46 CFR § 160.151-41 - Approval of servicing facilities.

(a) To obtain and maintain Coast Guard approval as an “approved servicing facility” for a particular manufacturer's inflatable liferafts, a facility must meet the requirements, and follow the procedures, of this section.

(b) The owner or operator of a servicing facility desiring Coast Guard approval shall apply to the cognizant OCMI. The application must include—

(1) The name and address of the facility;

(2) The name(s) of its competent servicing technician(s);

(3) Identification of the manufacturer(s) of the liferafts the facility will service; and

(4) Any limits or special conditions that should apply to the approval of the facility.

(c) The owner or operator of the servicing facility shall arrange for an inspection with the OCMI to whom the owner or operator applied under paragraph (b) of this section. A currently trained servicing technician shall successfully demonstrate the complete service to each make and type of liferaft for which approval as a servicing facility is sought, in the presence of a Coast Guard inspector or of a third-party inspector accepted by the OCMI, or such technician shall present evidence of having performed such service at the time of initial or refresher training. The service must include:

(1) Removing the liferaft from the container for testing without damaging the liferaft or its contents;

(2) Examining the liferaft and its container for damage and wear;

(3) Determining the need for repairs;

(4) Determining whether equipment must be replaced;

(5) Conducting the tests required by § 160.151–57;

(6) Repacking the liferaft;

(7) Inflating the fully packed liferaft using its inflation mechanism; and

(8) Repairing a leak in a main buoyancy chamber, and subjecting the repaired chamber to the Necessary Additional Pressure test described in § 160.151–57(k). This repair may be done on a liferaft that actually needs it, on one condemned, or on an inflatable chamber fabricated of liferaft material specifically for this purpose. (An otherwise serviceable liferaft should not be damaged for this purpose.)

(d) Whenever servicing of liferafts takes place, each servicing facility must allow Coast Guard inspectors or third-party inspectors accepted by the OCMI access to the place where the servicing occurs.

(e) Each servicing facility must employ at least one servicing technician who has successfully completed the manufacturer's training described in § 160.151–39 (a) or (b), including training in the servicing of davit-launched liferafts if the facility will service these. The training must have been completed within the preceding—

(1) 12 months for the facility to obtain its approval to service the liferafts of a particular manufacturer; or

(2) 36 months for the facility to retain approval to service the liferafts of a particular manufacturer.