Block definitions

Requirement definitions that should be completed together can be grouped in block definitions. Using blocks facilitates the scheduling of the large number of maintenance requirements that aircraft and other assemblies often have.

You can create blocks for daily requirements such as overnight checks, or for heavy maintenance visits that can have hundreds of requirements. Block definitions are always associated with a configuration slot, not a part number. Blocks are generally created the root level of the assembly.

You can group requirements in a single block or group and sequence them in a block chain. Single blocks are called one-time blocks because all the requirements are to be completed at the same time. Both one-time blocks and block chains can be set to recur or to occur once.

Figure: Recurring and non-recurring block and block chain definitions



In a block chain, the same requirement can be added to multiple blocks. You can use block chains to divide maintenance visits into phases, or to equalize the workload by spreading requirements that have varying intervals across the blocks in a chain.

The workflow for creating blocks is as follows:
  1. Create the block definition. Optionally add technical references, attachments, and (complies, opportunistic, replaces, or supersedes) links to task definitions.
  2. Add scheduling rules and applicability to the block definition as you do for other task definitions.
  3. Assign requirements to the block or blocks.
  4. Approve, activate, initialize the definition as you do for other definitions.

Blocks can be modified, and locked to prevent modification.

If you move one block that is part of a block chain to a different configuration slot, delete the block, or make it obsolete, all the other blocks in the chain are also moved, deleted or made obsolete. Also, when you active a block chain you activate all blocks that are included in the chain.