Now that’s the difficult bit. It is all over the place.
The rules for certification and maintenance come from EASA (
www.easa.eu.int ) now and not the CAA. The CAA is responsible for implementing them. They can be very long and complicated to read and in some cases misinterpreted if not careful.
The CAA has published some information on their web site under SRG, then EASA and on the various departments’ links, i.e. Applications & Certification for CofF issue, etc. The CAA is publishing most of the information relevant to maintenance and certification through Airworthiness Notices, CAP455 available on the website.
The aviation magazines are also publishing a lot of information.
Basically the EASA certification rules are already in place and the CofA is one of these. The CAA has deferred the maintenance parts (EASA PART M) to the last date possible, under the rules, September 2008 for non commercial air transport operations (i.e. non AOC).
So basically, for now, your private aircraft is still maintained to LAMS exactly as it was before except that you have a CofA that has EASA at the top instead of CAA. Pilot maintenance still stands; Notice 35 still stands, etc. The only real change is that in June “A” conditions goes and if you need to ferry your aircraft for maintenance you need an EASA Permit to Fly issued from the CAA. So make sure you plan your maintenance in advance!