Acceptable Means of Compliance & Guidance Material to UK Regulation (EU) 748/2012: Annex I (Part-21)

Overview

Acceptable Means of Compliance & Guidance Material to Regulation (EU) 748/2012 as retained (and amended in UK domestic law) regarding instructions for continued airworthiness, the production of parts to be used during maintenance and the consideration of ageing aircraft aspects during certification.

The CAA is amending UK Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012, including amendment and correction of Annex I (Part 21) for the following reasons:

• To clarify the obligations of type-certificate holders so that they produce a standardised set of instructions on how to maintain their product or part to ensure it remains airworthy for the entirety of its life.
• To remove the requirement to certify the conformity of new components with their design data when non-conformity of these components will have a negligible effect on the safety of the operation of the aircraft, and to permit their installation in type-certified products without the issuance of a CAA Form 1 or equivalent.
• To make consequential amendments to ageing aircraft legislation that are needed following the 2021 update to Annex I (Part-26) to UK Reg (EU) No. 2015/640. To address safety risks going forward, it is necessary to amend existing rules to achieve the same level of safety when large aeroplane structure will be subject to future structural changes or repairs developed and approved in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 748/2012.

Our independent conclusion is that the legal changes to UK Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012 should closely follow what has been published by EASA and will be formally published, together with the accompanying AMC & GM, in the first quarter of 2023.

Below are the proposed changes to the AMC and GM material associated with the rule changes described here together with background and explanatory information regarding this consultation.

Instructions for continued airworthiness

UK Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012 includes requirements for the development and availability of Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (“ICA”). The amendment provides a definition for ‘instructions for continued airworthiness’ and clarifies that the ICA are part of the Type Certificate (TC). The amendment also merges the requirements related to record keeping, manuals and ICA in the various subparts into a single requirement for each of these aspects in Subpart A (new points 21.A.5, 21.A.6 and 21.A.7). These changes are expected to improve the harmonisation of the ICA among the design approval holders (DAHs) in relation to the identification, approval, formatting and availability of the ICA to the end users.

The production of parts to be used during maintenance

UK Reg (EU) 748/2012 is further amended to permit the production of certain parts and appliances for which their effect on the safety of the operation of the aircraft is negligible in the case of non-conformity with their design, and to permit their installation in type-certified products without the issuance of a CAA Form 1 (or equivalent). Such parts will be defined by the Design Organisation Approval (DOA) holder and be detailed in the ICA. 

Similarly, these requirements will be introduced into UK Regulation (EU) 1321/2014 where these parts will be exempted from the requirement to be maintained in a maintenance organisation approved in accordance with Part 145.

These changes are expected to allow for more proportionate and efficient requirements by introducing commensurate manufacturing requirements for new spare parts. They are expected to reduce the regulatory burden on owners and maintenance organisations that use these parts, without decreasing the level of safety.

Ageing aircraft structures

The ageing of an aircraft is dependent on multiple factors. Service experience has shown that there is a need to continuously update knowledge about the structural integrity of ageing aircraft. The Aviation Safety (Amendment)(No. 3) Regulations 2021 (Statutory Instruction 2021 No. 1203), laid before parliament in October 2021, introduced new requirements in UK Regulation (EU) No. 2015/640 Annex I (Part 26 - Additional airworthiness specifications for operations). These requirements ensure design organisations and operators of aircraft in service, keep up to date knowledge about ageing factors on the basis of real-time operational experience and with the use of modern tools of analysis and testing. The design approval holders, with this data will produce instructions and manuals for existing design available to operators for them to implement in a timely manner to prevent ageing structure failures.

Consequently, to address these safety risks going forward, it is necessary to amend the existing Initial Airworthiness rules to achieve the same level of safety when large aircraft will be subject to future structural changes or repairs developed and approved in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 748/2012. These requirements will also require that any holder or future holder of the type-certificate or restricted type-certificate for large aircraft shall ensure that the continuing structural integrity programme remains valid throughout the operational life of the aeroplane.

AMC and GM

AMC are means by which the requirements in the Implementing Rule and the Essential Requirements of the Basic Regulation to which it relates can be met. However, entities may show compliance by other means. 

An entity may choose to offer an alternative means of compliance (AltMOC) which must be reviewed and accepted by the CAA. However, it is important to note they will lose the presumption of compliance provided by the CAA AMC so it is essential for the operator to demonstrate that the AltMOC meets the intent of the Implementing Rule and the Essential Requirements of the Basic Regulation. 

GM is non-binding and provides explanatory and interpretation material on how to achieve the requirements in the law and the AMC. It contains information, including examples, to assist the applicant with the interpretation of the legislative provisions.

This consultation

As a consequence of the above rule changes, and in support of them, the CAA is also amending the accompanying Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM) to Part 21 of UK Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012.

This AMC & GM consultation document relates to the amendments to the Implementing Rules (IRs) in UK Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012 (RMT 0124) regarding “Instructions for continued airworthiness, the production of parts to be used during maintenance and the consideration of ageing aircraft aspects during certification” planned for Statutory Instrument in 2023.This AMC & GM material being consulted on contains amendments to:

• AMC and GM to Part 21 [Airworthiness and Environmental Certification - UK Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material for Regulation (EU) No. 748/2012 as retained (and amended in UK domestic law)]; and
• AMC-20 [Initial Airworthiness - UK Acceptable Means of Compliance for Airworthiness of Products, Parts and Appliances], which includes Section AMC 20-20B “Continuing structural integrity programme”. The CAA has independently reviewed all of the existing EASA AMC-20 (at Amendment 23) and we propose to maintain consistency and our target levels of safety by adopting this content. Our changes in this proposed document will therefore be only to the extent necessary for adoption under UK frameworks.

Related consultations  

Alongside this consultation, is a separate AMC and GM consultation proposing changes to the AMC and GM to Annex I (Part-M), Annex II (Part-145), Annex Va (Part-T), Annex Vb (Part-ML), Annex Vc (Part-CAMO) and Annex Vd (Part-CAO) of UK Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 as regards the maintenance data and the installation of certain aircraft components during maintenance: 

• Acceptable Means of Compliance & Guidance Material to Regulation (EU) 1321/2014 as retained (and amended in UK domestic law) regarding maintenance data and the installation of certain aircraft components during maintenance

Why your views matter

It is important to the CAA that everyone has an opportunity to voice their opinion on matters that could affect them. There is also a legal requirement to consult when creating or amending AMC and GM, due to the legal status of these documents.

We welcome comments from every sector of the community. This includes the general public, government agencies and all sectors of the aviation industry, whether as an aviator, aviation consumer and/or provider of related products and services.

How to respond

This consultation will close on 11 February 2023. We cannot take into account comments received after this date. We will assume that all responses can be published once the consultation has closed. There is an option to request for your name to remain private, but in any event your email address will never be published.

Please submit your comments using the survey link below. 

What happens next

At the end of the response period, we will review and publish each comment and submission received.

Your feedback will be considered as we refine the AMC and GM and guide the development of the regulatory changes.