CDOMAC Charter: The Code of Ethics for Civil Aviation Maintenance Organizations

Work safety and quality, parts traceability, adherence to quotes and deadlines, financial stability, mechanics’ working conditions, and workshop waste management: the CDOMAC Charter (Code of Ethics for Civil Aviation Maintenance Organizations) ensures that a maintenance organization fulfills its commitments to those who entrust their aircraft to it. ESTRADS Certification verifies each response based on supporting documentation and awards a Bronze, Silver, or Gold rating.

Taking Your Aircraft to a Repair Shop:
—What the Charter Checks for You

An owner, flying club, or operator who entrusts an aircraft to a repair shop is entrusting the shop with the aircraft’s safety, their budget, and—while the aircraft is out of service—their operations. They want to know whether the work will be done properly, whether the parts installed are compliant and traceable, whether the estimate will be adhered to, whether the aircraft will be ready by the announced date, and whether the repair shop will still be there to provide follow-up service.

A CDOMAC-certified organization has demonstrated, with supporting evidence:

that safety and the quality of the work take precedence over everything else;
that its licenses and its legal and administrative status are in order;
that its financial management is sound, so that a customer's device is not locked up due to a workshop failure;
that he provides his customers with accurate information: the condition of the appliance, estimates, additional work, deadlines, and invoices;
that he knows where the parts he assembles come from and keeps track of them;
that it provides its mechanics and employees with good working conditions and training;
that it manages waste and hazardous materials from the workshop and minimizes its environmental impact;
that he listens to his customers' feedback and strives to improve.

Certified organizations are listed, sorted by level, on the page Our Referencespage.

A charter that complements the accreditation

A civil aviation maintenance organization operates under certification: European regulations set the technical requirements, and the regulatory authority—in France, the DGAC and the organizations it authorizes—monitors compliance. The certification attests that the organization is authorized to perform the work and has the resources to do so in accordance with the rules.

The CDOMAC Charter addresses areas that accreditation does not cover, or covers only to a limited extent: fairness toward customers, transparency in pricing and timelines, financial stability, working conditions, the environment, and how the organization handles feedback and complaints. It is voluntary and complements accreditation without replacing it.

The relevant organizations

Certified Maintenance Organizations and MROs

An approved maintenance organization that works for helicopter companies, operators, or owners receives their supplier questionnaires and requirements ESG. The CDOMAC certification provides the organization with a third-party-verified statement regarding its practices, which it can present to each client and include in its bids. It also reassures banks and insurers regarding the organization’s management.

Continuing Airworthiness Management Organizations

An organization that manages the airworthiness of a fleet on behalf of its owners decides which maintenance work to perform and which repair shops will carry it out. The charter ensures the independence of these decisions, the clarity of the information provided to the owners, and the prevention of conflicts of interest.

General Aviation and Flying Clubs Workshops

A repair shop that services aircraft owned by private owners and flying clubs operates on a basis of trust: the customer doesn’t see the work being done; they see the estimate, the invoice, and the completion date. The certification demonstrates that the shop is transparent about its prices and turnaround times, that it tracks parts, and that it is financially sound. For a flying club that maintains its own fleet, the charter helps formalize practices that are often passed down by word of mouth.

Specialized workshops and subcontractors

Engines, propellers, avionics, paint, airframe, microlights, helicopters, parts distribution: The charter is open to any aviation maintenance organization. The questionnaire is tailored to each type of activity.

Aircraft maintenance training organizations are governed by the CDOFAC Charter, which is dedicated to aviation training.

What the CDOMAC Charter Verifies

More than 200 criteria, grouped into nine themes and tailored to the type of organization:

Work Safety and Quality: Implementation of procedures, work inspections, safety culture, and incident management.
Legal, administrative, and professional framework: up-to-date certifications, compliance with regulations and the principles of business ethics.
Financial Management: Sound financial management that shields the organization from unforeseen risks and protects its clients from unexpected downtime.
Transparency with customers: quotes, additional work subject to approval, adherence to deadlines, clear invoices, and accurate information about the condition of the appliance.
Traceability: origin and compliance of parts, maintenance of maintenance records, retention of records.
Customer service: greeting customers, follow-up, and handling complaints.
Focus on employees: mechanics’ qualifications and training, working conditions, health and safety in the workshop, and recruitment in a field facing a labor shortage.
Environmental protection: oils, solvents, paints, batteries, and other hazardous waste; energy consumption; reuse.
Continuous improvement: collecting feedback and criticism, and responding to them.

The criteria are reviewed annually to keep pace with changes in regulations and practices.

How do I obtain the CDOMAC certificate?

The organization completes its application, agrees to the terms and conditions, and receives its login credentials.
He is filling out the online questionnaire.
He forwards the requested documents and certificates to the analysis department atESTRADS Certification, which verifies them.
ESTRADS Certification conducts the on-site inspections required for their level.
The certification committee, which meets weekly, assigns the level.
The organization receives its certificate and a communications kit: logo, diploma, and certificate.
He displays the charter sign at the workshop’s reception area, which lists its main commitments and includes a QR code. Customers, mechanics, and employees can use it to send feedback—whether positive or negative—to ESTRADS Certification regarding compliance with the charter.

Details are on the page The certification process, in the section on charters.

Bronze, Silver, or Gold

The organization is awarded one of three levels based on its responses, the evidence it provides, and the audits conducted. The levels are not awarded in a specific order: an organization can achieve the Gold level on its very first assessment and advance to higher levels from one year to the next.

On-site inspections are random for the Bronze and Silver levels.
They are mandatory for the Gold level.
The certificate is valid for 12 months. Each year, a new evaluation determines the level, which may go up or down.

The paper document is valid for 3 months and is updated and reissued during its 12-month validity period to ensure that the certificate presented is always current. The levels of the charters and certifications are compared on the “Levels” page.

GIPAG, the charter's liaison

GIPAG has entrusted ESTRADS Certification with the charter it requires of its members. This charter applies to training organizations through the CDOFAC Charter and is tailored for its members in the aviation maintenance sector through the CDOMAC Charter. Members enjoy preferential terms. The partnership is described on the page Our Partners.

Being seen by your customers

A certified organization is highlighted:

on the page Our Referencespage, sorted by level;
on the websites of the partner organizations of which it is a member, such as GIPAG;
inESTRADS Certification ’s interviews, profiles, and publications: monthly newsletter, press releases, social media, industry trade shows, and trade publications.

This communication is primarily intended for its current and prospective clients, followed by operators and contractors, banks and insurers, employees and job applicants, and institutions.

What the CDOMAC Charter Guarantees

No response will be considered without supporting documentation.
On-site inspections, which are routine for gold, verify the reported information through visual inspection.
Monitoring continues after certification: the sign’s QR code and the page Notify us allow you to report a violation at any time. In the event of a violation, ESTRADS Certification may revoke the certification—for a specified period or indefinitely—without a refund.
A Scientific Advisory Board, composed of professionals from government agencies or agencies with delegated authority, professionals from other certification programs and charters ofESTRADS Certification, members of professional associations and unions, and local elected officials, monitors changes to the criteria. It does not have access to the agencies’ data.

Learn More

The charter can serve as a first step toward a comprehensive evaluation of the " ESG " initiative:

the ProTarmac Certification, designed for the aviation industry and airport infrastructure, with five levels and a comprehensive analysis report;
the ProD&S Certification, for organizations that also maintain military aircraft or work in the defense and security sectors;
the FranceRSE Certification, for an organization for which aircraft maintenance is only one part of its business.

All certifications and charters are listed on the page Our Certifications.

As an independent, trusted third party, ESTRADS Certification is an organization that provides verification, ESG ratings, CSR certification, and sovereignty assessments. It has issued 650 certifications and attestations, is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001, and holds the status of a mission-driven company. Documents submitted by maintenance organizations are hosted in France by a provider not subject to the Cloud Act (see Our Sovereignty).

Obtain the CDOMAC Certificate

A quick conversation with the team atESTRADS Certification is all it takes to find out which questionnaire applies to you and what conditions apply, particularly for GIPAG members. An accredited organization that recommends ESTRADS Certification is eligible for the referral program.