What is EASA Part 145?
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EASA Part-145 is the maintenance organisation approval standard in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 for organisations that perform maintenance on aircraft and components within the scope of their approved terms of approval.
What it means in practice
Part-145 is the rule that turns a workshop, line station, or component facility into an approved maintenance organisation. It requires suitable facilities, qualified personnel, necessary tools and equipment, controlled component acceptance, current maintenance data, production planning, maintenance procedures, release to service, records, and an approved exposition that describes how the organisation complies.
In practice, Part-145 approval is scope-bound. The organisation may only perform maintenance that matches its certificate, exposition, locations, and capability. Every Part-145 organisation therefore has to manage not only technical competence but also internal control: who can certify, what data is used, how subcontracted work is controlled, how staffing is planned, and how hazards and non-compliances are identified and managed.
Who it applies to
Part-145 applies to maintenance organisations that want approval to maintain aircraft or components within the EASA system. That includes line maintenance providers, base maintenance organisations, engine and component shops, and combined organisations that also hold other approvals.
It also affects customers and CAMOs because they must contract maintenance to appropriately approved organisations where the regulation requires that route. The approval gives privileges, but only inside the approved scope and only when the organisation continues to meet the rule set.
What EASA says
The core structural clauses are clear. 145.A.25 requires facilities appropriate to the planned work and protection against contamination and weather. 145.A.30 and 145.A.35 establish personnel, competence, authorisation, experience, and continuation training requirements. 145.A.40 and 145.A.42 govern tools, equipment, and component acceptance. 145.A.45 requires current maintenance data and procedures for dealing with inaccurate or ambiguous data. 145.A.47 requires production planning. 145.A.50 governs certification of maintenance and release to service. 145.A.70 requires an MOE. 145.A.75 defines the organisation's privileges.
In the current consolidated rule set, the organisation's safety policy and management system sit in 145.A.200 rather than in the older wording many people still associate with 145.A.65. Point 145.A.65 now focuses on maintenance procedures. That distinction matters. A compliant Part-145 system is both technically controlled and managed through the formal safety and compliance framework.
Common mistakes
One common mistake is treating the MOE as a static approval document rather than the live description of how the organisation actually works. The MOE must remain current. If the organisation changes its people, scope, locations, procedures, or control arrangements without keeping the MOE aligned, the approval basis becomes inaccurate.
Another recurring problem is focusing only on certifying staff while under-controlling planners, supervisors, specialised services staff, stores interfaces, or contracted personnel. Part-145 compliance fails in practice when competence, tooling control, data control, and production planning do not support the people signing the CRS. Human factors is another common weak point: 145.A.30(e) and 145.A.35 require competence control and continuation training, not a one-time classroom event.
Sources
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