For an aviation maintenance organisation in Europe, the Part-145 approval is its licence to operate. Without it, the organisation cannot certify work on aircraft or on components intended for EASA-regulated aircraft. Obtaining it is a demanding project. Keeping it is daily work.
This guide summarises what Part-145 is, what it requires and how MRO software helps meet those requirements sustainably.
This guide is for general information. The reference text is always Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, as amended, together with the Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM) published by EASA.
What the Part-145 approval is
Part-145 is Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 on continuing airworthiness. It sets out the requirements an organisation must meet to obtain and maintain a maintenance organisation approval.
The approval is issued by the competent authority: the national authority of the Member State where the organisation is located, or EASA itself for organisations outside the EU.
The approval certificate comes with a scope of work defined by classes and ratings:
| Class | What it covers | Example ratings |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft | Maintenance of complete aircraft, base or line | A1 (aeroplanes > 5,700 kg), A2, A3 (helicopters), A4 |
| Engines | Maintenance of engines off the aircraft | B1 (turbine), B2 (piston), B3 (APU) |
| Components | Maintenance of components other than complete engines | C1 to C22 (by ATA system) |
| Specialised services | Non-destructive testing and others | D1 (NDT) |
The organisation can only certify work within its approved scope.
The management system: the most significant recent change
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1963 amended Part-145 and introduced a management system aligned with ICAO Annex 19. Its requirements have applied since 2 December 2022.
The management system (145.A.200) includes:
- Clear lines of responsibility and accountability.
- A safety policy.
- Safety risk management: identifying hazards, assessing risks and applying mitigations.
- Compliance monitoring, with independent internal audits.
- Safety training and communication.
- An internal occurrence reporting system.
In practice, Part-145 is no longer only about meeting requirements. It is also about showing that the organisation actively manages its risks.
Main Part-145 requirements
Organisation and management personnel
The organisation must appoint:
- An accountable manager, with the authority to ensure that all maintenance is funded and performed in line with Part-145.
- Nominated persons for key areas: maintenance (line and/or base, workshops) and compliance monitoring, among others.
- A safety manager, as part of the management system.
These people must have suitable experience and training, and the authority formally accepts them.
Technical staff and certifying staff
Part-145 requires a man-hour plan showing that the organisation has enough staff for the planned work. It also requires staff to be competent, with initial and recurrent training.
Certifying staff must hold an appropriate Part-66 licence (category A, B1, B2, B3 or C depending on the work) and a certification authorisation issued by the organisation itself. That authorisation defines exactly what each person may certify. To keep it, certifying staff must show recent experience (at least six months of actual maintenance experience in any consecutive two-year period) and continuation training.
The organisation also controls aspects such as human factors, fatigue management and the competence of staff performing independent inspections or specialised tasks such as NDT.
Facilities
Facilities must be appropriate for the planned work:
- Hangars large enough for base maintenance.
- Separate, equipped workshops for components and engines.
- Controlled working conditions: temperature, humidity, lighting, dust.
- Secure stores, with segregation between serviceable and unserviceable material (quarantine).
- Office space for planning, records and access to maintenance data.
Tools, equipment and material
The organisation must hold the necessary tools and equipment and control their calibration to a recognised standard. A tool with expired calibration must not be used.
Components and materials must be acceptable and traceable. In the EU, the reference document for new or repaired components is the EASA Form 1. The organisation must classify and segregate each component according to its condition: serviceable, unserviceable or unsalvageable.
Maintenance data
The organisation must hold and use current maintenance data: manufacturer manuals (AMM, CMM, SRM, IPC), airworthiness directives, applicable service bulletins and data approved by the authority.
When the organisation transcribes data into its own task cards, it must do so accurately and keep them up to date. Using an obsolete manual revision is one of the most common audit findings.
Production planning
Part-145 requires a planning system appropriate to the volume and complexity of the work. It must take into account the availability of staff, tools, material, facilities and data, as well as human performance limitations and shift handovers.
Certification of maintenance
When work is complete, authorised certifying staff issue:
- A Certificate of Release to Service (CRS) for the aircraft.
- An EASA Form 1 for components and engines maintained off the aircraft.
Certifying staff only sign once they have verified that all requested maintenance has been properly performed in accordance with the applicable data.
Maintenance records
The organisation records all details of the work performed and stores them securely, protected from damage, alteration and theft. The minimum retention period is three years from the date the work was certified. Backups of electronic records must be kept at a different location.
Occurrence reporting
The organisation must report to the authority, the design holder and the operator any condition that could pose a serious safety risk, in line with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014.
Maintenance Organisation Exposition (MOE)
The MOE is the document that describes the organisation and its procedures. It explains how the organisation meets each Part-145 requirement. The authority approves it, and any significant change requires prior approval or notification.
How MRO software supports compliance
No software "certifies" an organisation. The authority issues the approval, and responsibility always stays with the organisation. What good software does is reduce the effort of compliance and provide solid evidence.
Staff authorisation control
The system records Part-66 licences, certification authorisations, training and expiry dates. When a task is signed, it checks that the user holds the relevant authorisation. If an authorisation expires, the system catches it before the auditor does.
Component traceability
Each component is recorded with its part number, serial number, EASA Form 1 or other certificate, condition and location. When installed, it is linked to the aircraft and the work order. When removed, its condition and destination are recorded.
Tool and calibration control
The system keeps the tool inventory with calibration dates. It blocks or warns when someone tries to assign an expired tool to a task, and records which tool was used on each job.
Linked maintenance data
Task cards reference the specific manual revision used. When a new revision arrives, you can identify which cards it affects.
Tamper-resistant records and retention
Digital signatures, with a timestamp and user identification, create a record that is hard to alter. A cloud system with backups in a separate location makes retention requirements easier to meet.
Audit preparation
An internal or authority audit becomes a query: which tasks a person certified, which components were installed on an aircraft, which tools were used on a job. The evidence is a few clicks away, not in a filing cabinet.
Management system support
Recording internal occurrences, audit findings and corrective actions in the same system makes it easier to follow up and close each non-conformity.
Conclusion
Part-145 requires a well-structured organisation, competent and authorised staff, suitable facilities, current data and reliable records. Since 2022, it also requires a risk-based management system. Meeting these requirements with paper processes is possible, but costly and fragile.
SkyPlannerHub is a cloud ERP for aviation maintenance organisations that want to base their compliance on traceable data. If you would like to see how it could fit your MOE and procedures, talk to our team.