Design & Production

Aviation authorities issue design approvals (type certificates and supplemental type certificates or amended type certificates) and production approvals (production certificates or production under type certificate only) for aircraft, aircraft engines, and propellers; as well as parts manufacturer approvals and technical standard order authorizations for articles. The objective is for the applicant to establish that the design of an aircraft, engine, propeller, appliance, material, process, or part meets the applicable airworthiness standards, and can be consistently produced to an approved design.

Portions of 14 CFR that cover design and production as well as the issuance of certificates of airworthiness, include part 21 (certification procedures), part 23 (normal, utility, acrobatic & commuter airplanes), part 25 (transport airplanes), part 26 (continued airworthiness & safety improvements for transport category airplanes), part 27 (normal rotorcraft), part 29 (transport rotorcraft), part 33 (engines), part 34 (fuel venting & exhaust emissions), part 35 (propellers) and part 36 (noise).

Design approvals for aircraft, aircraft engines and propellers include TC, STC or amended TC; production approvals for aircraft, aircraft engines and propellers include PC and production under type certificate only.

Design and production approvals for parts and articles include PMA for the design, manufacturing and installation of modification and replacement parts (e.g., engine controls, environmental control systems, and parts sold as spares) and TSOA for the design and manufacturing of articles for which the FAA has established a minimum performance standard (e.g., APU’s, wheels, brakes, and avionics).

Other issues frequently addressed by ARSA under the “Design and Production” umbrella include part-marking, design and production approval quality system requirements and individual and organization designations (Designated Engineering Representative (DER), Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR), Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representative (DMIR) and Organization Designation Authorization (ODA)). Separate issue pages are available for–

• Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA)
• Critical Design Configuration Control Limitations (CDCCL)

The latest ARSA news regarding design & production is below; click here for archived items.