NCYankee 10-Jul-14 12:57 #05

Getting a repair station in the US is not particularly difficult to obtain. It i

s a matter of having the required equipment, facilities, qualified personnel, an
d an approved manual. The latter takes the most work. Certain types of work do n
ot require a repair station to perform it, while others do. A mechanic can remov
e and install a replacement autopilot servo, but can t repair the actual servo. He
can send it to an authorized repair station for repair, but can t do it himself.
That same mechanic, performing the same work under a repair station that did not
have the autopilot on their certificate would get the repair station in trouble
if the work was signed off by the repair station. If it is signed off by the me
chanic himself, using his authority and not the repair stations authority, it is
OK.
In a similar way, an IA who is an employee of the repair station can perform and
sign off an annual on an aircraft that is not on a repair station certificate,
but must not use the repair station authority in the sign off, he must use his o
wn IA certificate. Some shops who specialize in particular aircraft types will h
ave a repair station with those types on their certificate. This is particularly
true of high end piston and turbine equipment as many of the customers require
that a repair station perform the work, but for the vast majority of piston airc
raft, shops use individual IA s and A&P s in lieu of a repair station and see no nee
d for going thru the hassle of a repair station. If you are going to do avionics
, instruments, accessory repair, or special services (transponder and pitot stat
ic checks) you need a repair station with those services on the certificate. An
A&P can install and an IA can inspect an avionics installation and fill out the
337 for many avionics systems, but often don t do this because of dealership requi
rements of the vendors, not because they lack the FAA authority.