The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2024 mandated that the Office of the Inspector General’s office conduct a series of audits to assess how consistently FAA interprets and applies policy regarding supplemental type certificates, repair stations and technical standards orders. The OIG is initiating the third audit in the series and will focus on FAA’s consistency in certificating domestic repair stations.
All repair stations performing work on U.S.-registered aircraft must be certificated by FAA under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 145. To issue an air agency certificate, FAA inspectors carry out a five-phase process to thoroughly review, evaluate,and test the repair station’s programs, systems and intended methods of compliance. FAA authorizes six general ratings and subclasses that specify what work a repair station can do.
While FAA’s repair station certification procedures are standardized, individual FAA offices may interpret standards, which include orders, guidance and regulations, differently when evaluating system design, approving ratings, or assessing compliance. Accordingly, their objective will be to evaluate whether FAA has sufficient controls in place to provide reasonable assurance that inspectors are consistent in interpreting and applying standards when certificating domestic repair stations.