Many European builders are confronted with limited possibilities to build an aircraft in their home country due to stringent or absent regulation.
Many of those will therefore explore the possibilities of building their aircraft according the Dutch regulations. This is not impossible and you are welcome to become member of our association and register your project with us and receive technical advice along the way.
It is however very important to be well aware of the risks and limitations that come with this option. Before becoming a member and registering your project, take good note of the following:
• NVAV is not the Certifying Authority for Dutch Homebuilt aircraft. According to the current Dutch regulations, there is no ban for registering an aircraft which is built outside of the Netherlands. There is no guarantee however this will remain like this. There may always be changes in the regulations or a change of its interpretation. This is beyond control of NVAV. The risk of registering your build in the Netherlands is fully your responsibility. If problems arise with Dutch or local authorities NVAV cannot be claimed for this. On the other hand there are many Dutch registered homebuilt aircraft in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium, so it is not uncommon.
• You will require a local legal representative based in the Netherlands to handle all the paperwork on your behalf according to the regulations. There are several agents in the Netherlands (outside NVAV) that provide this as a paid service.
• Most countries impose a 28 days per year limit for foreign aircrafts visiting their country. In some countries this is cumulative and others per visit. For some reason this is however enforced very seldom, but it may happen
• Enforcement of the legal 51% rule has following implications:
1. The builder must prove being the original builder of the airplane by invoices and a build log.
2. In some cases, a builder buys an unfinished project from another builder. It is imperative that the builder must be able to show that at least 51% of the aircraft is built by an amateur
3. Aircrafts with a previous foreign registration (already completed aircrafts) cannot be registered in the Netherlands any longer. A project needs to be registered with NVAV at the start of the project. In order to ensure quality, the builder will invite an NVAV inspector during the build at critical stages, such as final closure of the wings, elevator, etc. Usually, two visits suffice but more are encouraged. NVAV technical advisors and inspectors are volunteers.
• For projects outside of The Netherlands all travel and lodging expenses need to be reimbursed by the builder. The NVAV official and project owner will agree on this before the start of the assignment. Support is free of charge for members.
• The final “global” inspection of a needs to be carried out by a Dutch registered certified inspector.
• For the yearly renewal of the Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA, s-BVL in Dutch) an inspector with Dutch certification needs to check the maintenance records and is free to inspect some samples at the aircraft. In particular application of SB’s and ADs are investigated. The mandatory instrument calibrations (when new and every two consequent years) as well as weighing and weight and balance calculations (every 4 years) may be carried out by a local EASA certified party as long as they comply to the Dutch MD2011-2
• Note that IL&T may demand a so called ACAM inspection on a random basis, which will require the aircraft to come to the Netherlands as their inspectors do not travel abroad. So far this happened very seldom, but is not excluded.
Publication date 16/10/2026. Allways check the current rules..