The Short Answer
A Part 145 repair station certificate carries ratings that define the outer boundary of what the station may work on. 14 CFR §145.59 lists the broad class ratings — Airframe, Powerplant, Propeller, Radio, Instrument, and Accessory, each subdivided into classes. 14 CFR §145.61 covers narrower limited ratings for a particular make and model, or for specialized maintenance. Within a limited rating, the capability list required by 14 CFR §145.215 names the exact articles the station is authorized to maintain.
The capability list is largely self-managed: under §145.215(c) a station lists an article only after performing — and retaining documentation of — a self-evaluation under §145.209(d)(2) confirming it has the housing, facilities, equipment, materials, technical data, processes, and trained personnel for that article. Under §145.215(d), when it adds articles it must give its responsible Flight Standards office a copy of the revised list. Because no FAA signature gates the listing, the self-evaluation record is the proof — and a listed article with no self-evaluation on file is a classic surveillance finding.
Most discussion of Part 145 compliance focuses on the manual, the quality control system, and recordkeeping. But the question an inspector asks first is more fundamental: are you even authorized to work on this? The answer lives in three layered documents — the ratings on the certificate, the operations specifications, and the capability list. This article decodes 14 CFR §145.59, §145.61, and §145.215, and explains exactly what is documented, who maintains it, and how a revision is supposed to flow.
This post sits alongside FileFlo's deeper Part 145 coverage. For the documents an inspector pulls during a records review, see Part 145 repair station recordkeeping requirements; for how to assemble the binder before a visit, see the Part 145 audit binder. This article is about the layer above the records: the scope of authority itself.
Scope findings are about authority, not quality
A station can do flawless technical work and still generate a finding if the article it worked on falls outside its ratings, isn't on a current capability list, or has no self-evaluation on file justifying the listing. Ratings and capability-list compliance is a documentation discipline — keeping the certificate, the operations specifications, and the capability list internally consistent and provable.
14 CFR §145.59: The Six Rating Groups
Under 14 CFR §145.59, the FAA assigns class ratings to a repair station from six groups. Each group is subdivided into classes that define progressively what the station is authorized to work on. The class descriptions below paraphrase the regulation — verify the exact wording against the current rule text for any specific scope question.
Airframe ratings
Composite construction of small aircraft.
Composite construction of large aircraft.
All-metal construction of small aircraft.
All-metal construction of large aircraft.
Powerplant ratings
Reciprocating engines of 400 horsepower or less.
Reciprocating engines of more than 400 horsepower.
Turbine engines.
Propeller ratings
Fixed-pitch and ground-adjustable propellers of wood, metal, or composite construction.
Other propellers, by make.
Radio ratings
Communications equipment — radio systems used to send or receive communications in flight, regardless of carrier frequency or modulation type.
Navigational equipment — a radio system used in an aircraft for en route or approach navigation (excluding equipment operating on radar or pulsed-radio-frequency principles).
Radar equipment — an aircraft electronic system operated on radar or pulsed-radio-frequency principles.
Instrument ratings
Mechanical — a diaphragm, bourdon tube, aneroid, optical, or mechanically driven centrifugal instrument used on aircraft or to operate aircraft (for example tachometers, airspeed indicators, pressure gauges).
Electrical — self-synchronous and electrical-indicating instruments and systems, including remote-indicating instruments and cylinder head temperature gauges.
Gyroscopic — instruments and systems using gyroscopic principles and motivated by air pressure or electrical energy, including automatic pilot control units, turn and bank indicators, and gyroscopic-controlled flux gate and gyrosyn compasses.
Electronic — instruments whose operation depends on electron tubes, transistors, or similar devices, including capacitance-type quantity gauges, system amplifiers, and engine-analyzer-type instruments.
Accessory ratings
Mechanical accessory — an accessory that depends on friction, hydraulics, mechanical linkage, or pneumatic pressure for operation, including aircraft wheel brakes, mechanically driven pumps, and carburetors.
Electrical accessory — an accessory that depends on electrical energy for operation, and a generator, including starters, voltage regulators, electric motors, and electrically driven fuel pumps, magnetos, or similar electrical accessories.
Electronic accessory — an accessory that depends on the use of an electron tube, transistor, or similar device, including supercharger, temperature, air conditioning controls, or similar electronic controls.
"Small" vs. "large" aircraft is defined elsewhere
The airframe classes turn on whether the aircraft is "small" or "large." Those terms are defined in 14 CFR §1.1 — broadly, a large aircraft is one of more than 12,500 pounds maximum certificated takeoff weight, and a small aircraft is 12,500 pounds or less — so the rating that applies to a given airframe depends on that definition, not on a colloquial sense of size. When in doubt about which class governs an article, the controlling definitions and the station operations specifications resolve it.
14 CFR §145.61: Limited Ratings
Where a §145.59 class rating is broad, a §145.61 limited rating is narrow. Under §145.61(a), the FAA may issue a limited rating to a repair station that maintains or alters a particular type of airframe, powerplant, propeller, radio, instrument, or accessory — or a part thereof — or that performs only specialized maintenance.
The limited-rating categories the FAA issues
§145.61(b) lists the categories of limited rating the FAA issues. A station may hold a limited rating for:
Airframes of a particular make and model
Engines of a particular make and model
Propellers of a particular make and model
Instruments of a particular make and model
Radio equipment of a particular make and model
Accessories of a particular make and model
Landing gear components
Floats, by make
Nondestructive inspection, testing, and processing
Emergency equipment
Rotor blades, by make and model
Aircraft fabric work
Any other purpose the FAA finds appropriate
Specialized services: §145.61(c)
For a limited rating covering a specialized service, §145.61(c) requires that the operations specifications of the repair station contain the specification used to perform the specialized service. That specification may be either a current industry standard approved by the FAA or a specification developed by the applicant and approved by the FAA — in both cases, FAA approval is required. This is the rule that ties, for example, a nondestructive-testing limited rating to a documented, approved process specification.
Why limited ratings need a capability list
A class rating is self-defining — Airframe Class 4 means all-metal large aircraft, full stop. A limited rating is open-ended: "instruments of a particular make and model" could be one model or two hundred. The capability list is how a limited-rating station pins down exactly which makes and models it is authorized to work on, article by article, with a documented self-evaluation behind each one. That is the subject of §145.215.
Related: Part 145 & FAA Aviation Compliance
14 CFR §145.215: The Capability List, Decoded
The capability list is the document that makes a limited rating operational. §145.215 has four subsections, (a) through (d). Here is what each requires and why each matters during surveillance.
Authority to work comes from the list or the op specs
What this means in practice
Under §145.215(a), a repair station with a limited rating may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations on an article only if that article is listed on a current capability list acceptable to the FAA or on the repair station operations specifications. The phrase that matters is current capability list acceptable to the FAA: an outdated list, or one the FAA has not accepted, does not authorize the work.
How each article must be identified
Each article on the list must be identified "by make and model or other nomenclature designated by the article's manufacturer" and the list must be available in a format acceptable to the FAA.
§145.215(b) is a precision requirement. A capability list that says "various avionics" or "assorted instruments" does not identify articles by make and model and is not compliant. The identifier has to match what the article's manufacturer designates — the same make/model/part nomenclature an inspector can cross-check against the self-evaluation, the technical data on hand, and the work the station actually performs.
The self-evaluation — the heart of the rule
An article may be listed within the scope of the certificate "only after the repair station has performed a self-evaluation in accordance with the procedures under § 145.209(d)(2)," and documentation of that evaluation must be retained on file.
This is the provision that gives the capability list its integrity. Before an article goes on the list, the station must evaluate itself against the article and confirm it has what it takes to work on it. In practice the self-evaluation documents that the station possesses:
Housing and facilities appropriate to the article
Equipment and tooling needed for the work
Materials required to perform the maintenance
Technical data — current manuals and instructions
Processes and procedures for the article
Trained personnel qualified for the work
Retained on file — not optional
§145.215(c) explicitly requires documentation of the self-evaluation to be retained on file. The self-evaluation is the evidence that justified the listing, and it is the document an inspector asks for when reviewing scope. A listed article with no retained self-evaluation is a finding even if the station genuinely has the capability — because the rule requires the documented evaluation, performed before listing.
Common §145.215(c) finding
An article appears on the capability list, but there is no self-evaluation on file — or the self-evaluation is generic boilerplate that does not actually address the housing, equipment, technical data, and trained personnel for that specific article. The listing is then unsupported, and the work performed under it is exposed.
Notifying the Flight Standards office of revisions
When articles are added to the capability list, the repair station must provide its responsible Flight Standards office with a copy of the revised list, in accordance with the procedures required under § 145.209(d)(1).
§145.215(d) closes the loop. The station lists the article (after self-evaluation), then sends the revised list to its responsible Flight Standards office. This is a notification of the revision, not a request for prior approval — but the procedures and the notification frequency are themselves written into the repair station manual under §145.209(d)(1). Skipping the notification, or never establishing a notification procedure in the manual, are both findings.
How a Capability-List Revision Actually Flows
The mechanics of adding an article connect §145.215 to the repair station manual at §145.209(d). Here is the sequence the rules contemplate, step by step.
The manual sets the procedures first (§145.209(d))
Before any of this happens, the repair station manual must already contain the procedures. §145.209(d)(1) requires procedures for revising the capability list and notifying the responsible Flight Standards office of revisions, including how often the office will be notified. §145.209(d)(2) requires procedures for the self-evaluation used to revise the list — including the methods and frequency of those evaluations and procedures for reporting results to the appropriate manager for review and action.
Documentation discipline: The manual procedures are the foundation. If §145.209(d)(1) and (d)(2) procedures are missing or vague, every capability-list revision built on them is exposed regardless of how good the individual self-evaluations are.
Perform the self-evaluation for the new article (§145.215(c))
Following the §145.209(d)(2) procedures, the station evaluates itself against the specific article: does it have the housing, facilities, equipment, materials, technical data, processes, and trained personnel? The self-evaluation is documented and the results are reported to the appropriate manager for review and action, per the manual procedure.
Documentation discipline: Tie the self-evaluation to the specific make and model. A self-evaluation that just restates the general rule, without addressing the actual equipment and data for that article, is the gap inspectors find most often.
List the article by make and model (§145.215(b))
Once the self-evaluation supports it, the article is added to the capability list, identified by make and model or the manufacturer's designated nomenclature, in a format acceptable to the FAA. The article is now within the station's authorized scope under §145.215(a).
Documentation discipline: Keep the list version-controlled. An inspector needs to see which articles were on the current list, when each was added, and that the matching self-evaluation predates the work performed on it.
Send the revised list to the Flight Standards office (§145.215(d))
Following §145.209(d)(1) procedures, the station provides its responsible Flight Standards office with a copy of the revised capability list, at the frequency the manual specifies. This is the notification step — the revision is already effective once self-evaluated and listed, but the office must be kept current.
Documentation discipline: Log the date each revised list was sent to the Flight Standards office. The notification record demonstrates the §145.215(d) procedure was actually followed, not just written into the manual.
Retain the self-evaluation on file (§145.215(c))
The documentation of the self-evaluation is retained on file. It is the evidence that justified the listing and the document an inspector requests when reviewing scope during surveillance. Retain it for at least as long as the article remains on the list.
Documentation discipline: Treat the self-evaluation as a living record tied to the current list — not a one-time form. When an article comes off the list, keep the superseded self-evaluation to defend the listing history.
Capability list vs. rating amendment — two different processes
It is worth being precise about what the capability list does not do. Adding an article to a capability list under §145.215 is a self-evaluate-and-notify process within an existing limited rating. Changing the ratings themselves — adding a class rating, adding a new limited rating, or amending the certificate's name or location — is a different procedure handled as a certificate amendment under §145.57, which routes through the application content rules of §145.51. Confusing the two — treating a needed rating amendment as a mere capability-list addition — is a scope error that can put work outside the certificate entirely.
For the broader documentation picture, see FileFlo's §145.219 recordkeeping breakdown and the Part 145 audit binder. For how repair station work flows into the records the aircraft owner keeps, see §43.9 maintenance record entries and FAA Form 337 for major repairs and alterations.
Where Ratings and the Capability List Sit in the Bigger Picture
A repair station's scope of authority is the foundation that the rest of Part 145 compliance is built on. The capability list determines what work is in scope; the §145.219 records then prove that the in-scope work was performed and released correctly. The two are inseparable during surveillance — an inspector who finds work performed outside the listed articles will question every record tied to it, and an inspector who finds a listing with no self-evaluation will question the authority behind the work.
Repair stations that perform maintenance for Part 135 operators sit at a sensitive junction: the operator's airworthiness directive compliance records, life-limited parts records, and engine and propeller overhaul tracking often depend on work released by the repair station. If a station released work on an article it was not actually authorized to list, the consequences ripple into the operator's records and ultimately the aircraft's §91.417 status records. That is why scope authority is not a paperwork footnote — it is upstream of the entire airworthiness record chain.
Where a Document Intelligence Platform Fits in Ratings & Capability-List Compliance
FileFlo is a compliance document intelligence platform — a read-only proof layer that sits alongside the maintenance stack and makes the documents you already have audit-ready. It does not hold your certificate, perform your self-evaluations, decide what your station is capable of, or replace your chief inspector, accountable manager, or DOM. Those judgments are yours. FileFlo handles the document compliance layer those decisions leave behind.
Specifically for ratings and the capability list, FileFlo classifies and indexes the documents that prove scope — the capability list itself, the per-article self-evaluations required by §145.215(c), the operations specifications, training certificates, and the technical-data records behind each listing — links each self-evaluation to the article it supports, flags listed articles that have no self-evaluation on file, and tracks the notification record showing the revised list was sent to the responsible Flight Standards office. When an inspector asks "show me the self-evaluation for this article," the answer is one search, not an afternoon in a filing cabinet.
Capability list ↔ self-evaluation linking
Each article on the capability list is linked to its retained self-evaluation. Listed articles with no self-evaluation on file surface immediately — the §145.215(c) gap an inspector looks for.
Scope-document classification
Upload a capability list, operations specification, self-evaluation, or training certificate — FileFlo classifies it against the right Part 145 requirement and indexes it so the scope picture is assembled in one place.
Revision notification tracking
The date each revised capability list was provided to the responsible Flight Standards office is logged, so the §145.215(d) notification record is provable, not just claimed.
Inspector-ready scope packet
Generates a surveillance-ready scope packet — certificate ratings, operations specifications, current capability list, and the self-evaluation behind each listed article — organized the way a scope review proceeds.
FileFlo does not perform self-evaluations, determine your station's capability, hold your certificate, or perform maintenance. Those are functions of the repair station and its certificated personnel. FileFlo keeps the documents that prove the self-evaluations were done and the scope is authorized — audit-ready, at the moment the inspector asks.
Pricing: Starter $89/month, Professional $299/month. 5-day free trial, no credit card required.
See whether your scope documentation holds up before the inspector does
FileFlo's FAA readiness score reviews the documents that prove your authorized scope — capability list, per-article self-evaluations, operations specifications — and flags the gaps an inspector would likely cite. Takes under 10 minutes.
Check Your FAA Readiness Score — FreeFrequently Asked Questions
What ratings can a Part 145 repair station hold under 14 CFR §145.59?
14 CFR §145.59 establishes the rating classes the FAA assigns to a certificated repair station. There are six rating groups, each broken into classes: Airframe (Class 1 and Class 2 cover composite construction of small and large aircraft; Class 3 and Class 4 cover all-metal construction of small and large aircraft); Powerplant (Class 1 reciprocating engines of 400 horsepower or less, Class 2 reciprocating engines of more than 400 horsepower, Class 3 turbine engines); Propeller (Class 1 fixed-pitch and ground-adjustable propellers of wood, metal, or composite construction, Class 2 other propellers by make); Radio (Class 1 communications equipment, Class 2 navigational equipment, Class 3 radar equipment); Instrument (Class 1 mechanical, Class 2 electrical, Class 3 gyroscopic, Class 4 electronic); and Accessory (Class 1 mechanical accessories, Class 2 electrical accessories, Class 3 electronic accessories). The ratings on a certificate define the outer boundary of what a station is authorized to work on.
What is the difference between a §145.59 class rating and a §145.61 limited rating?
14 CFR §145.59 ratings are broad class ratings — for example, an Airframe Class 4 rating authorizes work on all-metal large aircraft generally. 14 CFR §145.61 limited ratings are narrower: the FAA may issue a limited rating to a repair station that maintains or alters a particular type of airframe, powerplant, propeller, radio, instrument, or accessory, or part thereof, or that performs only specialized maintenance. §145.61(b) lists the limited-rating categories the FAA issues, including airframes, engines, propellers, instruments, radios, and accessories of a particular make and model, landing gear components, floats by make, nondestructive inspection and testing, emergency equipment, rotor blades by make and model, aircraft fabric work, and any other purpose for which the FAA finds the request appropriate. A station holding a limited rating uses the capability list to identify the specific articles it has self-evaluated and is authorized to work on within that rating.
What is a Part 145 capability list and what does §145.215 require?
A capability list is the document a limited-rating repair station uses to identify the specific articles it is authorized to maintain. Under 14 CFR §145.215(a), a repair station with a limited rating may perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations on an article if the article is listed on a current capability list acceptable to the FAA or on the repair station operations specifications. Under §145.215(b), the list must identify each article by make and model or other nomenclature designated by the article manufacturer, in a format acceptable to the FAA. Under §145.215(c), an article may be listed only after the station performs a self-evaluation under the procedures in §145.209(d)(2), establishing that it has the housing, facilities, equipment, materials, technical data, processes, and trained personnel to work on the article — and documentation of that self-evaluation must be retained on file.
How does a repair station revise or add to its capability list?
Adding an article to a capability list under 14 CFR §145.215(c) is a self-authorization process, but it is governed by procedures the station writes into its repair station manual. Before listing an article, the station performs a self-evaluation under §145.209(d)(2) confirming it has the housing, facilities, equipment, materials, technical data, processes, and trained personnel for that article, and it retains documentation of that evaluation. Under §145.215(d), when articles are added the station must provide its responsible Flight Standards office with a copy of the revised list, following the procedures required under §145.209(d)(1). Because the listing happens before any FAA review, the integrity of the self-evaluation record is what an inspector examines later — a missing or thin self-evaluation for a listed article is a common finding.
Do capability-list additions require prior FAA approval before work begins?
Under 14 CFR §145.215, a limited-rating repair station self-evaluates and lists an article on its capability list before performing work, and then notifies its responsible Flight Standards office of the revision under §145.215(d) and §145.209(d)(1) — it is not a prior-approval, wait-for-a-signature process the way a rating amendment under §145.57 is. The trade-off is that the burden of proof shifts onto the station documentation: §145.215(c) requires the self-evaluation to be performed and documented and retained on file, and the capability list itself must be a current list acceptable to the FAA. If a station lists an article it cannot actually support, or cannot produce the self-evaluation that justified the listing, the FAA addresses it during surveillance rather than at the moment of listing. This is distinct from adding or amending a class rating, which is handled as a certificate amendment under §145.57.
What does an FAA inspector check about ratings and the capability list during surveillance?
During a surveillance visit, an inspector from the responsible Flight Standards office typically verifies that the work the station is actually performing falls within the ratings on its certificate and operations specifications, that any limited-rating work is on articles listed on a current capability list under §145.215, and that each listed article has a retained self-evaluation under §145.215(c) and §145.209(d)(2) demonstrating the station had the housing, facilities, equipment, technical data, and trained personnel for it. The inspector may also confirm the station notified the Flight Standards office of capability-list revisions per §145.215(d). Work performed outside the scope of the ratings, or on an article with no supporting self-evaluation on file, is the classic scope finding in repair station surveillance.
Where do operations specifications fit relative to ratings and the capability list?
The repair station certificate carries the ratings issued under §145.59 and §145.61; the operations specifications and the capability list then define the specific scope within those ratings. Under §145.215(a), an article may be authorized either on a current capability list acceptable to the FAA or on the operations specifications. For specialized services under a limited rating, §145.61(c) requires that the operations specifications contain the specification used to perform the specialized service, which may be an industry standard or an applicant-developed specification, in either case requiring FAA approval. So the certificate, the operations specifications, and the capability list are three layered documents that together fix exactly what a station is authorized to do — and keeping all three internally consistent is the documentation discipline §145 demands.
How long must a repair station keep capability-list self-evaluation records?
14 CFR §145.215(c) states only that documentation of the self-evaluation must be retained on file; it does not attach a specific number of years to that documentation the way §145.219(c) sets a 2-year minimum for the records demonstrating Part 43 compliance. As a practical matter, the self-evaluation that justifies a listed article should be kept for at least as long as the article remains on the capability list — because an inspector can ask to see the justification for any current listing at any time — and many stations keep superseded self-evaluations well beyond that to defend the listing history. Treating the self-evaluation as a living record tied to the current list, rather than a one-time form that gets filed and forgotten, is the safer posture.
More Aviation Compliance Resources
Part 145 Repair Station Recordkeeping (§145.219)
Work orders · 8130-3 traceability · 2-year retention
Part 145 Audit Binder: What Inspectors Ask For
Surveillance-ready document packet
§43.9 Maintenance Record Entry Requirements
The four-element content standard
FAA Form 337 — Major Repair & Alteration Records
When a 337 is required and who signs it
Part 135 Contract Maintenance Records
Outsourced maintenance documentation
Airworthiness Directive (AD) Compliance Records
14 CFR Part 39 · recurring vs. one-time
What Records Must a Part 135 Operator Keep?
The operator-side records picture
PMA Parts Traceability & 8130-3 Records
Approved-parts documentation chain
Prove your authorized scope before the inspector asks
FileFlo classifies and links the documents that prove your ratings and capability list — the list itself, the per-article self-evaluations, the operations specifications, and the technical data behind each listing — so "show me the self-evaluation for this article" is a one-second answer. Takes under 10 minutes to see where you stand. No credit card required.
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