513 

Federal Aviation Administration, DOT 

§ 135.426 

maintenance, preventive maintenance, 
and alteration functions is exercised. 

[Doc. No. 16097, 43 FR 46783, Oct. 10, 1978. Re-
designated by Amdt. 135–81, 67 FR 72765, Dec. 
6, 2002. Redesignated by Amdt. 135–81, 70 FR 
5533, Feb. 2, 2005] 

§ 135.425 Maintenance, preventive 

maintenance, and alteration pro-

grams. 

Each certificate holder shall have an 

inspection program and a program cov-
ering other maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, and alterations, that en-
sures that— 

(a) Maintenance, preventive mainte-

nance, and alterations performed by it, 
or by other persons, are performed 
under the certificate holder’s manual; 

(b) Competent personnel and ade-

quate facilities and equipment are pro-
vided for the proper performance of 
maintenance, preventive maintenance, 
and alterations; and 

(c) Each aircraft released to service 

is airworthy and has been properly 
maintained for operation under this 
part. 

§ 135.426 Contract maintenance. 

(a) A certificate holder may arrange 

with another person for the perform-
ance of maintenance, preventive main-
tenance, and alterations as authorized 
in § 135.437(a) only if the certificate 
holder has met all the requirements in 
this section. For purposes of this sec-
tion— 

(1) A 

maintenance provider 

is any per-

son who performs maintenance, preven-
tive maintenance, or an alteration for 
a certificate holder other than a person 
who is trained by and employed di-
rectly by that certificate holder. 

(2) 

Covered work 

means any of the fol-

lowing: 

(i) Essential maintenance that could 

result in a failure, malfunction, or de-
fect endangering the safe operation of 
an aircraft if not performed properly or 
if improper parts or materials are used; 

(ii) Regularly scheduled mainte-

nance; or 

(iii) A required inspection item on an 

aircraft. 

(3) 

Directly in charge 

means having re-

sponsibility for covered work per-
formed by a maintenance provider. A 
representative of the certificate holder 

directly in charge of covered work does 
not need to physically observe and di-
rect each maintenance provider con-
stantly, but must be available for con-
sultation on matters requiring instruc-
tion or decision. 

(b) Each certificate holder must be 

directly in charge of all covered work 
done for it by a maintenance provider. 

(c) Each maintenance provider must 

perform all covered work in accordance 
with the certificate holder’s mainte-
nance manual. 

(d) No maintenance provider may 

perform covered work unless that work 
is carried out under the supervision 
and control of the certificate holder. 

(e) Each certificate holder who con-

tracts for maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, or alterations must de-
velop and implement policies, proce-
dures, methods, and instructions for 
the accomplishment of all contracted 
maintenance, preventive maintenance, 
and alterations. These policies, proce-
dures, methods, and instructions must 
provide for the maintenance, preven-
tive maintenance, and alterations to be 
performed in accordance with the cer-
tificate holder’s maintenance program 
and maintenance manual. 

(f) Each certificate holder who con-

tracts for maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, or alterations must en-
sure that its system for the continuing 
analysis and surveillance of the main-
tenance, preventive maintenance, and 
alterations carried out by a mainte-
nance provider, as required by 
§ 135.431(a), contains procedures for 
oversight of all contracted covered 
work. 

(g) The policies, procedures, methods, 

and instructions required by para-
graphs (e) and (f) of this section must 
be acceptable to the FAA and included 
in the certificate holder’s maintenance 
manual, as required by § 135.427(b)(10). 

(h) Each certificate holder who con-

tracts for maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, or alterations must pro-
vide to its responsible Flight Standards 
office, in a format acceptable to the 
FAA, a list that includes the name and 
physical (street) address, or addresses, 
where the work is carried out for each 
maintenance provider that performs 
work for the certificate holder, and a 
description of the type of maintenance, 

514 

14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition) 

§ 135.427 

preventive maintenance, or alteration 
that is to be performed at each loca-
tion. The list must be updated with 
any changes, including additions or de-
letions, and the updated list provided 
to the FAA in a format acceptable to 
the FAA by the last day of each cal-
endar month. 

[Docket FAA–2011–1136, Amdt. 135–132, 80 FR 
11547, Mar. 4, 2015, as amended by Docket 
FAA–2018–0119, Amdt. 135–139, 83 FR 9175, 
Mar. 5, 2018] 

§ 135.427 Manual requirements. 

(a) Each certificate holder shall put 

in its manual the chart or description 
of the certificate holder’s organization 
required by § 135.423 and a list of per-
sons with whom it has arranged for the 
performance of any of its required in-
spections, other maintenance, preven-
tive maintenance, or alterations, in-
cluding a general description of that 
work. 

(b) Each certificate holder shall put 

in its manual the programs required by 
§ 135.425 that must be followed in per-
forming maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, and alterations of that 
certificate holder’s aircraft, including 
airframes, aircraft engines, propellers, 
rotors, appliances, emergency equip-
ment, and parts, and must include at 
least the following: 

(1) The method of performing routine 

and nonroutine maintenance (other 
than required inspections), preventive 
maintenance, and alterations. 

(2) A designation of the items of 

maintenance and alteration that must 
be inspected (required inspections) in-
cluding at least those that could result 
in a failure, malfunction, or defect en-
dangering the safe operation of the air-
craft, if not performed properly or if 
improper parts or materials are used. 

(3) The method of performing re-

quired inspections and a designation by 
occupational title of personnel author-
ized to perform each required inspec-
tion. 

(4) Procedures for the reinspection of 

work performed under previous re-
quired inspection findings (

buy-back 

procedures

). 

(5) Procedures, standards, and limits 

necessary for required inspections and 
acceptance or rejection of the items re-
quired to be inspected and for periodic 

inspection and calibration of precision 
tools, measuring devices, and test 
equipment. 

(6) Procedures to ensure that all re-

quired inspections are performed. 

(7) Instructions to prevent any per-

son who performs any item of work 
from performing any required inspec-
tion of that work. 

(8) Instructions and procedures to 

prevent any decision of an inspector re-
garding any required inspection from 
being countermanded by persons other 
than supervisory personnel of the in-
spection unit, or a person at the level 
of administrative control that has 
overall responsibility for the manage-
ment of both the required inspection 
functions and the other maintenance, 
preventive maintenance, and alter-
ations functions. 

(9) Procedures to ensure that re-

quired inspections, other maintenance, 
preventive maintenance, and alter-
ations that are not completed as a re-
sult of work interruptions are properly 
completed before the aircraft is re-
leased to service. 

(10) Policies, procedures, methods, 

and instructions for the accomplish-
ment of all maintenance, preventive 
maintenance, and alterations carried 
out by a maintenance provider. These 
policies, procedures, methods, and in-
structions must be acceptable to the 
FAA and ensure that, when followed by 
the maintenance provider, the mainte-
nance, preventive maintenance, and al-
terations are performed in accordance 
with the certificate holder’s mainte-
nance program and maintenance man-
ual. 

(c) Each certificate holder shall put 

in its manual a suitable system (which 
may include a coded system) that pro-
vides for the retention of the following 
information— 

(1) A description (or reference to data 

acceptable to the Administrator) of the 
work performed; 

(2) The name of the person per-

forming the work if the work is per-
formed by a person outside the organi-
zation of the certificate holder; and 

(3) The name or other positive identi-

fication of the individual approving the 
work. 

(d) For the purposes of this part, the 

certificate holder must prepare that