As a repair station, do I establish my federal drug and alcohol testing program under an Operations Specification paragraph (A449) or a registration?
If you are operating under a part 145 certificate and elect to conduct your own federal testing to perform safety-sensitive functions for an employer (including a part 121 or 135 or 91.147 operator), you must obtain an Operations Specification paragraph (A449) by contacting your FAA Principal Maintenance Inspector (PMI). You must provide the PMI the following information that is outlined in 14 CFR §§ 120.117(d) and 120.225(d):
- Company name,
- Certificate number,
- Telephone Number,
- Address where your drug and alcohol testing records are kept, and
- Whether you have 50 or more safety-sensitive employees, or 49 or fewer safety-sensitive employees.
You must certify in your A449 that you will comply with 14 CFR part 120 and 49 CFR part 40. Once your A449 is active, you must implement your testing program prior to your employees performing any safety-sensitive functions, directly or by contract (including subcontract at any tier) for a 14 CFR part 121 or 135 or § 91.147 operator.
Your A449 serves as your certification and authorization to conduct federal drug and alcohol testing under 14 CFR part 120. Although some repair station companies are authorized for a specific rating, this limitation does not affect the A449 or the repair station’s ability to conduct their own federal drug and alcohol testing program.
While we allow a repair station to obtain a program registration, that option is limited to an individual or corporation that owns and operates multiple repair station certificates or facilities throughout the territories of the United States and conducts testing under one program. For example, a corporation owns and operates six different repair station certificates throughout Texas and wants to conduct a single drug and alcohol testing program. The corporation would obtain a registration that covers all six of its repair station certificates and employees. If you are a repair station that operates under a single certificate and in multiple states, you are not eligible to register the program and you would conduct testing under your A449.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about our program.