Written Practice for FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating)
FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) names this requirement as "Written NDI qualification and certification program — the written practice — describing training, examination, qualification, documentation, proficiency maintenance, and the steps to decertify, retrain or recertify.". The employer's Level III owns it, and a contracted Level III can author and sign it.
The finding auditors record against this document is: Written practice references SNT-TC-1A or NAS 410 but the recertification intervals actually applied do not match the standard the organisation says it follows. Part 145 does not describe NDT techniques; it regulates the organisation that performs them. The FAA issues a limited rating for 'Nondestructive inspection, testing, and processing' under §145.61(b)(9), and §145.61(c) requires the repair station's operations specifications to name the specification used for the specialized service — either a civil or military specification currently used by industry and approved by the FAA, or one the applicant develops and the FAA approves. Around that sit §145.151 personnel, §145.155 inspection personnel proficiency and English literacy, §145.163 an FAA-approved initial and recurrent training program with records kept at least two years, and §145.211(c) a quality control manual that must describe how inspection personnel proficiency is established and maintained and how measuring and test equipment is calibrated, including intervals.
Source: 14 CFR §§145.51, 145.55, 145.59, 145.61, 145.151, 145.155, 145.163, 145.211 as published in the electronic CFR via Cornell LII, current text including Docket FAA-2016-8744 Amdt. 145-31 (81 FR 49163, 27 July 2016) for §145.61 and Amdt. 145-32 (83 FR 9176, 5 March 2018) for §145.163. FAA Advisory Circular 65-31B, 'Training, Qualification, and Certification of Nondestructive Inspection Personnel,' dated 2/24/14, initiated by AFS-300, cancelling AC 65-31A of 25 April 2003, read in full — paragraphs 3, 5d, 5u, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Accessed 21 Aug 2026.
| Item | What applies | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Regime | Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 145 — Repair Stations, with the limited rating for nondestructive inspection, testing, and processing | Enforced by Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service; day-to-day oversight sits with the repair station's responsible Flight Standards office |
| Document | Written Practice | the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel |
| Owner | the employer's Level III | The signature an auditor traces back |
| Where it is checked | Issue of the certificate, the ratings and limitations, and the operations specifications naming the approved NDI specification. | Usually against a sampled job, not in isolation |
| Common failure | The specification named in the operations specifications for the NDI specialized service does not match the specification the technicians actually work to | The gap between the manual and the job file |
What must a written practice contain under FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating)?
It has to satisfy FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) as Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service; day-to-day oversight sits with the repair station's responsible Flight Standards office enforces it: the document that defines how the employer qualifies and certifies its own NDT personnel. The test is not completeness on paper but traceability — an auditor picks a finished job and works backwards to this document, so anything it claims must be demonstrable on that job.
Who signs the written practice for FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating)?
The employer's Level III. Because this regime accepts employer-based certification, that role can be filled by a contracted Level III rather than a staff appointment, provided they are qualified in the methods they sign for.
How does a FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) auditor test this document?
By sampling. They take a completed job, find the technicians and equipment used, and trace each back through this document to the evidence behind it. A document that reads well but cannot survive that trace is the most common finding across every regime, not just this one.
How long must FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) records be kept?
Under §145.55(a) a certificate or rating issued to a repair station located in the United States is effective from the date of issue until surrendered and accepted for cancellation, or suspended or revoked — there is no periodic expiry. Under §145.55(b) a certificate issued to a repair station located outside the United States expires on the last day of the 12th month after issue and the FAA may renew it for 24 months; renewal must be requested no later than 30 days before expiry and the prescribed fee paid, otherwise the full §145.51 application procedure applies. Personnel recertification runs on the AC 65-31B intervals: Level I Special not exceeding one year, Levels I and II not exceeding three years, Level III at five-year intervals, with requalification also triggered by six months of inactivity in the method or an expired vision examination. Retention is set by the regime and by the client contract above it, and the longer of the two governs. Firms that set one retention period for everything and document it fare better at audit than firms tracking different periods per record type and losing track.
Does a generic template satisfy FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating)?
No. A downloaded template describes a generic firm, and the first question an auditor asks is whether the document describes THIS firm — its methods, its equipment, its people, its actual workflow. Templates are a starting structure; the content has to be the firm's own or the trace fails immediately.
What happens if this document is missing at a FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) audit?
It is a finding, and depending on the regime it can suspend the certificate rather than merely generate a corrective action. The related finding auditors record most often is: The specification named in the operations specifications for the NDI specialized service does not match the specification the technicians actually work to
Where this sits in the FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) evidence pack
- Application for a repair station certificate and rating, with the attachments required by §145.51(a)
- Operations specifications containing the specification used to perform the specialized service, per §145.61(c)
- Repair station manual, and the quality control manual required by §145.211(c) covering preliminary, hidden-damage and final inspection, establishing and maintaining proficiency of inspection personnel, current technical data, qualifying and surveilling noncertificated persons who perform maintenance, calibration of measuring and test equipment including intervals, and corrective action on deficiencies
- FAA-approved employee training program under §145.163(a), submitted per §145.51(a)(7), with individual training records documented and retained a minimum of two years
- Written NDI qualification and certification program — the written practice — describing training, examination, qualification, documentation, proficiency maintenance, and the steps to decertify, retrain or recertify (AC 65-31B paragraph 9a)
- Personnel records specifying date, time and place of qualification, employing organisation, level, special qualifications or limitations, and the standard under which the individual is qualified, including a copy of any FAA repairman certificate issued to that individual (AC 65-31B paragraph 12)
- Vision examination records — near vision to Snellen 20/25 or Jaeger #1 in at least one eye, corrected or uncorrected, on a periodic basis not exceeding one year; colour perception evaluated once at initial examination with any limitation approved in writing by the responsible Level III
- Calibration records for NDI instruments traceable to a national metrological institute such as NIST
- Contracting arrangements and evidence of qualification and surveillance for any noncertificated person performing maintenance functions, as required by §145.151(d) and the quality control manual
Personnel certification context
Employer-based, and the FAA says so plainly. AC 65-31B defines certification as 'written testimony of qualification that the employer typically issues' and states: 'In the United States, there is no national certifying agency; therefore, most certifications are employer-based and are not transferrable.' The AC lists acceptable standards — AIA-NAS-410, ATA Specification 105, CAN/CGSB-48.9712-95, ISO 9712, MIL-STD-410E (rescinded but acceptable), ASNT SNT-TC-1A, and prEN 4179. It defines an 'Outside Agency' as an independent body under contract for NDI services, explicitly including consultants and self-employed individuals, and paragraph 9b permits a qualified outside agency to provide NDI training, qualification and testing at the organisation's option and as provided in its written practice.
Related: the FAA Part 145 (NDI limited rating) overview, outsourced ASNT Level III cover, written practice development, NDT procedure development, a programme gap assessment, interim Level III cover.