Data / Federal rules / 2026-13282
Mechanic Certification: Inspection Rating and Recent Experience Requirements
The Federal Aviation Administration published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 1, 2026. Comments closed on August 31, 2026.
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What the agency says
FAA proposes to amend the regulations for certificated mechanics by replacing the inspection authorization with an inspection rating on a mechanic's certificate, similar to the existing airframe and powerplant ratings. The inspection rating would carry the same privileges and limitations as the inspection authorization but would not require renewal or have an expiration date, consistent with the other mechanic ratings. As a result, FAA proposes to require certificated mechanics with inspection ratings to complete rolling recent experience activities, maintained independently, to exercise the privileges of their rating, rather than the current requirements of presenting evidence of renewal activities each March of every odd- numbered year. These proposed changes are intended to align mechanic privileges, which would streamline and simplify the process for maintaining inspection privileges, increase FAA efficiency by reducing on-demand work tasks, and save critical hours for safety-focused missions. These proposed changes would be deregulatory since they would reduce the paperwork and resource burdens linked to complying with the existing regulations for both industry and FAA.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-13282
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)
- Agency
- Transportation Department; Federal Aviation Administration
- Published
- July 1, 2026
- Comments due
- August 31, 2026
- Dates
- Send comments on or before August 31, 2026.
- Docket
- Docket No.: FAA-2026-6671; Notice Nos. 26-08
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 2120-AM04
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 14 CFR 43; 14 CFR 61; 14 CFR 65; 14 CFR 91; 14 CFR 147
- Topics
- Afghanistan; Agriculture; Air carriers; Air taxis; Air traffic control; Air traffic controllers; Aircraft; Airmen; Airports; Alaska; Alcohol abuse; Aviation safety; Canada; Charter flights; Cuba; Drug abuse; Drug traffic control; Educational facilities; Ethiopia; Freight; Iran; Iraq; Libya; Mexico; Noise control; North Korea; Political candidates; Recreation and recreation areas; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Schools; Security measures; Somalia; Syria; Teachers; Transportation; Yemen; Yugoslavia
- Pages
- 26
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Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.