In Europe, using a common regulation for certification of products and organisations has been a very welcome process.
Standardization
Up to the creation of the Joint Aviation Authorities in the 1970s, the certification specifications used during the type certification process have been specific for every country, although several being customised version of the US specifications. Each European National Civil Aviation Authority was using its own regulation, having its own certification team and issuing its own type certificate.
In the manufacturing and maintenance domains, the regulations had no reason to be more standardised that what was planned by the ICAO standards. This meant that parts were released with different national tags to prove their airworthiness.
Setting up the JAA, as a club of National Aviation Authorities enabled progressively to agree on common regulations, set up joint teams for the certification, agree on common processes. Although it was only a club of Civil Aviation Authorities, it enabled to agree on common practices that had to be rendered applicable in each country through their legislative system. Nevertheless, in the production and maintenance domains, it ended with the adoption of the JAA form one, the preliminary version of the EASA form one.
The EASA Form One
In 2003, the creation of the European Aviation Safety Agency lead to have common regulations that are applicable as such in all the European Union countries. The EASA form one is part of this regulatory package and is used in the scope of production as well as maintenance activities. Its issuance is a privilege of the companies approved for production according to European Regulation (EU) n°748/2012 or for maintenance according to European Regulation (EU) n°1321/2014.
The EASA form one is the airworthiness passport of the appliance.
Without its EASA form one, the appliance, being new or maintained, cannot be installed on the aircraft during its maintenance.
Yet, regulations are complex and precise. It means each request must be reviewed carefully. Did the customer sign the PO/DO agreement ? did the customer sign a DDA ? Is there any modification on the appliance ? Has any Airworthiness Directive on this appliance been published? … All those are questions that must be answered before signing the EASA form one.
Issuing EASA form one in your company
Being such an important document in civil aviation as a contributor to the safety system, the EASA form one must be established according to very precise rules that involve almost all the departments in the company.
First the Head of the Company must commit to the proper implementation of the regulatory requirements in the organisation. This is the role of the accountable manager, being the CEO or not, he / she is responsible for ensuring appropriate procedures are built, implemented and supervised to enable the issue of the EASA form one only when the requirements are met.
All services are concerned
The Technical Direction is usually the Direction that will coordinate with the Type Certificate holder certification entity to guarantee that the design is part of the type certified product or that the maintenance data are approved.
Then, the Sales Direction will be receiving the request from the customer to release the part with an EASA form one, and therefore must be able to decide if it is possible or not.
Usually, the capability list is monitored by the Quality Direction, which will guarantee that the company is formally approved by its Civil Aviation Authority to issue EASA form one for the specific part, or else to the specific customer. They also ensure the procedures are up to date, compliant with the regulation, properly implemented in the company, etc…
Building the training plan is the the Human Resources Direction mission. Afterwards it is implemented in the company in order to make sure that, in the end, the certifying staff is being trained according to the requirements.
The Production Direction will produce or maintain the appliance in accordance with procedures and will submit it to the release by the certifying staff only when it is compliant.
Finally, the certifying staff will fill in the form and sign it when he has performed the appropriate verifications that he is expected to do in accordance to the company approved procedures.
Incorporate our ePITsolutions e-Learning module in your training plan
We have developed two ePITsolutions eLearning modules dedicated to these subjects, EASA Form 1 –Production (Part 21G) and EASA Form 1 – Maintenance (Part 145). Our ePITsolutions trainings are aimed to a large audience:
– Quality managers who want to understand in detail how to deal with EASA form one,
– Inspectors who want to become an EASA form one Authorised Signatory,
– EASA form one Authorised Signatories who want to refresh their knowledge,
– Any staff member playing a role in the overall process of the company.
Both are structured with a eTutorial and a ePractice.
The eTutorial – which lasts around 30 minutes:
– Reviews the work process around the EASA Form One, from the customer request to the acceptation of the order,
– Explains the way an EASA Form One must be filled in,
The ePractice – which may last up to 2 hours, (quit and come back where you left is available) is composed of more than 20 scored exercises. Each exercise
– Introduces a different scenario that is described through a customer order, a capability list, a maintenance work card or a production order, and an equipment description. With these data, the trainee has to decide if he can issue an EASA Form One and if yes, he is invited to do so. The scenari include issuing an EASA form one in different kind of approved organisations – production, maintenance, in the EU or out of the EU, in the company premises or at the customer’s ….
– Is scored. Every correct answer is scored 4 points.
The score at the end of the training enables to assess the skills acquisition.
The ePITsolutions eLearning can be accessed as many times as the trainee wants, in the limit of the time period he has purchased – 4 days or 14 days.
ePITsolutions goal is to make access to skills, easy, pleasant and flexible so that all trainees get the knowledge they need to perform their job at the most appropriate rhythm for each of them.
References
European regulation (EU) n°1321/2014
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2014:362:FULL&from=EN
European regulation (EU) n°748/2012
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32012R0748&from=EN