Part-145 Certifying and Support Staff

The people who sign for the work

This page is who is nominated above that signature, and the certifying staff for line maintenance and for base maintenance.

The accountable manager and nominated persons

The accountable manager shall nominate a person or group of persons under point 145.A.30(b), point 145.A.30(c) and point 145.A.30(ca): the maintenance functions, the compliance monitoring function, and the effective safety management processes.

Certifying staff and support staff

Point 1 of 145.A.35(a) is support staff: category B1, B2, B2L, B3 and/or L, in a base maintenance environment, while not necessarily holding certification privileges. Point 3 is the certification authorisation. Point 145.A.35(b) is the basic categories or subcategories and, except for the category A licence, any type rating listed on the aircraft maintenance licence. The cases in points 145.A.30(j) and 66.A.20(a)3(ii) are excepted; the assessment and one-off sections below address the relevant routes without setting out every exception. The licence itself is the Part-66 series.

Assessment evidence before issue or reissue

Use the Avioverse Certifying staff authorisation assessment form to collect evidence for the intended duties and record the assessor's conclusion. Under 145.A.35(f), the organisation assesses competence, qualifications and capability under its MOE procedure before issue or reissue, except for the unforeseen cases in 145.A.30(j)(5). A scope extension still needs evidence for the additional duties; a previous assessment or a good average score is not an automatic exemption.

145.A.35(c) requires certifying and support staff to have at least six months of actual relevant aircraft or component maintenance experience in any consecutive two-year period. It defines that experience through work in a maintenance environment and exercising authorisation privileges and/or actually maintaining at least some of the type or group systems in the authorisation. Point (d) separately requires sufficient recurrent training in each two-year period, covering relevant technologies, organisation procedures and safety management, including human factors. Record the period, the activities and the evidence; employment dates alone do not show the experience described by point (c).

Why the assessment form asks what it asks

Identity, existing scope and intended duties establish what the assessor is assessing. Licence validity, applicable ratings and qualification-route evidence support the conditions in 145.A.35(a)–(b); the age check reflects the minimum of 21 in point (l). Where an exception is used, identify it and check all its applicable conditions rather than treating the form selection as proof of eligibility.

Task training and practical experience distinguish two routes. Under 145.A.35(m), a category A licence holder needs the relevant aircraft task training, with practical and appropriate theoretical content and examination or workplace assessment. Point (n) separately covers the B2 privilege in 66.A.20(a)(3)(ii): relevant category A task training and assessment by the issuing maintenance organisation, plus six months of documented practical experience covering the intended scope within that organisation. Do not apply that B2 condition as a universal category A requirement.

Relevant knowledge, training and work evidence support 145.A.35(a), (c) and (d). Safety-management and human-factors competence is also covered by 145.A.30(e); point (f) addresses qualifications for non-destructive testing and other specialised tasks, with its stated exception. The form's prompts on wiring, fuel-tank safety, differences and similar-aircraft evidence help assess the actual duties. They do not establish universal courses or renewal intervals for those subjects.

Competence ratings, evidence and development needs make the judgement under 145.A.35(f) reviewable. References to observed work, records or knowledge testing explain a score. The detailed ratings and any manually entered average are practical evidence aids; an average cannot cancel an unmet condition. Record gaps and the actions needed before the requested scope can be issued.

Conclusion and issue follow-up keep the recommendation distinct from the issue decision. 145.A.35(g) requires clear scope and limits when its issue conditions are met and specifies conditions for continued validity. Under point (i), responsibility for issuing remains with the compliance monitoring function, which may nominate others to issue or revoke under an MOE procedure. Point (j) requires the holder to receive a copy.

In Avioverse, the person assessed can complete the discussion follow-up if they are a workspace member. Otherwise, an internal member records their externally obtained comments and the evidence reference. Assign the issue follow-up to the compliance monitoring manager in the workspace to record the decision, authorisation reference, scope, limits and provision of the copy. Each follow-up is a written section: its assignee records Approve or Request changes with a comment, or Not required with a reason. Submission of the assessment does not itself issue an authorisation.

One-off certification authorisation after unforeseen grounding

Use the Avioverse One-off certification authorisation form only after checking the conditions in 145.A.30(j)(5). The case is an unforeseen grounding away from the main base, with no appropriate certifying staff available at that location. The organisation contracted to provide maintenance support may issue the authorisation through one of two alternative routes:

The second route's five-year and aircraft-rated-licence conditions must not be substituted for the first route's equivalent-authorisation test, or vice versa. The absence of an appropriately approved organisation is an additional condition of point (ii), distinct from the absence of appropriate certifying staff that establishes the overall case.

Why the one-off form asks what it asks

Aircraft, location and request details tie the proposed authorisation to one grounding. The unforeseen circumstances, maintenance-support contract and available staff establish the opening conditions in 145.A.30(j)(5). For example, ExampleAir's operations team may report a grounding and its CAMO may supply the relevant records, but ExampleMRO as the contracted maintenance organisation must establish the conditions for its own issue decision.

The selected route and retained evidence show which alternative is being used and how the person meets it. Identity, contact and employer details make communication and evidence checks practical; the qualification evidence must match the selected route. The exact work and limits define the case being authorised and help identify maintenance requiring the flight-safety re-check.

The issuing organisation must report the case to the competent authority within seven days after issuing the authorisation. It must also ensure that maintenance which could affect flight safety is re-checked by an appropriately approved organisation (145.A.30(j)(5)). A request for that re-check is a planned action; retain evidence that the necessary re-check was completed.

The form's written issue step records the actual issue date, authorisation reference, person, work and limits after the conditions are verified. Assign it to the compliance monitoring manager in the workspace. Assign the notifications step to a compliance monitoring workspace member to record authority reporting, operator or CAMO communication, and the re-check outcome or a reason why no flight-safety-affecting work was involved. An outside person receiving the authorisation does not complete these internal form steps. Keep the issue date and evidence of completed reporting and re-checking distinct from the original request date.

Line maintenance and base maintenance

Point 145.A.30(g) is line maintenance. The certifying staff the organisation shall have are category B1, B2, B2L, B3 and L. It may also use task-trained certifying staff for minor scheduled line maintenance and simple defect rectification.

Point 1 of 145.A.30(h) is base maintenance of complex motor-powered aircraft: category C certifying staff, and category B1 and B2 staff to support them. Point 2 is base maintenance of aircraft other than complex motor-powered aircraft.

EASA also publishes a policy on how these roles work together during a maintenance event. This page does not restate that policy.

Next

The data, tools and procedures these staff work to are covered in Maintenance Data, Components and Performing the Work. The certificate they sign is the subject of Certification of Maintenance and Records.

Where to read it yourself

The personnel rules are 145.A.30 and 145.A.35 in Annex II (Part-145) of Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, in the EASA Easy Access Rules for Continuing Airworthiness. Every citation in this guide was checked against the 2025-09-02 revision.