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Getting Ready for a Fuel Quality Audit

A fuel quality audit doesn't have to be stressful. If the daily work has been done and written down, an audit mostly confirms it. The stress comes from gaps nobody noticed: a missing signature, a filter change with no record, a training file that ends a year ago.

The way to make an audit routine is to find those gaps yourself first.

Who Audits, and Why

• The airport. At airports certificated under 14 CFR Part 139, section 139.321 has the airport inspect tenant fueling agents' facilities at least once every 3 consecutive months, and get written confirmation every 12 months that required fire safety training was done.
• Your fuel supplier. Suppliers may audit the FBOs that sell their fuel against their own quality program.
• Customers. Some aircraft operators audit the FBOs they buy from. A4A Specification 103, written for airline fuel quality, is a common benchmark for these.

Each one has its own checklist. Ask for it ahead of time if you can.

What They Usually Look At

Audit checklists vary, but most cover the same ground:

• Inspection records for the daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual checks your manual requires, complete and signed.
• Fuel receipts: delivery paperwork, the checks done on each load, and what was found.
• Filters: element changes and the differential pressure record. The filter DP post covers why the trend matters.
• Meter calibration records for trucks and dispensers.
• Training records for everyone who handles fuel, current and complete. The new line tech training post covers sign-offs that hold up.
• Equipment in person: bonding cables and clamps, hoses, nozzles, interlocks, fire extinguishers, placards, and sump samples, often checked with a white bucket.
• Inventory records and how variances were handled.

Audit Yourself First

A few weeks before a scheduled visit, or on a regular schedule if you'd rather never scramble:

• Pull a sample from every record type. A random week of daily checks, the last few receipts, every filter change this year. Look for blanks, missing signatures, and readings that don't make sense.
• Check every training file against your program's requirements, including recurrent training dates.
• Walk the facility and every truck as if you'd never seen them. Look for leaks, worn hoses, faded placards, and anything that's been “on the list” too long.
• Do a sump and look at it the way an auditor will. If you wouldn't want them to see it, find out why now.

Fix Gaps Honestly

When you find a gap, fix the cause and write down what you found and what you did. Never go back and fill in a record for a check nobody did, or change a reading after the fact. A gap with an honest corrective note is a finding you've already handled. A record that was quietly rewritten is a much bigger problem. The fuel quality records guide covers keeping records that hold up.

On the Day

• Have records organized and easy to find, by type and date.
• Have the people who do the work available to show it. An auditor may ask a line tech to walk through a check.
• Answer questions directly. If you don't know, say so and find out.
• Write down every finding and agree on how and when each one will be closed.

Where AvGrav Fits

AvGrav keeps gravity readings in a form that's easy to show an auditor. The observed and corrected values can't be changed after saving, edits to other fields are kept in an edit history, and a star protects a reading from deletion. Each reading carries the time, the fuel, the Tank or Truck, photos, and a note. When the auditor asks, History exports today, the last 7 days, or everything as a Spreadsheet (CSV) or a Summary PDF. It's a reference tool, not a replacement for your QC program.

If your supplier's quality team works from another time zone, AvClock, from the same developer, has an Overlap view that shows the hours when up to four airports are all awake, which makes scheduling the call easier.

Common Questions

AvGrav and this guide are reference and convenience tools, not certified measurement instruments or a substitute for a calibrated hydrometer, thermometer, or your organization's official procedures. Always follow your organization's quality control program and applicable regulations before accepting, rejecting, or releasing any fuel.