A&P mechanic privileges and limitations: what you can sign for

The FAA issues a single mechanic certificate with an Airframe rating, a Powerplant rating, or both; with both ratings it's commonly called an "A&P" certificate (FAA: Become an Aviation Mechanic) (14 CFR 65.73). What you may do with it depends on the ratings you hold, and the rules sit in two places: Part 65 says what a mechanic may do, and Part 43 sets how maintenance is done and recorded. Part 43 itself points back to Part 65 for what a mechanic is allowed to perform and approve (14 CFR 43.3(b)) (14 CFR 43.7(b)). Here is the short version, in plain words.

What every certificated mechanic may do

With a rating in hand, you may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance and alterations on the aircraft, appliances and parts that rating covers, or supervise others doing that work. Two kinds of job are left out for every mechanic: major repairs or major alterations of propellers, and repairs or alterations of instruments of any kind (14 CFR 65.81(a)).

Two conditions come with the privilege:

• Done it before. You can't supervise a particular job, or approve it for return to service, until you've done that job satisfactorily at least once. If you haven't, you can show you're able by doing it to the FAA's satisfaction, or under the direct supervision of a properly rated mechanic or a certificated repairman who has done that exact operation before (14 CFR 65.81(a)).
• Know the manual. You may only use your certificate for a job if you understand the manufacturer's current instructions and the maintenance manuals for that specific operation (14 CFR 65.81(b)).

What each rating adds

Airframe. After you've performed, supervised or inspected maintenance or an alteration on an airframe or a related part or appliance, you may approve it for return to service, unless the work was a major repair or major alteration. You may also do the 100-hour inspection that Part 91 requires on an airframe and its parts, and approve it for return to service (14 CFR 65.85(a)).

Powerplant. The same two privileges apply to powerplants and propellers and their parts and appliances (14 CFR 65.87(a)).

Both ratings carry a narrow extra privilege for some major repairs and alterations on aircraft with a special airworthiness certificate in the light-sport category, for products not produced under an FAA approval, when the manufacturer or a person acceptable to the FAA authorized the work and developed the instructions it followed (14 CFR 65.85(b)) (14 CFR 65.87(b)). If that's not your world, the general rule is the one to remember: no major repairs or major alterations signed off on an A&P alone.

Part 91 requires an annual or 100-hour inspection within each 100 hours of time in service when an aircraft carries any person, other than a crewmember, for hire, or when someone gives paid flight instruction in an aircraft they provide (14 CFR 91.409(b)).

What takes more than an A&P

Some work is beyond a mechanic certificate on its own. Among individual mechanics, approving an aircraft or part for return to service after a major repair or major alteration, and performing an annual inspection, belong to the holder of an inspection authorization (IA) (14 CFR 65.95(a)). Other people and organizations can approve work within their own certificates, such as certificated repair stations (14 CFR 43.7(c)). Our guide to the inspection authorization covers who can get one.

Instrument repairs and alterations, as above, are outside a mechanic's privileges altogether (14 CFR 65.81(a)). Avionics is a different story: the FAA says no additional certificate is required to work on avionics equipment, but it also says the knowledge and skill for that work aren't presumed just because you hold a mechanic certificate, which is why many employers set their own qualification requirements (FAA: Become an Aviation Mechanic).

Supervising people without a certificate

Someone without a certificate may do the maintenance, preventive maintenance and alterations you're allowed to do, if you watch the work closely enough to be sure it's done properly and you're on hand in person to answer questions. That doesn't stretch to inspections required by Part 91 or Part 125, or to any inspection after a major repair or alteration (14 CFR 43.3(d)). The FAA adds that someone without a certificate isn't authorized to approve anything for return to service (FAA: Become an Aviation Mechanic).

Signing it off

Nothing is approved for return to service until the paperwork is done: the maintenance record entry, the FAA repair or alteration form where one is required, and any change the work makes to the flight manual's operating limitations or flight data (14 CFR 43.5). The record entry describes the work (or references acceptable data), gives the date it was completed and the name of whoever did it (if that's not the approver), and is signed by the person approving the work, with their certificate number and the kind of certificate they hold (14 CFR 43.9(a)).

Your signature is the approval for return to service only for the work performed, not for the rest of the aircraft (14 CFR 43.9(a)(4)). Treat it with care: a fraudulent or intentionally false statement in a required record is prohibited under 14 CFR 3.403 (14 CFR 3.403). Older study material may point to 14 CFR 43.12 for this, but that section is now reserved (14 CFR 43.12).

Staying legal to use your certificate

Recent experience. Look back 24 months. You may use your certificate if, in that window, you spent at least 6 months working as a mechanic under your certificate and rating, technically supervising other mechanics, supervising aircraft maintenance or alteration in an executive role, or a mix of those. If you can't show that, the other way is for the FAA to find that you're able to do the work (14 CFR 65.83).

Your certificate. A mechanic certificate doesn't expire; it stays in effect until it's surrendered, suspended or revoked (14 CFR 65.15(a)). Under the current rule, though, you can't use the privileges on a paper certificate unless it's a temporary certificate (14 CFR 65.15(d)). Keep it within the immediate area where you normally work, and show it when the FAA, the NTSB or a law enforcement officer asks (14 CFR 65.89).

Your address. If your permanent mailing address changes, tell the FAA Airman Certification Branch in writing within 30 days (14 CFR 65.21).

Learning the rules for the test

The ACS lists the privileges and limitations of a mechanic certificate, and the recent experience rules, as knowledge elements of the General subject on regulations, maintenance forms, records and publications (Aviation Mechanic ACS, p. 14), so they can come up on the General written test. A&P Complete, our course for the three FAA mechanic tests ($49 one-time), has 40 lessons, including one on regulations, maintenance forms, records, and publications, plus explained practice questions and 15 timed mock exams for each test in the official format. For what the General test is like, read what to expect on the A&P General test, and for the bigger picture, how to become an aircraft mechanic.

Questions people ask

Can an A&P mechanic do an annual inspection?

Not on an A&P alone. Among individual mechanics, the annual inspection belongs to the holder of an inspection authorization (IA). An airframe or powerplant mechanic may do the 100-hour inspection for their rating and approve it for return to service.

Can an A&P mechanic approve a major repair for return to service?

No. The airframe and powerplant ratings exclude major repairs and major alterations from the mechanic's return to service privilege, apart from a narrow light-sport exception. An IA may approve them when the work was done to technical data approved by the FAA.

Does an A&P mechanic certificate expire?

No. It stays in effect until it is surrendered, suspended or revoked. To use it, though, you must meet the recent experience rule: at least 6 months of mechanic work or supervision in the last 24 months, or an FAA finding that you can do the work.

Can an A&P mechanic repair instruments?

No. 14 CFR 65.81 excludes any repair to, or alteration of, instruments from a certificated mechanic's privileges.