Aerospace regulation
In the United States, the FAA has anticipated a desire to use additive manufacturing techniques and has been considering how best to regulate this process. The FAA has jurisdiction over such fabrication because all aircraft parts must be made under FAA production approval or under other FAA regulatory categories. In December 2016, the FAA approved the production of a 3D printed fuel nozzle for the GE LEAP engine. Aviation attorney Jason Dickstein has suggested that additive manufacturing is merely a production method, and should be regulated like any other production method. He has suggested that the FAA’s focus should be on guidance to explain compliance, rather than on changing the existing rules, and that existing regulations and guidance permit a company “to develop a robust quality system that adequately reflects regulatory needs for quality assurance.”