Maintenance organisations | Traficom
Transport and Communications Agency

Maintenance organisations

A maintenance organisation is responsible for carrying out the maintenance ordered from it in accordance with the approved maintenance instructions.

There are two types of maintenance organisations

  • Part 145 maintenance organisation
  • Part CAO combined airworthiness organisation

Aircraft that are used in commercial air transport, in other words to transport passengers, cargo or post against remuneration, must be maintained in a Part 145 maintenance organisation. In other commercial operation, aircraft must be maintained in a Part 145 or Part CAO combined airworthiness organisation. Aircraft in non-commercial operation may also be maintained in an approved maintenance organisation.

Traficom issues the approvals of maintenance organisations and oversees their operation. The maintenance organisation has the right to carry out maintenance in accordance with the approved maintenance instructions published by the design approval holder.

Applying for Part 145 approval

You can apply for the maintenance organisation (Part 145) approval from Traficom.
For the processing of the matter, Traficom will nominate an inspector responsible for your organisation, who will be your contact person in matters related to the approval.
If necessary, you can already contact Traficom before the official application.

 

The processing of the approval begins by sending an application using the EASA Form 2, in which you describe the company's contact details and the intended scope of work. Indicate the scope of the work that the approval is applied for by using the drop-down menus in the forms below. If the required scope of work is missing from the list, contact Traficom’s registry or switchboard.
Deliver the application signed by the accountable manager to Traficom’s registry.

The organisation must have an accountable manager who is ultimately responsible for the operation and for meeting the financial requirements.


In addition, the organisation must have the following nominated post holders:

  • A person or a group of persons nominated with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the requirements set for maintenance practices.
  • A person nominated with responsibility for quality practices

Use the EASA Form 4 to apply for the approval of these persons (excl. accountable manager). Attach the required training and employment certificates to the application. The nominated post holders referred to in Form 4 must also acceptably complete  

The maintenance organisation's manual and any instructions, forms or methods related to it must be submitted for approval as appendices to the application.

At the initial stage of processing the application for approval, an initial meeting is organised between the organisation's nominated post holders and Traficom’s inspectors. In the initial meeting, you will go through in more detail how the approval process progresses and it will be possible to discuss matters related to the approval process and its timetable in more detail.

The inspector responsible for your organisation will go through the presented documents and if necessary, requests corrections to them.

Before issuing the approval, Traficom will conduct an approval audit of the organisation to ensure that the organisation meets all the requirements set for it. Before this, the organisation is expected to conduct an internal audit in which it examines and ensures its readiness for the activities referred to in the approval.

If any findings are made in Traficom's audit, they must be corrected before the approval can be issued.

When the documents related to the approval have been checked and the possible audit findings have been corrected, Traficom will issue an approval to the organisation and deliver it to the organisation in writing.
The approval is issued using the EASA Form 3-145 (Part 145).

After the approval has been issued, an invoice will be sent to the organisation in accordance with the Decree on the Fees Charged by Traficom in force at the time.

Statutory basis

The requirements for a Part-145 maintenance organisation are defined in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 and its Annex II (Part 145).

Maintenance organisation approvals in the USA and Canada

Based on the approval issued to it, an EASA Part-145 approved organisation may apply for a maintenance organisation approval for the USA and Canada.
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