CAMP: Authority to perform and approve maintenance

If you operate aircraft under a Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP), you have flexibility in how maintenance gets done. You can hire your own maintenance personnel or contract with outside organizations to perform maintenance and preventive maintenance, as long as these arrangements follow your maintenance manual.

However, there's a critical limitation: unless you hold the proper certificates (like a repair station certificate), you cannot personally approve aircraft for return to service after maintenance. You can arrange and oversee the maintenance work, but the actual approval authority must come from someone appropriately certificated—typically an A&P mechanic, repair station, or other authorized person.

This regulation essentially separates the program manager's role (organizing and managing maintenance) from the certification authority needed to sign off completed work. It ensures that even though CAMP operators have significant maintenance program control, they still must use properly certificated personnel for final approvals.

*This is a plain-English summary for study only. The official 14 CFR text on this page is controlling — always read the current regulation and consult a CFI.*