Establishing Recognised Assessment Entities for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)

Closed 21 Oct 2022

Opened 7 Oct 2022

Contact

uavenquiries@caa.co.uk

Feedback updated 4 Nov 2022

We asked

For comments on the proposal to establish Recognised Assessment Entities under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947.  

You said

We received 10 responses.

There is a clear and significant majority in favour of the proposed change. Some responses requested more information about the increased future scope of the RAE function.  

We did

We will provide our formal opinion to the Department for Transport shortly, in order to commence this regulatory change.

The regulations in the proposal will require the drafting of new Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM). As part of that process the CAA will publish details of any proposed increase in scope of the RAE function.

Furthermore, the CAA has already begun to engage with industry stakeholders on a number of topics such as remote pilot competency. The CAA is committed to transparency and will expand this engagement in due course prior to any formal consultation.  

Overview

As part of our program of legal and policy work, the CAA and Department for Transport (DfT) are proposing to introduce new regulations under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947, in order to establish Recognised Assessment Entities (RAEs) in law.

What is the proposed legal change?

The CAA policy team, working with colleagues across the wider CAA and DFT, are proposing to add new article(s) under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947, establishing RAEs under this regulation. Currently, RAEs make reports to the CAA under powers established under the Air Navigation Order (ANO) article 268.

Why is the CAA doing this? 

This work is important for the following reasons:

  • it establishes a robust legal basis for RAEs, which allows for the possibility of expanding their remit in the future outside of the ANO
  • it brings together all RPAS regulation under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947, simplifying how we communicate compliance with the regulation (through acceptable means of compliance and guidance material rather than publications)
  • it provides the powers for the CAA to continue to focus on its role of RAE oversight and respond to future industry needs 

What Changes are proposed

There are very few substantive changes that will affect current RAEs as a result of this proposed change.

The primary change is that the CAA will be able to formally authorise RAEs to undertake pilot training, and assessment, under UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947.

Additionally, in the future we will be able to expand the RAE framework as necessary to undertake other types of assessment, for example technical ‘airworthiness’ assessment of RPAS.   

There will be more regulatory requirements placed on RAEs that carry out complex assessments, which will aid CAA oversight.

What happens next

What are the next steps?

Please respond to this consultation with any view on our proposal. Once the consultation closes, we will form a final opinion, and provide this to the DfT in November in order to meet a regulatory change window early next year. We will update stakeholders as soon as there is a final decision.

Audiences

  • UAV operators

Interests

  • Drones