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145.A.55 requires the organisation to record all details of maintenance work carried out, retain those records for defined periods, and store them in a manner that protects them from damage, alteration, and theft.
What it means in practice
The organisation must keep detailed records of all maintenance performed. This includes work orders, task cards, inspection records, test results, details of components fitted and removed, and the certificate of release to service. Records must be clear, legible, and traceable to the individual maintenance tasks and the personnel who performed them.
The retention period for maintenance records is at least three years from the date the aircraft or component was released to service by the organisation. The organisation must also retain a copy of any EASA Form 1 or equivalent release certificate issued for components. Records must be stored securely to prevent loss, damage, or unauthorised alteration.
Key requirements
All maintenance work must be recorded in sufficient detail to establish that all requirements for the certificate of release to service have been met. Records must be retained for a minimum of three years after release from the organisation. The record-keeping system, whether paper or electronic, must be secure, backed up, and accessible to authorised personnel and the competent authority upon request.
When work is contracted to a sub-contracted organisation, the contracted organisation's records form part of the contracting organisation's record set, and the contracting organisation remains responsible for ensuring completeness.
Common compliance gaps
Incomplete maintenance records are a very frequent audit finding. This includes missing sign-offs on task cards, incomplete component removal and installation records, and failure to record the specific revision of maintenance data used for each task. Organisations that transition from paper to electronic records sometimes lose traceability during the changeover period.
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