The PPL in the drawer is valid, unlimited, for life. And yet the pilot is standing on the ramp, unable to depart. The license isn’t the problem — the class rating needed for that particular aircraft is. It has lapsed. Confusing license validity with rating validity is one of the most common ways GA pilots lose currency without noticing. A second misconception is nearly as widespread: that revalidation always runs on flying experience and renewal always requires a check. That’s not quite right. The real distinction between the two lies somewhere else entirely — and knowing it is what keeps a rating from lapsing by accident.
Two terms, one deciding factor: timing
Under the definitions in FCL.010 (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, Annex I, Part-FCL), revalidation and renewal are both administrative acts that extend a rating or certificate for a further period. What separates them is not the method used, but the timing:
- Revalidation takes place within the current period of validity – the rating is still active when it is extended.
- Renewal takes place after expiry – the rating has already lapsed, and its privileges must first be restored.
Reading these two terms as “experience vs. check” mixes up a detail with the main point. Revalidation can also be completed through a proficiency check — the experience route is only an additional, optional path, and it exists solely for single-engine piston class ratings and the TMG: SEP(land), SEP(sea) and TMG. For single-engine turboprop classes (SET), MEP and type ratings, there is no way around a proficiency check, whether the rating is being revalidated or renewed.
The license never expires — the rating does
Under Part-FCL, the pilot license itself (LAPL, PPL, CPL, ATPL as the base grant) carries no expiry date. There is no equivalent to FCL.740 for ratings that would impose a time-limited validity on the license document itself. What does expire, and must be extended separately, are the privileges built on top of it: class and type ratings (FCL.740), the instrument rating (FCL.625), instructor ratings (FCL.940), and the medical certificate (Part-MED).
In practice, that means a pilot can hold a PPL valid for life and still not be legally allowed to fly, because the relevant class rating or medical has lapsed. License and rating follow separate logic, and that overlap is the single most common reason pilots lose currency without realizing it in time.
SEP and TMG: the only ones with an experience option
The class rating for single-engine piston aircraft (SEP) is valid for 24 months under FCL.740(a) — as are all single-pilot single-engine classes, TMG and SET included. Only SEP and TMG, however, offer two alternative routes to revalidation (FCL.740.A(b)(1)):
- Proficiency check: with an examiner, within the last three months before expiry.
- Experience: within the last 12 months before expiry, at least 12 hours of flight time in the class, of which at least 6 hours as PIC, 12 take-offs and 12 landings, plus a one-hour refresher training flight with a flight instructor (FI) or class rating instructor (CRI). Anyone who has passed a proficiency check, skill test or assessment of competence in any other class or type is exempt from that refresher flight.
Flight hours on SEP or TMG types can be combined to revalidate both ratings at once. And if a pilot completes revalidation inside the prescribed window — the check within the last three months, the experience route within the last twelve months before expiry — the new validity period attaches to the old expiry date. Meet the requirements earlier than that and FCL.740(a) starts the new period from the date of the check instead. Revalidating too early does cost validity time; revalidating on time inside the window does not.
MEP and type ratings: only the proficiency check counts
Once a pilot moves from a single-engine class to a multi-engine class or a specific type, the renewal logic changes fundamentally — a point that catches many SEP pilots off guard.
MEP – multi-engine piston rating
The class rating for multi-engine piston aircraft (MEP) is valid for only 12 months under FCL.740(a) — not 24 months like SEP. Regulatory-wise, it is grouped with type ratings rather than with SEP. And there is no experience route at all. Revalidation always requires a proficiency check with an examiner, completed within the last three months before expiry, in an MEP aircraft or a qualified FSTD. On top of that, the pilot must show at least ten route sectors flown as pilot of the relevant class or type of aeroplane during the validity period — or, alternatively, a single route sector as pilot of that class or type, or in an FFS, flown with an examiner; that sector may be flown during the proficiency check itself.
Type ratings
Type ratings are likewise valid for 12 months (FCL.740(a)) and are revalidated exclusively through a proficiency check under Appendix 9 — or, at operators running an approved EBT programme, through an EBT practical assessment under Appendix 10. Never through logged experience. The exact form the check takes depends on the operational context. In commercial multi-pilot or complex single-pilot operations, it takes the shape of an Operator Proficiency Check carried out under the operator’s approved training programme. In non-commercial single-pilot operations — certain turboprops or light jets, for instance — a type-specific check with an examiner or in a qualified flight simulator is required; a generic check or one flown on a different type does not satisfy the requirement.
Once the deadline has already passed: renewal
Once a rating has actually lapsed, revalidation is no longer an option — renewal is, and the same applies to SEP, MEP, and type ratings alike. It consists of two building blocks: an assessment and, where needed, refresher training — at an ATO for type ratings, and at a DTO as well for non-high-performance single-engine piston and TMG class ratings — whose scope depends on demonstrated performance and how much time has passed since expiry, followed by a proficiency check with an examiner. As a rule, the longer a rating has been lapsed, the more extensive the refresher training tends to be.
At a glance
- SEP and TMG (24 months)
- Revalidation before expiry: check or experience (12 h / 6 h PIC / 12 take-offs and landings + 1 h refresher flight)
- Renewal after expiry: assessment and refresher training at a DTO or ATO + check
- MEP (12 months)
- Revalidation before expiry: check only (+ 10 route sectors or 1 with an examiner)
- Renewal after expiry: refresher training at an ATO + check
- Type rating (12 months)
- Revalidation before expiry: check only (OPC in commercial operations / type-specific check otherwise)
- Renewal after expiry: refresher training (ATO level) + check
- License (PPL/CPL/ATPL, unlimited)
- Revalidation: not applicable
- Renewal: not applicable
Common mistakes and misconceptions
- “My license is still valid, so I’m cleared to fly.” The license alone grants no privileges if the matching class or type rating has lapsed — both need to be kept current independently.
- “Revalidation means experience, renewal means a check.” The real dividing line is timing, not method. Revalidation can also be done via a check, and the experience route exists only for SEP and TMG.
- “MEP works the same as SEP — just log the hours.” A common mistake among pilots moving from SEP to MEP: there is no experience route for MEP or type ratings — only a proficiency check counts.
- “The earlier I revalidate, the better.” Only inside the prescribed window. Go earlier and the new period runs from the date of the check, shortening it.
- “A rating that’s lapsed for a few years is gone for good and has to be earned from scratch.” The actual refresher requirement is set case by case; there is no fixed, blanket expiry cliff in current practice.
Conclusion
At its core, the difference between revalidation and renewal is simple: before expiry or after expiry. Everything else — whether an experience route, a proficiency check, or refresher training — follows from which rating is involved and whether the deadline has already passed. Keeping that one date in view, rather than relying on a vague sense that “it’s probably still fine,” avoids the most common and most avoidable reason for being grounded: a missed deadline attached to an otherwise perfectly valid license.
Anyone holding an MEP or type rating alongside SEP is juggling two different deadline rhythms at once — 24 months here, 12 months there, plus the medical certificate running on its own schedule. The “Ratings” area in cloudlog.aero lets you record and track each of these expiry dates separately, instead of piecing them together from paper documents or memory. It doesn’t replace any of the procedures described above at your ATO or with your examiner — it simply helps you notice the relevant date before it turns into a problem.
Sources
- LBA – FAQ “Is a combined revalidation of SEP and TMG class ratings still possible under Part-FCL?”: https://www.lba.de/DE/Luftfahrtpersonal/Lizenzierung/FAQ_EU-FCL/FAQ/kombinierte%20Verlaengerung%20SEP%20TMG.html
- UK CAA Regulatory Library, FCL.740A: https://regulatorylibrary.caa.co.uk/1178-2011/Content/Regs/03260_FCL.740A_Revalidation_of_class_and_type_ratings_aeroplanes.htm
- UK CAA – Multi-Engine Piston Rating: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/part-fcl-requirements/ratings/multi-engine-piston-rating-for-aeroplanes/
- UK CAA – What to do if your rating is about to expire: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/applications/ratings/what-to-do-if-your-rating-is-about-to-expire/
- AviLaw – Validity and Renewal of Class and Type Ratings: https://avilaw.info/avilaw-base/validity-and-renewal-of-class-and-type-ratings/
- Aviatize – MEP Class Rating glossary entry: https://www.aviatize.com/glossary/mep-class-rating
- flight-examiner.com – Revalidation proficiency check MEP(land): https://flight-examiner.com/revalidation/multi-engine-easa
- profipilot.training – EASA Type Rating Validity FAQ: https://profipilot.training/en/faq/licences-and-ratings/easa-typerating-validity
- pilot.sinej.com – EASA Type Rating Validity: Recurrent Training & Renewals: https://pilot.sinej.com/type-rating-validity/
- GM1 FCL.740(b) (regulatory mirror): https://aviation.bot/doc/d6a756f4-6746-522b-be1f-50929c8d67fd
- aiminghigher.aero – Lapsed SEP rating: https://aiminghigher.aero/lapsed-sep-rating/
This article is provided for general information and reflects the sources consulted at the time of publication. It does not constitute legal advice or an authoritative statement by an aviation authority. The applicable laws, regulations, and the current guidance and decisions of the competent aviation authorities always take precedence.