[Federal Register: March 12, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 48)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 11759-11760]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12mr03-14]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Parts 21, 43 and 145
Performing Work on Products and/or Parts That Have Left a
Production Approval Holder's (PAH's) Quality System
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of policy statement; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Production and Airworthiness Division (AIR-200) and the
Aircraft Maintenance Division (AFS-300) propose to formally adopt
policy regarding who is authorized to perform work on products and/or
parts that have left a PAH's quality system.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 12, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara A. Capron, Aircraft
Certification Service, Production and Airworthiness Division,
Production Certification Branch, AIR-210, Room 815, 800 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-3343; fax (202)
267-5580; e-mail: barbara.capron@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites interested parties to comment on this notice of
policy statement. Please submit comments to the above address. The FAA
will consider all comments received by the closing date before issuing
a final policy statement.
Background
Part 21 Applicability
Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 21
Certification Procedures for Products and Parts (part 21) defines the
regulations for the portion of the aviation industry that supports the
design and manufacture of aviation products and parts. This includes
the requirements for the issue of type certificates and changes to
those certificates; the issue of production certificates (PCs); the
issue of airworthiness certificates; the issue of export airworthiness
approvals; the rules governing the holder of any of these certificates,
and procedural requirements for the approval of certain materials,
parts, processes, and appliances.
Part 43 Applicability
14 CFR Part 43 Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding and
Alteration (part 43) defines regulations for the portion of the
aviation industry that supports continued airworthiness standards, or
more specifically those that maintain the airworthiness status of
products and parts. It describes rules governing the maintenance,
preventive maintenance, rebuilding and alteration of any aircraft
having a U.S. airworthiness certificate; foreign-registered civil
aircraft used in common carriage or carriage of mail under the
provisions of 14 CFR part 121 or 135; and airframe, aircraft engines,
propellers, appliances, and component parts of such aircraft. Part 43
does not apply to any aircraft for which an experimental airworthiness
certificate has been issued, unless a different kind of airworthiness
certificate had previously been issued for that aircraft.
For products and parts that have already met the applicability
requirements of part 43, Sec. 43.3(j) authorizes a manufacturer to
rebuild or alter (emphasis added) any aircraft, aircraft engine,
propeller, appliance, or part manufactured by him under a type or PC,
Technical Standard Order (TSO) Authorization, an FAA Parts Manufacturer
Approval (PMA), or Product and Process Specification. Any maintenance,
preventive maintenance and alterations are not included in the
authority of Sec. 43.3(j).
Part 145 Applicability
Part 145, Subpart D, Limited Ratings for Manufacturers, permits
certain manufacturers to obtain, without further showing, a repair
station certificate with a limited rating under Part 145. The FAA
considered that the standards met by a manufacturer to obtain a PC,
approved production inspection system (APIS), or other approved quality
control system, provided a level of safety equivalent to that achieved
under the standards applicable to a certificated repair station with a
limited rating. This has permitted the holder of a limited rating for
manufacturers to maintain and approve for return to service any article
for which it is rated, and perform preventive maintenance on that
article if certificated mechanics and repairmen are employed directly
in charge of the maintenance and preventive maintenance in accordance
with current Sec. 145.103.
Elimination of the Limited Rating for Manufacturers
As proposed in Notice No. 99-09 (66 FR 41117, August 6, 2001) the
FAA is eliminating the limited rating for manufacturers because
maintenance practices and aircraft technologies have evolved since the
establishment of limited ratings for manufacturers, and the FAA has
determined that all repair facilities' systems for inspection,
recordkeeping, and quality control should be consistent. These
regulatory changes should also ensure uniform FAA surveillance
activities.
Part 145 Regulatory Change
Effective April 6, 2003, Manufacturer Maintenance Facilities will
no longer be permitted. Under the revised 14 CFR part 145, existing
MMFs will be required to have a limited repair station rating under
Sec. 145.61 if they choose to continue exercising similar privileges.
Need To Define Part 21 vs. Part 43 Activities
A production approval holder (PAH) is a person who holds a PC,
APIS, a PMA, or a TSO authorization that controls the design and
quality of a product or part thereof. For many years, products and/or
parts have been shipped from suppliers to PAHs, between PAHs, and from
PAHs to airlines, repair stations, distributors, etc. This notice is
designed to clarify at what point a supplier or PAH may no longer
perform work on its product under part 21, and when that work must be
performed by an appropriately certificated person under part 43, part
93, part 145, or any of the operating rules of 14 CFR Subchapter G, Air
Carriers and Operations for Compensation or Hire: Certification and
Operations.
Part 21 applies to new products or parts that remain under the
control of a PAH. Any work performed on those products or parts while
under the control of the PAH's quality system is to be accomplished in
accordance with that system. However, once the products or parts leave
that quality system, any work performed would be in accordance with
part 43.
Part 43 applies to: (1) Aircraft having a U.S. airworthiness
certificate; (2) Foreign-registered civil aircraft used in common
carriage or carriage of mail under the provisions of part 121 or 135 of
this chapter; and (3) Airframe, aircraft engines, propellers,
appliances, and component parts of such aircraft. This indicates that
any work performed on an article before it meets the applicability
requirements of part 43 would not have
[[Page 11760]]
to be accomplished in accordance with part 43.
Discussion
In an effort to better define where the regulatory authority of
part 21 ends and the regulatory authority of part 43 begins, the
Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) for part 21 suggested
incorporating new language into part 21 that would clarify a
manufacturer's authority to maintain products and parts that do not
meet part 43 applicability requirements, i.e., new products and parts
that have not yet left the PAH's quality system. This work would be
done without the need for a repairman or mechanic certificate, and
would not be considered to be maintenance as it pertains to part 43.
Currently, aviation authorities such as Transport Canada and the Joint
Aviation Authorities allow this. Rather than initiate a lengthy rule
change to accommodate ARAC's recommendation, AFS and AIR are providing
the following clarification:
Products or parts that leave a PAH or supplier (either foreign or
domestic) and go to a PAH for incorporation into a higher level
product/part (e.g. fuel control unit incorporated into an engine; or an
engine incorporated into an aircraft) for which that PAH controls the
type design must have work performed in accordance with the higher
level of PAH's quality system regardless of who performs the work.
Conditions are as follows:
(1) The supplier or PAH working on the product or part must have
the appropriate design data to ensure that the product or part
continues to conform to its type design.
(2) The PAH incorporating the product or part must have an approved
system in place (e.g., quality control system, material review board,
configuration control, etc.) that defines how work is performed and
documented. If the product or part is worked on by the supplier, it
must then be accepted through the PAH's quality system.
(3) If the PAH incorporating the product or part chooses to work on
it, the work must be accomplished by authorized personnel who are
familiar with the product's or part's complexities.
(4) If a product or part has moved through several suppliers or
PAHs during its assembly, the PAH that is incorporating the product or
part into its type design must determine which of those organizations
is the appropriate one to work on the product or part based on the
above conditions.
Products or parts that leave a PAH's quality system and are
delivered to an airline, repair station, distributor, etc., are
intended to be installed on a higher assembly that has already met the
applicability requirements of part 43. Therefore, any maintenance,
preventive maintenance, or alterations on such articles will be
performed by persons authorized under part 43.
Summary
Effective April 6, 2003, products or parts that leave a PAH or
supplier (either foreign or domestic) and go to a PAH for incorporation
into a higher level product/part for which that PAH controls the type
design must have work performed in accordance with the higher level
PAH's quality system under part 21.
Products or parts shipped to airlines, repair stations,
distributors, etc., after leaving a PAH's approved quality system must
be maintained in accordance with part 43. Any used products or parts
returned to the manufacturer must be maintained in accordance with part
43 under the provisions of the new Sec. 145.61. Any used products or
parts installed on new production aircraft must have been maintained in
accordance with part 43 prior to their installation. As noted in Notice
Number 99-09, the FAA will give full consideration to the part 21
quality control system established by the manufacturer when it applies
for the Sec. 145.61, Limited rating under new Sec. 145.51,
Application for certificate.
Frank P. Paskiewicz,
Manager, Production and Airworthiness Division, AIR-200.
[FR Doc. 03-5926 Filed 3-11-03; 8:45 am]
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