When requesting the services of a designee, whether it be for manufacturing or maintenance functions, be sure to allow time for your request to be processed. The designee cannot arbitrarily proceed without Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval. It doesn’t matter if your request is for certification of an amateur-built aircraft or standard airworthiness certification of a transport category aircraft, the rules are the same. The FAA guidance material is very clear; “all actions taken by the designees on behalf of the FAA are subject to the monitoring, review, and approval of the supervising Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI).
If you need a DAR to work outside his normal geographic boundaries then permission will have to be granted by the managing FAA office. For Maintenance DARs the guidance is quite clear in that the request has to be made at least least 7 days before the scheduled work is to begin. The FAA will make a determination as to whether the they have the ability to adequately monitor and supervise the designee. In most cases the managing ASI notifies the FAA office that has jurisdiction where the functions are to be performed and coordinates with that office. The DAR shows up with the appropriate permission slip and conducts the certification requested. Manufacturing designees are handled a little differently but the time factor still applies.
A major change, which occoured in August, 2010, requires all designee issuing operating limitations in conjunction with a special airworthiness certificate or special flight permit, to obtain and receive written acceptance from their ASIs indicating the limitations about to be issued are acceptable and that they include areas of operation the FAA considers necessary for safety.
Bottom line; your experience can be positive if the request is within the scope of the designee’s functions and you have allowed plenty of time for the designee to fulfill the necessary FAA notification requriements.
If you need an DAR, we can locate one for you here.
