26.303 Limit of Validity

• Regulation (EU) 2020/1159 found in: CS-26 Additional Airworthiness Specifications for Operations (No 2015/640) Part-26 (Mar 2023)
• Regulation (EU) 2024/2954 found in: CS-26 Additional Airworthiness Specifications for Operations (Part-26) (Oct 2025)

26.303 Limit of Validity Regulation (EU) 2020/1159 (a) A holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC, for a turbine-powered large aeroplane certified on or after 1 January 1958, for which the application for TC was submitted before 1 January 2019, certified with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lbs), shall: (i) establish a limit of validity (LOV) and include that LOV in an amended ALS; (ii) identify existing and new maintenance actions upon which the LOV depends, and develop service information necessary for operators to implement those maintenance actions and submit the service information for the maintenance actions to the Agency in accordance with a binding schedule agreed with the Agency. The aeroplane structural configurations to be evaluated for the purpose of establishing the LOV shall include all model variations and derivatives approved under the TC before 26 February 2021 and all structural changes and replacements to the structural configurations of those aeroplanes that are required by an airworthiness directive issued before 26 February 2021. By way of derogation from paragraph (a)(ii), a holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC for a turbine- powered large aeroplane shall not be required to develop and submit to the Agency the service information for a maintenance action applicable to an aeroplane model which will not be operated anymore after the scheduled point of submittal for the service information of that maintenance action. For this exception to take effect, the holder of a type-certificate (TC) or a restricted TC shall inform the Agency not later than the date at which the aeroplane model ceases operation. (b) The holder of the type-certificate (TC) or the restricted TC shall submit the LOV established in accordance with paragraph (a) and the amendment to the ALS referred to in that paragraph together with the binding schedule to the Agency, before the deadlines established in paragraphs (i) to (iii), for approval: (i) 26 August 2022 for fatigue critical structure with a certification basis that does not include a damage tolerance evaluation; (ii) 26 February 2026 for aeroplane structure subject to ongoing full-scale fatigue testing at the date of the applicability of this amending Regulation; (iii) 26 February 2025 for all other aeroplane structures. (c) An applicant for a TC or restricted TC as referred in letter (c) of [Article 1](#_DxCrossRefBm881534020) paragraph 2, for a turbine-powered large aeroplane with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lbs), shall: (i) establish a limit of validity (LOV) and include that LOV in the ALS; (ii) identify existing and new maintenance actions upon which the LOV depends, and develop service information necessary for operators to implement those maintenance actions and submit the service information for the maintenance actions to the Agency in accordance with a binding schedule agreed with the Agency. (d) The applicant for a TC or restricted TC as referred in letter (c) of Article 1 paragraph 2 shall submit the LOV established in accordance with paragraph (c) and the ALS referred to in that paragraph together with the binding schedule to the Agency, for approval. (e) The following deadlines shall apply to the obligations referred to in paragraph (d) (i) before the date approved by the Agency in the plan of the applicant for completing tests and analyses of any aeroplane structure requiring new full-scale fatigue testing to support establishment of the LOV; (ii) before 26 February 2025 for all other aeroplane structures. #### 26.303 Limit of Validity *Regulation (EU) 2024/2954* (a) A holder of a TC or a restricted TC, for a large aeroplane certified on or after 1 January 1958, for which the application for a TC was submitted before 1 January 2019, and certified with a MTOW greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lb), shall: (i) establish a limit of validity (LOV) and include that LOV in an amended ALS; (ii) identify existing and new maintenance actions upon which the LOV depends, and develop service information necessary to implement those maintenance actions and submit the service information for the maintenance actions to the Agency in accordance with a binding schedule agreed with the Agency. The aeroplane structural configurations to be evaluated for the purpose of establishing the LOV shall include all model variations and derivatives approved under the TC before 26 February 2021 and all structural changes and replacements to the structural configurations of those aeroplanes that are required by an airworthiness directive issued before 26 February 2021. By way of derogation from point (ii), a holder of a TC or a restricted TC for a large aeroplane shall not be required to develop and submit to the Agency the service information for a maintenance action applicable to a large aeroplane model that will not be operated anymore after the scheduled point of submission for the service information of that maintenance action. For this exception to take effect, the holder of a TC or a restricted TC shall inform the Agency not later than the date on which the aeroplane model ceases operation. (b) The holder of the TC or the restricted TC shall submit the LOV established in accordance with point (a) and the amendment to the ALS referred to in that point together with the binding schedule to the Agency, before the deadlines established in the following points (i), (ii) and (iii), for approval: (i) 26 August 2022 for a fatigue-critical structure with a certification basis that does not include a damage tolerance evaluation; (ii) 26 February 2026 for an aeroplane structure subject to ongoing full-scale fatigue testing on the date of the applicability of this amending Regulation; (iii) 26 February 2025 for all other aeroplane structures. (c) An applicant for a TC or a restricted TC, as referred to in [Article 1](#_DxCrossRefBm783605422)(2)(c), for a large aeroplane with a MTOW greater than 34 019 kg (75 000 lb), shall: (i) establish a LOV and include that LOV in the ALS; (ii) identify existing and new maintenance actions upon which the LOV depends, and develop service information necessary to implement those maintenance actions and submit the service information for the maintenance actions to the Agency in accordance with a binding schedule agreed with the Agency. (d) The applicant for a TC or a restricted TC, as referred to in [Article 1](#_DxCrossRefBm783605422)(2), point (c), shall submit the LOV established in accordance with point (c) of this point and the ALS referred to in that point together with the binding schedule to the Agency, for approval: (i) before the date approved by the Agency in the plan of the applicant for completing tests and analyses of any aeroplane structure requiring new full-scale fatigue testing to support the establishment of the LOV; (ii) before 26 February 2025 for all other aeroplane structures.