Mechanic Privileges, Approvals and Aviation Law

Maintenance is a licensed privilege, not a right, and the limits are the point. In the United States, 14 CFR Part 65 certifies the airframe and powerplant mechanic, and a certificate holder may exercise only the privileges of the ratings held, on any aircraft for which those ratings are valid. Obtaining them requires documented experience — 18 months per rating, or 30 months for a combined rating — plus written, oral and practical tests.

14 CFR Part 43 governs who may perform maintenance and preventive maintenance, what must be recorded, and who may approve and return the aircraft to service. Part 21 governs type design and parts approval, including parts manufacturer approval. Part 145 governs repair stations and their manuals, work scope and limitations. Part 147 governs maintenance schools. An inspection authorisation is an airframe or powerplant mechanic endorsement permitting the holder to approve major repairs and alterations and perform the annual inspection, within the limitations of the certificate.

Europe mirrors this structure. EASA Part-66 issues certifying staff licences in the mechanical B1 category and the avionics B2 category, with sub-licences for specialised tasks such as pressurisation, and the privileges of each category are set out precisely. Part-M and Part-CAMO cover continuing airworthiness, including the maintenance programme, the maintenance record system and organisation approval.

Internationally, ICAO Annex 1 sets personnel licensing standards, Annex 6 sets operational standards, and Annex 8 sets airworthiness standards. These annexes are adopted into national law, so they are the common baseline that the national rules are written against.

Working outside your ratings, using unapproved data or unapproved parts, signing for work you did not inspect, or falsifying a record exposes the individual certificate to action and can carry criminal liability. The law chapter is the one that keeps you out of prison.