outside the scope of the management, but are part of the regulatory requirements, should be described in this section of the manual. For example, equipment maintenance, approval for return to service, applications for repairmen, and so forth.
NOTE: Only titles, not names, should appear in this section. Titles should be the same as on the organization chart and elsewhere in the manual.
NOTE: Titles used in the following format samples are only examples.
SAMPLE: NARRATIVE FORMAT.
Owner/President: The Owner/President is responsible for the overall operation of (name of the repair station) in accordance with the applicable CFRs. The Owner/President’s duties include maintaining an adequate and knowledgeable staff to plan, perform, supervise, and inspect the work being performed on civil aviation articles. The Owner/President may delegate all duties to the qualified persons as necessary. However, such delegation does not relieve the Owner/President of the overall responsibility.
Page 16 Par 3-2
SAMPLE: OUTLINE/LIST FORMAT.
Quality Manager: The Quality Manager reports to the President and is responsible for managing the repair station quality control system. The duties of the Quality Manager include:
(1) Supervising all inspection personnel.
(2) Maintaining a current file of pertinent technical data, including CFRs, specifications, manufacturer’s maintenance manuals, service bulletins (SB), Airworthiness Directives (AD), and other data acceptable to or approved by the FAA.
(3) Ensuring the proper execution of FAA Form 337, Major Repair and Alteration (Airframe, Powerplant, Propeller, or Appliance), when required.
(4) Etc.
SAMPLE: ISO/INDUSTRY FORMAT.
The duties and responsibilities may be addressed in the management responsibility section of the manual (i.e., section 4.1).
a. The following questions or concerns are offered as a guide and are intended to help the facility initiate the procedures in its RSM. They should not be considered all-inclusive. Each facility is unique and therefore may require additional procedures to verify regulatory requirements and the needs of the repair station.
(1) Do the duties and responsibilities include the areas of responsibility assigned to each management position?
(2) Do the duties and responsibilities indicate the reporting structure (to what other position does each report)?
(3) Does the narrative describe the job function(s) that person performs (i.e., calibration, training, personnel management)?
(4) Do the procedures ensure that the duties and responsibilities of supervisory and inspection personnel are performed in their absence?
(5) Does the manual have a procedure to determine if a supervisor or inspector is qualified for any delegated duties?
b. Consider the following when assigning duties and responsibilities within the repair station:
(1) Is each supervisor certificated?
(2) Do the inspectors understand, read, and write English?
(3) Are persons with approval for return to service authority certificated?
Par 3-2 Page 17 (and 18)
CHAPTER 4. REPAIR STATION AND QUALITY CONTROL MANUAL ELEMENTS
4-1. REPAIR STATION PERSONNEL ROSTER.
a. References:
• Section 145.161, and
• Section 145.209(b).
b. Authorized Personnel. Personnel rosters are lists of individuals within the repair station who are authorized to perform certain functions, such as approval for return to service or signing off required inspection items, or that hold certain management and supervisory positions. These lists can be maintained in paper or electronic format, but must be accessible for review and inspection by the FAA.
c. Roster Format. The repair station must maintain a personnel roster or rosters that list managers, supervisors, inspectors, including RII inspectors, and those individuals authorized to approve an article for return to service. Each repair station may develop its own roster format, as long as it contains all of the appropriate names.
d. Manual Inclusion. The rosters do not need to be included in the manual, but the procedures for maintaining and revising the rosters must be in the manual. If the rosters are not included in the manual, the procedure should describe where the rosters would be located. The procedure must describe how the roster will be changed within 5 business days of the termination, reassignment, change in duties or scope of assignment, or addition of any personnel.
e. Combination Roster. It may be appropriate for the repair station to develop a combination roster, which would include initials, signatures, stamp numbers, certificate numbers, or any other information used to designate the authority of inspection or supervisory personnel who can sign/stamp off work documents or approve articles for return to service.
f. Employment Summaries. The repair station must also maintain employment summaries for each person whose name appears on the rosters. Employment summaries of supervisors, inspectors, and persons responsible for return to service may be in the national language for repair stations located outside the United States. Such repair stations should describe in their manuals how they would provide the FAA with an English version of employee summaries. The requirements for content of the employment summaries are found in § 145.161(a)(4).
g. Roster Procedures. The following questions should be answered during development of the procedures concerning the rosters:
(1) Who is responsible (by title) for maintaining the rosters in current condition? Has an alternate been designated?
(2) Where will the rosters be located?
Par 4-1 Page 19
(3) How will the rosters be revised within 5 business days?
(4) Is authority to approve an article for return to service shown on the rosters? Who is responsible for designating those individuals, and how are those individuals designated?
(5) Are the managers, supervisors, inspectors, and persons authorized to approve articles for return to service all listed on the rosters?
(6) Are the supervisors certificated, and with what type of certificate if located outside the United States?
(7) Are the persons authorized to approve articles for return to service certificated?
(Each person authorized to approve articles for return to service must be certificated under part 65, unless located outside the United States.)
(8) Are there employment summaries for each person on the roster?
h. Examples. The following are examples of possible roster formats.
EXAMPLE 1 Name and Title Certificate Type and Number Signature and Initials Stamp Authorization
John Smith Chief Inspector A&P 12345678 A, B, C 2 JOHN SMITH, JS Jane Doe Receiving Inspector Repairman 789654321 B 4 Jane Doe, JD David Goodeye Final Inspector Repairman 456789123
A, C Etc.
6 David Goodeye, DG
Explanation of Authorization:
A—Authorized to approve articles for return to service B—Authorized to sign for a specific inspection C—Authorized to sign for in-process and final inspection Page 20 Par 4-1
EXAMPLE 2 Section: III Date Completed: 11/13/2001 Revision No. 1 Personnel Title: Chief Inspector/Repairman Authorized Signature: Kyle R. Bowman FAA Airman Certificate Held: Repairman No. 123456789 Authorized to Sign: Log books and other approvals for return to service, Malfunction and Defect Reports EXAMPLE 3 John Smith Component Repair, Inc.
Effective Date: 11/13/2001 Supervisory and Inspection Personnel Roster TITLE NAME CERT. TYPE & NO. AUTHORITY CEO John Smith N/A N/A Q.C. Manager Jane Smith Repairman 1234567 FPI, Machining Foreman Dan Jones Repairman 98765432 Machining, Cleaning Chief Inspector David Jones N/A N/A
4-2. OPERATIONS, HOUSING, FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND MATERIALS.
a. References:
• Part 43, and
• Sections 145.101 through 145.109.
b. Operations. This section of the manual should include a general description of the repair station operations. The manual should describe how the repair station operates, from receiving an article for maintenance to approval for return to service. The description could be in a narrative, flowchart, or other format. Any/all standard operating procedures developed for the facility could be included, such as contract/purchase order review, human resources, equipment and facilities maintenance, technical data, document control, and so forth.
c. Housing and Facilities. This section should include a description of the housing and facilities, and a drawing showing the floor plan of the facility. The drawing could include the entrance(s), parking areas, and street locations. The drawing and description may include the type of heating, lighting, equipment location, shop areas, electrical, and compressed air outlets.
Par 4-1 Page 21
A description of any facilities used for spray painting, avionics, engine or airframe repair, or any other work that would have special requirements should be included.
d. Equipment and Materials.
(1) The repair station must have the equipment, tools, and materials necessary to perform the maintenance in accordance with part 43. The equipment, tools, and materials must be located on the premises and under the repair station’s control when the work is being done.
Some of this equipment may be very expensive and the repair station may rarely use it. If the repair station does not own the equipment and it is not kept at the facility, the manual must describe how the equipment is obtained (i.e., lease, rental, etc.). The manual should also describe the procedure for ensuring the equipment is on the premises and under the repair station’s control at the time the work is being performed.
(2) This section of the manual should also describe where the equipment is likely to be used and how the repair station will comply with special handling requirements for sensitive tools and equipment. Some test benches and special equipment may require calibration/verification after relocation. This section of the manual should describe how the repair station ensures that required calibration/verification is performed before using the equipment to perform maintenance or alteration on civil aviation articles. The RSM should identify which department is responsible for calibrating leased tools and equipment.
(3) The RSM must include a description of the equipment used to perform maintenance.
For example, if the facility includes a machining area, then a generic description of the types of machines located in that area should be included in the manual. The description should not be so specific that updating equipment would result in a manual revision. The equipment, tools, and materials must be those recommended by the manufacturer of the article or must be at least equivalent to those recommended by the manufacturer and accepted by the FAA. The repair station may refer to a list of equipment maintained for other purposes, such as a list kept by the accounting department for tax purposes. The list must be available for review by the FAA.
The list need not include the cost of the equipment or any other financial or business information.
e. Equivalent Tools and Equipment.
NOTE: This section is not intended to discuss industry standard tools and equipment (i.e., wrenches, multimeters, sockets, etc.) that are manufactured to a recognized industry standard.
(1) If the repair station will be using equipment, tools, or materials other than those recommended by the manufacturer, the manual must explain the procedure it will use for determining equivalency of equipment, tools, and materials. To determine equivalency, compare the technical requirements of the special equipment or test apparatus recommended by the manufacturer with the proposed replacements. The equipment or test apparatus may look different, be made of different materials, be a different color, and so forth. However, the equipment or test apparatus must be capable of performing all necessary tests and checking all required parameters of the articles. The level of accuracy should be equal to or better than that Page 22 Par 4-2
recommended by the manufacturer of the equipment/tools. Reverse engineering must include the data, drawings, testing, or reports necessary to determine that the article is equivalent to the article recommended by the manufacturer. The basis of equivalency is the requirement that the article meet the manufacturer’s standards and specifications in all respects regarding tolerances, repeatability, and accuracy. Repair stations should review the specific requirements of part 43 before developing equivalent tools and equipment.
(2) Standard industry practice establishes that each piece of special equipment or test apparatus have a unique part number and serial number to identify it within the repair station’s inventory system. Whether the equipment or apparatus is obtained from the manufacturer or produced by the repair station, it should be identified in the system for calibration and tracking purposes.
(3) The following questions or concerns are offered as a guide and are intended to help initiate the procedures for describing the housing, facilities, and equipment in the manual(s).
They should not be considered all-inclusive. Each facility is unique and therefore may require additional procedures to verify regulatory requirements and needs of the repair station.
(a) Does the manual include a description of how the repair station operates?
(b) Does the manual include a drawing of the housing, identifying the various work facilities within the building(s) and giving a narrative description of the construction of the housing and facilities?
(c) Does the description and/or layout identify areas with special requirements?
(d) Does the description include a generic overview of the equipment?
(e) When leasing or renting equipment, does the manual contain procedures describing the lease/rent process and who is responsible for managing the program, including the required calibration/verifications?
(f) How does the repair station ensure that the equipment is in place and under the facility’s control when the work is performed?
(g) If the repair station is using special equipment or tools other than those recommended by the manufacturer, does the manual include procedures for determining equivalency?
(h) Does the manual include a description of the stock room/area, how inventory is requisitioned for particular jobs, and how shelf life inventory is maintained?
4-3. CAPABILITY LIST.
a. References:
• Section 145.209(d), and Par 4-2 Page 23
• Section 145.215.
b. Capability List. A certificated repair station with a limited rating may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations on an article if it is listed on a current capability list acceptable to the FAA or on the repair station’s OpSpecs. If the repair station chooses to use a capability list, the RSM must:
(1) Contain procedures for revising the list and notifying the CHDO;
(2) Include how often the CHDO will be notified of revisions;
(3) Contain the procedures for the self-evaluation required under § 145.215(c) for revising the capability list;
(4) Describe the methods and frequency of such evaluations; and
(5) Contain the procedures for reporting the results to the appropriate manager for review and action.
c. Revising the List. The capability list itself may be included as a part of the RSM or as a separate document; however, the procedures for revising the list and for performing the self-evaluation must be in the manual.
d. Self-Evaluation.
(1) The individual performing the self-evaluation required under § 145.215(c) should have the following qualifications:
(a) Experience with performing evaluations (or audits if that is the method selected by the repair station).
(b) An understanding of the requirements of part 145.
(c) Knowledge of the maintenance requirements for the particular make/model of article to be added to the list.
(2) The individual should follow the procedures in the RSM, using the checklists, working documents, and forms to record the self-evaluation. The checklists and forms may need to be customized for each self-evaluation. The self-evaluation should ensure that the repair station has the following:
(a) The appropriate limited rating.
(b) Adequate housing and facilities.
(c) Recommended tools, equipment, and materials, or equivalent.
(d) Current technical data.
Page 24 Par 4-3