[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11759-11760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5926]


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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: [email protected].

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]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M