Recommendation

Legislation relating to the approval of a maintenance facility
is outlined in Civil Aviation Regulation (CAR) (1988) 30.

1. A person engaged, or intending to engage, in any stage of
design, distribution or maintenance of aircraft, aircraft
components or aircraft materials, or in the training of candidates
for, or in the conducting of, the examinations referred to in
paragraph 31 (4) (e) may apply to CASA for a certificate of
approval in respect of those activities.

2. An application must be in writing and must:

(a) set out the following:

(i) a statement of the activities to be covered by the
certificate;

(H) the address of the main place (if any) at which the applicant
proposes to carry out those activities;

(Hi) the number of appropriately qualified or experienced persons
employed by the applicant who will be involved in carrying out
those activities; and

(b) have with it evidence of:

(i) the relevant qualifications and experience of the applicant and
the applicant's employees; and

(H) the facilities and equipment available to the applicant for the
carrying out of the activities; and

(Hi) the arrangements made to ensure the applicant has, and will
continue to receive, information necessary for the carrying out of
those activities; and

(iv) a system of quality control that satisfies the requirements of
subregulation (20); and

(c) if maintenance of class A aircraft is an activity to be covered
by the

certificate -have with it a copy of the procedures manual, in which
the system of quality control procedures must be set out, that the
applicant proposes to use if the certificate of approval is
granted.

When an application is made the following criteria is required to
be addressed to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (20) of CAR
30:

(20) In deciding whether it is satisfied as mentioned in
subregulation (2A), CASA must have regard to:

(a) the relevant qualifications and experience of the applicant and
the applicant's employees; and

(b) the facilities and equipment available to the applicant for the
carrying out of those activities; and

(c) the arrangements made to ensure the applicant has, and will
continue to receive, the information necessary for the carrying out
of those activities; and

(d) the applicant's system of quality control; and

(e) if the applicant is required by paragraph (2) (c) to have a
procedures manual- the applicant's procedures manual.

In order to comply with this legislation, CASA inspectors are
required to utilise the Certificate of Approval Procedures
Manual.

The current process requires that applicants make an initial
application to the CASA Service Centre, who will co-ordinate the
application process, before forwarding the application to the
appropriate Area Office for assessment. It is at this point that
detailed assessment of the organisations procedures, facilities,
equipment, technical data and qualified personnel is
performed.

The COA Procedures Manual Assessment Procedures states that:

"Discretionary powers are provided under CAR 30(28) and these
should be fully utilised by the Inspector to achieve and maintain a
high standard of quality and competence among new applicants. The
aim of the assessment is to ensure that the applicant achieves the
highest practical standard within the regulatory framework...

Standards generally tend to erode, rather than improve, after
approval is granted. The principal aim when assessing applications
should be to ensure that the applicant achieves the highest
possible standard before approval is granted. A firm but tactful
insistence on the required standard for the facilities, equipment,
technical data and qualified personnel should be applied.

The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that the applicant's
facilities, including mobile facilities, equipment and resources
are suitable for carrying out those activities to which the
application relates."

Section 3.1.2 of the COA Procedures Manual.outlines the scope of
the assessment process and requires the inspector to:

.Obtain and review any CASA records relating to the applicant's
history .Peruse documents submitted

.Become aware of any mandatory requirements applicable to the
applicant's activities

.Perform an assessment of the applicant's: 0 Facilities and
resources

0 Data and documentation 0 Tools and equipment 0 Premises

0 System of certification,

.Interview appropriate persons, and:



Also consider the applicant organisation's airworthiness control
and the ability to: .Implement the requirements of Airworthiness
Directives, modifications and

special inspections

.Schedule maintenance tasks .Report service difficulties

.Authorise personnel for maintenance, training and certification
tasks .Review technical instructions

.Carry out all repairs and modifications to approved specifications
.Control contractors.

Clearly, the COA Procedures Manual requires the assessing inspector
to apply discretionary powers to ensure that the highest standards
are applied when performing an assessment for initial issue of a
Certificate of Approval.

Although no specific requirements appears to exist with regard to
assessing whether an organisation has adequate personnel, the
assessing inspector is required to apply his discretionary powers.
The periodic inspections performed by Compliance staff are used to
assess such matters on an ongoing basis, and are reported on a six
monthly cycle using the Safety Trend Indicator (STI) form.

Similarly, no process seems to be evident in identifying priority
areas in entry control. Rather, all areas are required to be at the
highest standard prior to approval. The assessing inspector is
required to consider the applicant airworthiness control and
consider his ability to implement the requirements of Airworthiness
Directives, modifications and special inspections.

The entry control process procedures are written to ensure that the
assessing inspector uses his discretionary powers to ensure
compliance at the highest possible level from the time of
certificate issue. CASA then relies on regular surveillance and
compliance action to ensure that these standards are
maintained.

Additionally the legislation firmly places the responsibility of
ensuring that maintenance, including Airworthiness Directives, on
the Certificate of Registration (CoR) holder. The Licenced Aircraft
Maintenance Engineer (LAME) or Certificate of Approval (CoA) holder
is responsible for ensuring that the maintenance is correctly
performed and certified.

C In addition to the information provided above, I am advised that
Chapters 4.11 and 5.2 of the Surveillance Procedures Manual (SPM),
provides guidance to staff on identifying priority areas when
scoping surveillance tasks.

Furthermore, the CASA Airline Operations Branch has drafted
guidance material for inspectors that allows them to identify
priority areas from audit findings in the form of the CGI Handbook.
Additionally, Compliance Management Instruction (CMI) 3/66, which
relates to the Airline Operations Regulatory Oversight Program
enables further developments during 2004/05.