Sofema Aviation Services (SAS) (www.sassofia.com) providing regulatory guidance & support for Organisations seeking EASA Part 145 approval.
Introduction – First Steps
Obtaining an EASA Part-145 approval is a major undertaking and requires commitment, ownership, as well as adequate financial resources.
You will need a company structure to support the organisations objectives as well as a Maintenance Organisation Exposition (MOE) including Quality and Safety Manuals. (Either integrated or Separate)
The choice of the initial scope of approval, as well as capability list (In respect of Category C Workshop Approvals), should be as limited as possible commensurate with the desired objectives.
Once your approval is active you can use the MOE procedure for adding additional aircraft, engines, or components to the scope.
Initial Application is made on EASA Form 2 to the following email address – foreign145@easa.europa.eu
Key Personnel Required to Support the EASA Part 145 Organisation
- Accountable Manager, whose primary responsibility is to ensure the activities can be financed and carried out according to the EASA rules.
- Quality Manager (QM) / Compliance Manager (CM) to independently monitor and assess internal / External compliance with the regulatory & organisational requirements.
- One or more Post Holders (PH) / Nominated Persons (NP) for example Base Maintenance Manager / Line Maintenance Manager / Workshop Maintenance Manager.
Typically the Accountable Manager is accepted by the Authority and the Maintenance “Post Holder” /s and Quality Manager are approved by the EASA, through an approval process known as Form 4. (Related to Competence Assessment)
Fees
Following acceptance of EASA Form 2, the appropriate fee will need to be paid and will be calculated based on the size of the organisation.
For Guidance on EASA Fee Structure see the following Link – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019R2153
Maintenance Organisation Approval Annex II (Part-145) to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014) (Fees Shown in Euro)
- Staff related below 5 – Approval fee 3 700 / Surveillance fee 2830
- Staff Between 5 and 9 – Approval fee 6150 / Surveillance fee 4920
- Staff Between 10 and 49 – Approval fee 24 620 / Surveillance fee 15 250
- Staff Between 50 and 99 – Approval fee 39 400 / Surveillance fee 30 500
- Staff Between 100 and 499 – Approval fee 52 660 / Surveillance fee 40 770
- Staff Between 500 and 999 – Approval fee 72 720 / Surveillance fee 56 300
- Staff Over 999 – Approval fee 102,100 / Surveillance fee 79 000
Additional Costs
To include all Travel / Hotac & Per diem Costs for the Assigned Inspector (or Inspectors).
Note 1 – EASA expects that the application fee must be paid prior to the commencement of any work and that the first annual surveillance fee is to be paid within 30 days after receiving the certificate and upon receipt of the invoice.
Note 2 – In the event of a change in the rating or the scope during the year covered by the surveillance fee, the Agency shall re-calculate the next billing cycle(s) of the surveillance fee, following the approval of the change.
Following the Application
You will be assigned a preliminary approval number (EASA.145.nnnn) as well as to understand which European Authority Inspector will be assigned to your application.
The Nominated Inspector will typically request a draft copy of the MOE.
The Assigned Inspector will now check all requested information and identify any obvious discrepancies.
Note you should also carry out an internal audit to ensure compliance and you may adjust these check sheets to support this activity.
See Here for a Sample of Check Sheets – https://sassofia.com/download-area/#quality-assurance-audit-check-sheets
The Check Sheets are very detailed and should enable your organisation to verify its compliance with the EASA requirements.
A copy of the completed audit reports can be sent to your inspector as a pre-cursor to the physical audit (on-site visit) which will be carried out to ensure all elements related to the 145 business process are fully compliant.
Following the EASA on-site audit, you will likely be receipt of a number of findings that need to be cleared to enable receipt of your approval certificate.
Training & Competence
Please See EASA User Guides regarding Criteria related to competence:
Foreign Part-145 approvals – Components, engines and APU certifying staff
Foreign part 145 approvals – Aircraft certifying staff and support staff
Sofema Aviation Services provides a complete portfolio of training courses available both in the Classroom or online with SofemaOnline www.sofemaonline.com
Please see here for a detailed list of which courses are on offer: EASA Part 145 Training
Duration to Achieve EASA Certification
The typical time to achieve approval can range from 9 months to 18 months and is dependent on many factors including your final readiness and capacity to address any identified issues which EASA identifies during the Readiness Audit.
Next Steps
Follow this link to our Library to find & Download related documents for Free.
Please email team@sassofia.com and we will be pleased to provide further guidance regarding how we can support you to achieve Third Country 145 approval with EASA.
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aviation, EASA Part 145, EASA requirements, Part 145 Organization, EASA regulations, Third Country EASA Part 145, Part 145 Approval, Maintenance Organisation Exposition, MOE, EASA Foreign Part 145 Approval, SAS blogs
