Part 145 Repair Station: FAA Requirements and Records

What is a Part 145 repair station?

Part 145 "describes how to obtain a repair station certificate" and "contains the rules a certificated repair station must follow related to its performance of maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations" of aircraft and parts to which part 43 applies (14 CFR 145.1). "No person may operate as a certificated repair station without, or in violation of, a repair station certificate, ratings, or operations specifications issued under this part." (145.5(a)).

The difference from an individual mechanic: a mechanic or inspection authorization holder approves work under part 65, while "The holder of a repair station certificate may approve an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part for return to service as provided in Part 145" (14 CFR 43.7(c)). A station may "Approve for return to service any article for which it is rated after it has performed maintenance, preventive maintenance, or an alteration in accordance with part 43" (145.201(a)(3)), and may not work on articles it is not rated for.

Part 145 ratings and limited ratings

Ratings are set out in 145.59; limited ratings in 145.61 (14 CFR part 145).

A station with a limited rating may work on an article only "if the article is listed on a current capability list acceptable to the FAA or on the repair station's operations specifications", and it may add an article only after a documented self-evaluation (145.215).

The repair station manual, quality control manual and training program

Three documents carry most of the certification work. A station "must prepare and follow a repair station manual acceptable to the FAA" (145.207(a)); the manual's contents are listed in 145.209, including an organizational chart, the capability list procedures and "A description of the required records and the recordkeeping system used to obtain, store, and retrieve the required records" (145.209(i)). It must also "prepare and keep current a quality control manual" (145.211(c)) covering incoming inspection, preliminary and hidden-damage inspection, calibration of measuring and test equipment, final inspection and return to service, and "Taking corrective action on deficiencies" (14 CFR part 145).

The training program must be approved by the FAA and consist "of initial and recurrent training" (145.163(a)); training records "must be retained for a minimum of 2 years" (145.163(c)). The FAA's advisory circular on training programs describes "categories of training, training program components, and sample training programs" (AC 145-10, preface).

Note: eCFR shows an amendment to some part 145 sections (including 145.201, 145.211 and 145.217) "published at 91 FR 72407, Nov. 10, 2026" (eCFR). Read the current text before relying on those sections.

Personnel and the accountable manager

Each station must "Designate a repair station employee as the accountable manager" (145.151(a)). The accountable manager is "the person designated by the certificated repair station who is responsible for and has the authority over all repair station operations that are conducted under part 145", including serving "as the primary contact with the FAA" (145.3(a)) (14 CFR part 145).

• Qualified people to plan, supervise, perform and approve for return to service the work under the certificate (145.151(b)).
• Supervisors at stations in the United States must be certificated as mechanics or repairmen under part 65 for the work supervised (145.153(b)(1)).
• Each person authorized to approve an article for return to service at a US station must be certificated under part 65, and every such person must understand, read and write English (145.157).
• Abilities of noncertificated employees are determined "based on training, knowledge, experience, or practical tests" (145.151(d)).

Recordkeeping under 145.219: what to keep and for how long

A station "must retain records in English that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of part 43", in a format acceptable to the FAA; it must give the owner or operator a copy of the maintenance release; and it "must retain the records required by this section for at least 2 years from the date the article was approved for return to service" (14 CFR 145.219). Records must be available for inspection by the FAA and the NTSB (145.219(d)).

• Work records under 14 CFR 43.9: a description of the work or a reference to acceptable data, the completion date, and the signature, certificate number and kind of certificate of the person approving it (43.9(a)). See logbook entry requirements.
• Major repairs: either Form 337 or, for repairs under an acceptable manual, the customer's work order kept "for at least two years" (Appendix B(b)). See the Form 337 example.
• Releases of articles, usually on an FAA Form 8130-3.
• Training records (145.163(c)), rosters of management, supervisory and inspection personnel (145.161), and capability list self-evaluations (145.215(c)).
• Service difficulty reports: a station "must report to the FAA within 96 hours after it discovers any serious failure, malfunction, or defect of an article" (145.221(a)).

Two years is the minimum. Many stations keep work packages far longer for warranty, customer contracts and litigation, which is why long archives exist.

How Part 145 certification works

The application, in a format acceptable to the FAA, must include (145.51(a)):

• A repair station manual (145.207) and a quality control manual (145.211(c)).
• A list by type, make or model of each article for which the application is made.
• An organizational chart with the names and titles of managing and supervisory personnel.
• A description of the housing and facilities, including the physical address.
• A list of maintenance functions to be performed under contract by another person (145.217).
• A training program for FAA approval (145.163).

The equipment, personnel, technical data, housing and facilities "must be in place for inspection at the time of certification or rating approval by the FAA" (145.51(b)). A certificate for a station in the United States is effective "until the repair station surrenders the certificate and the FAA accepts it for cancellation, or the FAA suspends or revokes it" (145.55(a)); stations outside the United States renew periodically (145.55(b)) (14 CFR part 145).

Common mistakes repair stations make

Drawn from the rule text; each is a finding an FAA inspector can write.

• Working on an article that is not on the capability list or within the ratings (145.201(b), 145.215(a)).
• Adding an article to the capability list without a documented self-evaluation, or without sending the revised list to the responsible Flight Standards office (145.215(c) and (d)).
• Manuals that no longer match practice. The station must follow its manual and keep it current (145.207(a) and (b)).
• Training records that are missing or kept for less than 2 years (145.163(c)).
• Destroying work records before 2 years from return to service, or keeping them in a format the FAA has not accepted (145.219).
• Missing the 96-hour window for a service difficulty report (145.221(a)).
• Assuming a certificate transfers with a sale. A new owner that operates as a repair station must apply for an amended or new certificate (145.57(b)).

Selling or valuing a repair station

If a station "sells or transfers its assets and the new owner chooses to operate as a repair station, the new owner must apply for an amended or new certificate in accordance with § 145.51" (145.57(b)). Ratings, capability list, manuals and staff are what a buyer is paying for, and the records show the station has worked within them.

The records also have value of their own. Work orders, findings, parts removals and releases kept over many years can be licensed separately from the business, or before a sale or closure; how that works is covered in can you sell aircraft maintenance records.

Your station's records are also a data asset

A repair station's archive links reported faults to findings, parts and the work that returned an article to service, which is rarely available outside the station. Years of those records, with customer names, tail numbers and serial numbers replaced by consistent tokens (see the de-identification guide), can be licensed to AI developers building maintenance tools. Customer contracts and export controls decide what can be included; the aviation repair station data guide covers who signs and what to leave out.

If your company keeps years of maintenance, parts and release records, the guide for repair stations and operators explains what AI developers ask for and who signs. To see what yours could be worth, describe them in six questions; no files or system access needed.