Aircraft Certification and Airworthiness (Type Certificates, CoA, ARC)
Three certificates, three purposes
Candidates must clearly separate the documents that establish and maintain airworthiness.
Type Certificate (TC): issued for an aircraft type design - the design itself is approved. It is held by the manufacturer/design holder, not by the operator.
Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA): issued for an individual aircraft confirming it conforms to the approved type design and is airworthy. It has a validity period and is renewed on the basis of the continuing airworthiness system.
Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC): a periodic confirmation that the aircraft's continuing airworthiness has been reviewed; it supports the CoA's validity and is issued or renewed after an airworthiness review by a CAMO or the authority.
Also know export certificates of airworthiness and the noise certificate, and the principle that an aircraft may only fly if it has a valid CoA and is maintained under an approved programme.
Traps
Questions often swap the TC and the CoA. The TC is about design; the CoA is about the individual aircraft. Another trap is treating the ARC as a replacement for the CoA - it is not; it is a supporting periodic review. A third is assuming the CoA never expires; it has a validity and must be kept valid through maintenance, AD compliance and ARC renewal.
Worked example / rule of thumb
A second-hand aircraft is imported: the type has a TC; the individual aircraft needs a CoA (often via an export CoA and then a national CoA) and an ARC to operate. TC = design; CoA = this aircraft; ARC = current review.