scope:

PURPOSE.

a. This order establishes and describes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Certification Systems Evaluation Program (ACSEP). This program, an element of certificate management, is a vital element within the FAA's mission of continued operational safety and is excluded from the Department of Transportation's plan to reduce internal regulations by 50 percent. FAA Order 8120.2, Production Approval and Certificate Management Procedures, defines the entire certificate management program. However, there are processes in this order that are automated in the Certificate Management Information System (CMIS) program. All of these processes must be performed within CMIS. Other evaluations, audits, or inspections may be required in accordance with directorate or headquarters directives. The ACSEP is a comprehensive evaluation program that accomplishes the following:

(1) Applies standardized systems evaluation to the continued integrity of the design data after initial approval by the FAA at production approval holders (PAH) and associate facilities. The ACSEP does not reevaluate the approval of previously approved data such as quality manuals and design data.

(2) Ascertains whether PAHs and associate facilities meet the applicable requirements of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) and comply with procedures established to meet those requirements.

(3) Surveys the application of standardized evaluation criteria not required by 14 CFR or FAA-approved data to identify national trends that may require development of new or revised regulations, policy, and guidance.

(4) Provides customer focus through the establishment of a database for analyzing evaluation results and for reporting trends in continued operational safety upon which FAA customers may act.

(5) Provides continuous improvement by continually evaluating lessons learned and customer feedback reports, and considering proposed improvements by FAA internal and external customers.

(6) Provides for employee involvement by establishing and maintaining a professional staff of trained evaluators composed of aviation safety inspectors, aerospace engineers, flight test engineers, and flight test pilots.

b. All processes defined in this order that are automated in the CMIS, must be performed in CMIS. Because CMIS automates some of the evaluation processes, there may be differences in CMIS processes and the stated manual processes defined in this order. Where this is the case, the automated process in CMIS takes precedence over the manual process stated in this order.