Annex E: Design Assessment Report (Step 4)

1. General

1.1 This annex provides guidance on the development of the Design Assessment Report that is identified in the main body of this advisory under Step 4 (paragraph 4.2.2.d of the advisory) of the Surveillance Design Certification Process.

Note: Although the Applicant is responsible for providing the TAA with the Design Assessment Report, it is recommended that the Applicant seek the assistance of the DTAES 6 engineering support staff for the report development.

2. Rationale and Guidance

2.1 The primary purpose of the Design Assessment Report is to summarize the results from the compliance program, and provide the TAA and Finding Authorities (FAs) with references to the design description documents and compliance artifacts. The assessment report will be used as a roadmap to assist the FAs during their evaluation of the compliance data. The report should be written and structured to provide the TAA and FAs with the information they require in making their findings.

2.2 The Design Assessment Report should include the following information:

1. the Surveillance capabilities that are proposed for approval;
2. the aircraft avionics systems configuration;
3. the means of compliance used, including the use of existing approvals and data for similar products;
4. any recommended restrictions and limitations on the capability;
5. where existing equipment approvals have been applied;
6. the extent to which an existing design was modified to meet the equipment and installation criteria for the surveillance system;
7. any interpretation of the surveillance criteria used during the assessment (agreed interpretations are generally established through approval of the Surveillance Criteria Table(s));
8. any aspects of the design that do not meet, or only partially meet, the mandatory and non-mandatory criteria;
9. any areas where an ‘Equivalent Level of Safety’ finding has been used, or when an alternative means of compliance has been used to show that a criterion has been met;
10. any areas where an ‘Acceptable Level of Safety’ (ALOS) assessment has been used to recommend approval, in lieu of showing that a criterion has been met; and
11. any possible or recommended mitigating actions that will be required as a result of the use of an ALOS argument, or airworthiness limitations/restrictions, to approve the design.

2.3 Prior to providing the report to the FAs, it should be reviewed by DTAES 6-4 to obtain an endorsement of the report conclusions and recommendations.